Conductive hearing loss
- Damage has been caused in the outer and middle ear.
- It can be medically or surgically treated.
- Hearing aids are of great benefit.
Sensorineural hearing loss
- Damage has been caused to the hair cells in the inner ear resulting in mild to profound hearing impairment.
- It cannot be medically or surgically treated.
- Benefit from hearing aids may be limited in certain instances.
Conductive hearing loss
- Damage has been caused in the outer and middle ear.
- It can be medically or surgically treated.
- Hearing aids are of great benefit.
Neural hearing loss
- Neural hearing loss can result from the absence of the auditory nerve or damage to it.
- Neural hearing loss is usually profound and permanent.
- Hearing aids and cochlear implants cannot help because the nerve is not able to pass on sound information to the brain.
Other classifications of hearing
Bilateral hearing loss
- Bilateral hearing loss occurs in both ears.
- Hearing aids are needed in both ears.
Unilateral hearing loss
- Unilateral loss occurs only in one ear.
- Persons with such a loss have problems with localizing sound.
Pre-lingual hearing loss
- Hearing impairment occurs before a child has learnt to talk.
- Critical implications for speech and language development.
Post-lingual hearing loss
- Hearing impairment occurs after a person has acquired language.
- Implications for the education of the hearing impaired child depend on the age of onset, degree of loss, level of support and personal factors.
Symmetrical hearing loss
- If a person has the same degree and type of hearing loss and configuration in each ear, the hearing loss is symmetrical.
Asymmetrical hearing loss
- If the degree and type of hearing loss and configuration vary or are different in each ear, the loss is classified as asymmetrical.
