ABSTRACT
Hearing impairment is very common and arises as a result of factors such as disease, physical accident, exposure to high-intensity sounds, and the process of ageing. Surgical procedures can correct some defects of the middle ear, cochlear implants can be used in some cases of profound hearing loss, and hearing aids can help to overcome defects within the inner ear and the neural pathways, but the hearing loss has to be measured before treatment is planned. Audiometry, or the measurement of hearing loss, forms the major part of this chapter, which concludes with a section on hearing aids.
