Final answer:
Older individuals commonly experience a mix of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss, with various treatment options such as hearing aids for conductive loss and cochlear implants for sensorineural loss.
Step-by-step explanation:
Most older people who experience hearing loss have a combination of both conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss involves issues with the ear canal, eardrum, or ossicles that affect the transmission of sound to the cochlea. Sensorineural hearing loss is due to damage to the cochlea itself, or the nerve pathways from the cochlea to the brain. This can be caused by aging, exposure to loud noises, infections, and certain diseases.
While conductive hearing loss can often be improved with hearing aids, sensorineural hearing loss can be more challenging to treat. Nonetheless, for sensorineural loss, cochlear implants may provide a solution by directly stimulating the auditory nerve.