Julie Raney is a certified and licensed audiologist. She has a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Master’s Degree in Audiology from Idaho State University. She has worked as a clinical audiologist in Colorado since 2005. She specializes in hearing amplification for adults and delivers her services in both English and Sign Language.

How Common is Hearing Loss?

Studies estimate that disabling hearing loss affects around 13% of the US population over the age of 18. There are a myriad of causes ranging from congenital malformation to professional or recreational exposure to dangerous sound levels. Many of the disadvantages of hearing loss are self-evident with just the slightest bit of reflection. But some of the dangers are so obvious they can be easy to overlook. Consider the role of the ears in the balance system.

What is The Balance System and How Does it Work?

Descartes is often credited with first philosophizing on the duality of mind and body. But as far back as Plato and Aristotle philosophers have pondered the intertwined dependency between the two. One fact is inarguable: it is our five senses that orient us in our environment. We depend on the fidelity of their signals to feel at home in our world. and Symmetry is key to this. We don’t locate objects in space with one eye, but with the instantaneous negotiation between the slight difference in perspective between our two eyes. Our hands to enact our wills, our feet to equally distribute our weight, it’s the symmetry of our bodies that provide us the basic balance we require.

Our ears are even more vital to our balance system than these other examples imply. Similarly to the logic of these examples, of course our ears help us locate ourselves in space. Like the echolocation of bats, who guide their paths of flight through darkness using the split second variations in the reflection time of their calls, we are constantly and endlessly determining our positions within an environment thanks to our brains almost instantaneous decodings of its signals from our ears.

But our ears are also the central hub for all balance in the body, home to the vestibular system. Your vestibular system informs your brain about all it needs to know to maintain your equilibrium, determine your body position within your environment, and guide your reflexive movements, the rapid compensatory movements that respond to both external and internal stimulus.

The vestibular system is made up of three loop-shaped canals in your inner ear, called the semicircular canals, and two otolith or ear stone organs, the utricle and saccule. The three canals are each situated at different angles perpendicular to each other. and They are each identified by their orientation: the anterior, the posterior, and the lateral. Each canal has a fluid in it and as our positions change, this fluid moves as well. The utricle and saccule, each of which contains a cluster of ultra-fine sensory hair cells, cilia, are at the base of these perpendicular canals. The utricle and saccule, along with the cilia, detect these motions and translate it into electrical nerve signals sent to your brain to decode. and Together these three loops maintain your balance: One measures your head’s movement up and down; another measures its movement left and right; and the third canal measures its tilt.

Consequences: Physical, Psychological, Emotional

Damage to any of these very fine and precise parts of your ears would cause life-changing results. When a loud blast or some unexpected sound causes immediate damage, this damage is immediately apparent so the impulse to take action is urgent. But more commonly the injury happens more subtly, over time, a little at a time, the result of bad habits either professional or recreational that may seem perfectly innocuous.

The obvious discomfort, inconvenience, and dangers of living with the constant struggle of adapting to a thrown off equilibrium are obvious. It would present an immediate risk to your personal safety almost constantly. Such tension would be impossible to maintain and quickly degrade into deeper side effects. It would become simpler to just withdraw socially and professionally than to keep up the constant struggle. This withdrawal quite commonly and simply leads to loneliness and it’s no stretch to imagine how simply that can lead to depression. Depression and isolation often lead to cognitive decline. Years of your life, one day at a time, would not be lived to their fullest potential.

Prevention and Treatment

But this is not necessary. No one should adapt to living like this when every day astounding new advancements in treatment are made. The range of options plentiful and easily specified to your personal needs and budget. Make an appointment today to visit one of our specialist and live with the confidence that you are doing all you can to guarantee that you are living your best life.