There are many different causes of hearing loss that can present at birth or later in childhood. These include:

• Genetic
• Birth trauma
• Illness during your mothers pregnancy
• Trauma as a child or young person
• Infection or illnesses such as meningitis
• As a side effect of medication 
• Sometimes there is no known cause

You can find out more about hearing levels and technology that can support your hearing loss on the tabs above.

In a normally functioning ear, sound travels along the ear canal and vibrates the eardrum. This causes the chain of tiny bones in the middle ear, called the malleus, incus and stapes, to vibrate. These vibrations move through to the fluid in the inner ear and the cochlear. The movement of the fluid stimulates thousands of tiny cells in the cochlear, whose movement generates an electric current in the auditory nerve. This electric signal is transmitted to the brain through the nerve and sound is heard.

You can talk to your team to find out more about how your ear works and the causes of your hearing loss or there is lots of information available on the National Deaf Children's Society website here.