Our ears are incredible organs and they allow us to hear a variety of sounds, at different frequencies and pitches. The ears are sensory organs that are responsible for detecting sounds and processing them. These sounds come in the form of sound waves that are distributed in our environment.
Sound waves are collected by the outer section of the ear and they are funnelled into the ear canal. Whilst travelling along the ear canal the soundwaves may be interrupted by ear wax. This sticky substance is found naturally in our ears and it serves many purposes. A build-up of earwax can however cause issues with hearing and this is where Ear wax removal may be needed.
The sound waves eventually reach the eardrum which is a thin (sensitive) membrane that vibrates as a response to the incoming sound waves. It is these vibrations that are transmitted to three tiny bones in the middle ear. These bones amplify the vibrations and pass them on to the inner ear.
It is within the inner ear that the vibrations are turned into electrical signals by hair cells in the cochlea. The electrical signals are transmitted to the auditory nerve and carried to the brain where they are processed and interpreted as a sound. Our ears are continually picking up different sound waves throughout the day and some of these will be processed and interpreted as sounds and others are dismissed by the brain.
