Page 34 - waterfall Issue 12 2021

Waterfall News

hEAR! hEAR!

The eyes are known to be the mirrors of one’s soul, but the ears are the

doors to one’s brain and soul!

By Fatima Ganchi, Audiologist & Speech Pathologist practising at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital

IMAGE BY: BRuCEBLAuS, WIkIJOuRNAL OF MEDICINE
T he sense of hearing enables delivery. As babies, young children, When the ear hears a sound, sound

and adults, we use our hearing
waves are collected by the outer ear or
human beings to develop
language and communication
is one of our most special senses!
to the eardrum or tympanic membrane.
skills, which form the basis of every second of every day. Hearing pinna and directed along the ear canal
every interactive skill required in life. As these sound waves hit the eardrum,
Hearing allows for an appreciation hoW WE hEAR their impact creates a vibration of
of the sounds that enrich today’s To fully understand what hearing this membrane, which then causes
world, augments the ability to read, loss is and its consequences, it is the vibratory motion of the ossicles:
and grants one the luxury to indulge necessary to understand the basic the three little bones called the incus,
in the sounds of music. A human anatomy and function of the hearing malleus and stapes in the middle ear
foetus develops basic hearing from system. The human ear consists cavity. The smallest ossicle, called
20 weeks of gestation. It continues of three main sections: the outer the stapes, fits into the oval window
to grow and mature until the date of ear, middle ear, and inner ear. between the middle and inner ear.

32 Waterfall Issue 12 2021