Your Hearing Loss and the Abutment-Free Alpha™ Bone Conduction System
Whether your hearing loss was sudden, gradual or you were born with it, it can leave you feeling isolated and frustrated, but you are not alone. More than 30 million Americans have some hearing loss and reports estimate that three out of every 1,000 children born in the U.S. may have some type of hearing loss.
Traditional hearing aids offer benefit for many people, while others may need more advanced treatment or a combination. The guide below to the Alpha System’s hearing loss indications can help you identify whether you are a candidate.
Conductive Hearing Loss
What it is: The damaged outer or middle ear is bypassed by placing sound reception directly onto the skull and to the inner ear.
Causes: Middle ear problems such as middle ear infections, otosclerosis, head injuries that damage middle ear bones or birth defects.
Symptoms: Generally ranges from mild to moderately-severe hearing loss. You may have a “plugged” feeling in you ears, but your own voice may sound louder.
Treatment: Depending on the degree of loss, a traditional aid may work as well as the abutment-free Alpha Bone Conduction Hearing Device System
Mixed Hearing Loss
What it is: The middle or inner ear may no longer process sound. The bone of the skull directs sound to the cochlea. It is usually a combination of conductive and sensorineural (nerve damage) hearing loss.
Causes: Mixed Loss can be caused by a combination of disorders including middle ear, and/or damage to the inner ear structures (cochlea) or to the auditory nerve pathway.
Symptoms: Can range from mild to a profound (deaf) hearing loss. Sound volume is softer and sounds are often distorted or difficult to understand.
Treatment: The degree of hearing loss affects the treatment, but options are traditional aids or the Alpha System.
Single-Sided Sensorineural Deafness
What it is: For total deafness in one ear, sound projected to the cochlea provides clarity and direction of sound better than hearing aids.
Causes: Birth defects, tumors around the hearing nerve, head injuries or diseases, or an unknown reason.
Symptoms: Severe hearing loss or total deafness in only one ear, an inability or difficulty to understand speech on the deaf ear or lack of ability to directional sound.
Treatment: The Alpha System can be an excellent option.
