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Learn how your hearing system works and what types of hearing loss can affect it. The human hearing system is made up of three parts. The outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. Let's take a closer look at how they work. Sound waves are picked up by the pinna of the outer ear. They are then amplified and transmitted to the middle ear through the external auditory canal. This movement of sound causes this small membrane called the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are transmitted to the ossicles located in the middle ear. The ossicles are the smallest bones in the human body. They are made up of the hammer, which transmits these vibrations to the incus and then to the stirrup, which acts as a piston that compresses the fluid in the inner ear. The cochlea is the main organ of hearing perception. It contains between 15 and 20,000 hair nerve cells that detect the vibrations of the liquid and generate the nerve impulse that is carried to the brain by the auditory nerve. But this system is fragile and can fail; we are talking about hearing loss, the two most common of which are conduction loss and neurosensory loss. Conduction loss can be due to a foreign body that obstructs the ear canal, for example a wax plug, a perforation of the eardrum, poor functioning of the ossicles, otitis or fluid in the middle ear. This type of loss can often be resolved by medical intervention and only represents 10% of hearing loss cases. The second type of loss, neurosensory loss, which represents 90% of cases, is the result of the destruction of hair cells in the cochlea. It is often due to aging, may be genetic or the result of repeated exposure to very loud sounds. This type of loss is irreversible, yes, too bad, but can often be compensated by hearing aids.