Sound is directed by our two OUTER EARs (the visible part) called the PINNA down into your EAR CANALS. The sound hits the EARDRUM at the end of the ear canal. When the sound hits the eardrum it causes the drum to vibrate which activates the three little bones on the other side one after the other. The OSSICLES are situated in the middle ear. The ear canal and the MIDDLE EAR, in good health, are filled with air. The EUSTACIAN TUBES are tiny canals that lead from the middle ear to the back of your mouth. These tiny passages block up easily when you have a cold or when you fly in an aeroplane. If you yawn or swallow you can usually open this passage and allow air back into your middle ear which releases the build up of pressure. The three little bones in the Middle Ear are called the MALLEUS (HAMMER) the INCUS (ANVIL) and the STAPES (STIRRUP). They hit each other in turn in a fraction of a second.

The INNER EAR is filled with fluid. When the last little bone, the stirrup, hits the window of the inner ear it causes a ripple in the fluid of the inner ear. The ripple travels into the Cochlear^TM which is very like a snail in shape and interior form and about the size of a garden pea.

The hair cells inside the CochlearTM remembering that the CochlearTM is the size of a garden pea

The hair cells in normal health

The hair cells after a big bang. The hair cells flop when they are worn.

Inside the Cochlear^TM are around 3,000 HAIR CELLS. The first section, at the opening of the cochlear, react to high frequency sounds, the middle section reacts to middle frequency sounds and the centre section responds to low frequency sounds. This is why the majority of people who have hearing difficulties experience them at high frequency, because every single sound wave travels through this area and they get worn out more quickly than the hair cells further up the line.

Amazingly, the sound waves only travels as far as the level of frequency we hear and then the hair cells responsible for the level of frequencies we hear bend and activate tiny nerve endings that send signals through to the AUDITORY NERVEs. From here the sound is taken up to the BRAIN as electrical impulses. The impulses are decoded so that by the time the sound reaches the brain we have a message that our brain recognises or interprets according to our memory and experience. It is in the brain that we hear. Of course, we are hearing many different sounds and frequencies at once which makes our hearing all the more remarkable.

We also have the ability to filter sound. This is simply the power of the brain to perceive sounds as loud or soft. For instance, when we cross a busy road we are alert for danger and our ears hear the traffic loudly. When we get over to the other side we stop listening to the traffic and can hold a conversation with a friend because the danger is past and the brain filters the sound out. it does not mean the level of the sound of the traffic is any different!

The three loops in the inner ear are called the SEMICIRCULAR CANALS OF THE VESTIBULAR SYSTEM. The vestibular system is part of the inner ear and is also filled with fluid. It is our organ of balance working together with our eyes, nervous system an muscular system to keep us in balance in all the strange positions that humans put themselves into.

It is clear from the position of the balance system that any severe problem with the inner ear can sometimes affect balance. The amazing thing is that the brain can usually rectify balance problems quite quickly and naturally.