When a person loses these abilities to comprehend sound, it is referred to as deafness. It can be caused by disease, toxic drugs, trauma, or an inherited disorder. Those causes can be classified as conductive, sensorineural, or both. A conductive hearing loss results from damage to those parts of the ear which transmit sound vibrations in the air to the fluids of the inner ear. This type of damage is usually to the eardrum or small bones known as ossicles.
Ossicles conduct sound from the eardrum to the cochlea.
In conductive hearing loss, sound intensity is reduced, but sound isn't distorted. Sensorineural hearing loss is more resistant to therapy because it involves damage to the delicate sensory cells of the organ of Corti, which is located in the cochlea. Sensorineural hearing loss has to do with both distortion of sound and loss of sound intensity. The closer the damaged tissue is to the auditory cortex, the more complex and subtle are the types of distortions. The hair cells of the organ of Corti cannot grow once they are damaged.