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 Hearing Loss And Balance Problems
Old age, ear problems shouldn't be synonymousAs people age, it's only "natural" that they will experience hearing loss or balance problems, right? Wrong, according to Moises A. Arriaga, M.D., medical director of the Hearing and Balance Center at Allegheny General. "A lot of older adults assume that losing their hearing or balance is a normal part of aging. What they need to know is that they usually don't have to live with either problem," said Dr. Arriaga, (Otorhinolaryngology and Neurosurgery) of Allegheny General Hospital. A "malfunctioning telephone"There are two types of hearing loss: mechanical (caused by problems in the ear structures) and nerve, Dr. Arriaga explained. The physician needs to determine what type of hearing loss the patient is experiencing to select the most appropriate treatment. "If you think of the ear as a telephone, the phone itself is the mechanical part and the wire coming into the house is the nerve," he explained. "If the problem is with the line coming into your house, working on the phone is not going to help, and vice versa." In many cases, hearing disorders can be treated through medical or surgical intervention -- or by simply making some adjustments in the person's environment. For example, the pitch on a doorbell can be lowered so a person with high-tone hearing loss can hear it. Preventing fallsThe Hearing and Balance Center also offers a fall prevention program for older patients that is tailored to their specific needs, Dr. Arriaga said. A fall by an elderly person can be devastating, both physically and emotionally. Hip fractures are common, and often make a senior citizen afraid of falling again. "Balance is controlled by four factors: information from the ears, information from the eyes, information from the muscles and joints, and the way the brain puts all that information together. At the center, we run a series of sophisticated tests that allow us to separate these components to find the reason for the patient's dizziness or balance problems," he said. The goal of the fall prevention program is improving senior citizens' day-to-day functioning, Dr. Arriaga added. "It's very gratifying to see our patients have a lot more confidence in their ability to get around." For more information about the Hearing and Balance Center, call Allegheny General Physician Access at 1-877-284-2000. TDD service is available at (412) 359-3960. |