The ear not only allows you to hear but helps with balance. Divided in to three parts, your ear is a very complex organ of the body. At ENT Specialists, we help diagnose and treat hearing and balance disorders as well as other conditions affecting the ear.

Below is a list of some of the ear conditions we treat.

Hearing Loss
Dizziness
Vertigo
Tinnitus
fluid/recurrent infections
Head and Neck
ear drum perforations
disorders of hearing bones
congenital deformities
cysts and tumors
ear wax
external ear canal problems
foreign bodies
cholesteatoma
otitis externa (swimmer’s ear)

The following video demonstrates how sound travels from the outer ear to the inner ear, allowing a person to hear. The process of the body recognizing sound is divided into three steps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Oy4lodZU4

1. The Outer Ear collects sound waves and directs them to the ear canal.

2. Through the ear canal, the sound waves reach the ear drum causing the ear drum to vibrate, transmitting sound to three tiny bones in the Middle Ear. Collectively called the ossicles, these three bones are often get recognition in trivia games as being the smallest bones in the body.

3. The Inner Ear is consists of a bony structure called the cochlea. This is a fluid filled and spiral shaped structure, comparable to the shape of a snail shell. The passageways of the cochlea are lined with around 20,000 microscopic hair cells that convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses sent to the brain. The brain then interprets these impulses giving you meaningful sound.

Video and information from www.gnresound.com, 2016