Hearing

With our hearing we take in a wide variety of impressions of our environment and send signals constantly to our brain. There they are interpreted and stimulate our thoughts and feelings.

With about 20,000 sensory cells in the inner ear and a similar number of nerve threads, the ear has the highest concentration of sensory receptors in the human body. The emotional effect of acoustic impulses plays a considerable role in our overall feel of well-being; it affects our blood pressure and blood lipid values, the immune system and vegetative nerve systems.

By hearing language, sounds and noises we receive a wide variety of information:

• Learning to talk
  We learn to talk by imitating what we hear. In addition, by hearing we learn to control our own voices

• Communication
  Being able to hear well means that we can understand others, we can respond to what is said, and we can maintain social contact.

• Emotions
  As well as taking in pure facts, we get a feel for the message from the sound of what we hear.

• Warning function
  Our ears perceive warnings and alarms, such as the sound of an approaching car, loud shouting or a telephone ringing.

• Orientation function
  Our hearing also helps us distinguish the direction a (warning) sound is coming from, how far it is, or how large or small a room is.

One in ten people suffer some hearing loss but for those over the age of 55 it is one in five. Hearing loss can happen at any age. According to the RNID - the largest charity working to change the world for the UK’s deaf and hard of hearing people - there are around 9 million people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the UK. Most of them have lost their hearing gradually with increasing age. Over half of people aged over 60 are hard of hearing or deaf. Hearing loss can also occur at a younger age. There are about 123,000 people over 16 who were born hearing but have developed severe or profound deafness.