Ear Health

Your sense of hearing is a complex process. In a normal ear, sound creates vibrations that are funneled by the outer ear into the ear canal where they hit the eardrum. These vibrations cause movement in the eardrum and transfer it to the three small bones of the middle ear—the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes (stirrup). When the stapes bone moves, it sets the fluids in the inner ear into motion, which, in turn, starts the process to stimulate the auditory (hearing) nerve. The auditory nerve then carries the energy created by the sound to the brain resulting in a person hearing the sound. When any part of this process is affected through injury, infection or other conditions, hearing can be impaired.

YourENThealth.com is intended to help you determine when you need medical care and how laser surgery can help treat conditions affecting your ear with reduced pain, faster recovery and improved results. Specifically it:

• suggests when to see a doctor
• discusses some of the common causes that affect your ear
• details common diagnoses
• provides information on various treatments when surgery is needed
• lists symptoms
• has a printable interactive symptom checker that lists possible conditions