Nerve deafness occurs in elderly people whose hearing deteriorates in the same way as eye sight does with age. Both conditions can be due to degenerative causes affecting the eye and ear tissue.

Viral infections, meningitis and disease such as Meniere’s Disease can produce nerve deafness as can certain drugs, fractures of the skull and tumours.

Deafness due to excessive noise is mostly preventable - protective ear muffs should always be worn in noisy working environments.

If caught early, nerve deafness due to loud noise will sometimes improve over a period of six months if the noise is avoided.

Conduction deafness can be due to wax, foreign bodies, inflammation and tumours in the external canal. Deeper in the ear perforations of the ear drum, acute and chronic infection of the middle ear, degeneration, scarring and tumours, all of which can show up as conduction deafness. Your doctor should be consulted if you are growing deaf. It may be a simple matter of removing wax or it may necessitate seeing a specialist to determine the extent, type and cause of a deafness which may need more extensive treatment.

Treatment may simply include a hearing aid in suitable cases. Medication may be necessary in the case of Meniere’s Disease. Modern surgery is available for suitable cases.

Finally, in cases unsuitable for other methods of treatment or to complement other treatments, it may be necessary to institute hearing rehabilitation such as lip reading and auditory training to recognise sounds.