Joel Cuello
Professor Harrison
English 101-057
02 November 2008
Hearing
In the morning, everyone goes through the same process of hearing. That annoying “buzz” or “beep” sound from your alarm is set to wake you up in the morning. The sound sends a message to your brain, and immediately alerts your body to get up, and to begin your activities for the day. The sense of hearing allows a person to hear the beep when the food in an appliance is finished cooking, when someone is knocking at the door or even when a television is active. Sometimes you might stop to think “How do I hear all these things?”, “What is hearing?” There is a complex process that needs to happen in order to hear but in the other hand there are people that cannot hear as well do to three different factors.
Hearing is defined as “able to perceive sound.”(dictionary.com) When I do my math homework I put on music. As I am doing my homework my brain is taking in that music. While my brain converts it into something that relaxes me and takes away the anxiety I have about completing that particular homework. After turning off the music and finishing my homework, I hear my clock ticking, and my brain lets me know that time is passing by. I know this just from a simple sound that my brain interprets, which leads the mind to think about how hearing works.
In order to begin the process of hearing that has to be a sound.
“What we call (sound) is really an onrushing, cresting, and withdrawing wave of air molecules that begins with the movement of any object, however large or small, and ripples out in all directions…Waves of sound roll like tides to our ears, where they make the eardrum vibrate; this in turn moves three colorfully named bones (the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup), the tiniest bones in the body…The three bones press fluid in the inner ear against membranes, which brush tiny hairs that trigger nearby nerve cells, which telegraph messages to the brain: We hear.(Ackerman 177)
This complex process is what has to occur in order for a person to hear. It’s an amazingly delicate sense that must be taken care of, which is why I always take care and protect my hearing. As you can see there are many parts to the ear, which can be delicate. This is why a person must always take care of their ear in order to protect their hearing. If a person does otherwise it can lead to a certain hearing loss.
There are three major types of hearing loss: Conductive, Sensorineural and Mixed.
“Conductive hearing loss occurs when the external or middle ear fails to work properly. In this type of hearing loss, sounds are blocked from entering the inner ear. Sources of this type of hearing loss include fluid buildup in the middle ear (often as a result of ear infection), buildup of wax in the ear canal or a perforated eardrum. This form of hearing loss generally can be reversed by treating the underlying condition responsible for the hearing loss.” (yourtotalhealth.com)
This would mean that when a person does not clean their ears for a long period of time, there would be a possibility that wax can buildup and lessen the amount of sound you would hear on regular bases.
“Sensorineural hearing loss occurs due to disorders of the cochlea in the inner ear. It may also be caused by damage to the hearing nerve or the parts of the brain that process speech (called retrocochlear hearing loss). Aging is the most common cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Gradual hearing loss as a result of aging is known as presbycusis, and it occurs in all people who live long enough to experience it. People who live or work in noisy environments may accelerate sensorineural hearing loss.” (yourtotalhealth.com)
Sensorineural hearing loss is more of a permanent. There are some people that are born deaf or become deaf after being exposed to over 85 decibels of sound for a long period of time.
“Mixed hearing loss. When hearing loss is a result of both conductive and sensorineural factors, it is known as mixed hearing loss. It usually occurs in people whose permanent sensorineural hearing loss is compounded by a temporary conductive hearing loss, such as from a buildup of earwax. ” (yourtotalhealth.com)
This is a combination on the two. This would be a way of hearing loss because something as temporary as the accumulation of earwax over a long period of time, can become something permanent. Knowing that I can damage and even cause loss of my hearing I always keep the volume low when I listen to music. Noise exposure of over 85 decibels may cause hearing loss over time. With normal conversation coming in at 60 decibels, headphones at 110 decibels and a car stereo at 120 decibels, keeping the volume down is a must in many situations.
Now by reading this paper people can be well alert about the different ways that they can loss their hearing. They will have a good understanding about the different parts of an ear and what they do.
Works Cited
Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History Of The Senses. New York: Random House, Inc, 1990.
Biondo, Andrew . “Hearing Loss”. NBC. November 01, 2008
<http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/hearing-loss.html?pageNum=4>.
“Hearing.” The American Heritage® Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 09 Nov. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hearing>.
Goal Statement
I choose to write my essay in a research form. Hopefully I can find out if I am going to do well in any other research paper I would have to write. I started with giving a definition of hearing and then explaining exactly how hearing works. Then I explained how easy it is to damage your hearing. I believe a research should include factual information on the topic being written about. This can include definitions, processes on how something works, and in general research can cover a lot of topics.
Was the information in this paper enough to let you know about your sense of hearing?
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