Age- and noise-related hearing loss are common and can affect quality of life. But many treatments are available. There are three main types of hearing loss: conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, and mixed hearing loss. [21] An additional problem which is increasingly recognised is auditory processing disorder, which is not a hearing loss as such but a difficulty perceiving sound. Hearing loss can affect everyone from babies to people in their 60s and 70s. Many things may cause hearing loss, but exposure to loud noise is the most common reason people have the condition. Hearing — or auditory processing — refers to the awareness of sounds and placing meaning to those sounds. It involves a complex series of steps in which several parts of your ear and auditory nervous system work together harmoniously. The meaning of HEARING is the process, function, or power of perceiving sound; specifically : the special sense by which noises and tones are received as stimuli. Hearing loss affects education, employment, relationships, and mental health. Children with untreated hearing loss may struggle in school, while adults may face reduced job opportunities. Serving all ages from kids to seniors, Santa Clarita Hearing Center provides expert diagnostics and hearing aid options in a supportive, woman-owned practice. Get expert hearing tests, personalized advice, and hearing aids that fit your lifestyle. My husband and I went in there today to change out batteries and filters for his hearing aids, since we couldn't figure it out. She was so patient, calm, knowledgeable and pleasant. There are three main components of the human auditory system: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear includes the pinna, the visible part of the ear, as well as the ear canal, which terminates at the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane. The pinna serves to focus sound waves through the ear canal toward the eardrum.