Final answer:
Sensorineural hearing loss is the medical term for hearing loss due to nerve impairment, which includes damage to the cochlea's nerve cells or the auditory nerve. It can be caused by various factors and is typically not repairable, though cochlear implants may offer a solution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The medical term for hearing loss due to nerve impairment is sensorineural hearing loss. This condition occurs when there is a failure to transmit neural signals from the cochlea to the brain, which can be a result of damage to the nerve cells in the cochlea or the auditory nerve itself. Causes of sensorineural hearing loss include aging, head or acoustic trauma, genetic factors, infections such as measles or mumps, exposure to loud noises, tumors, certain medications, and diseases like Ménière's disease. Unlike conductive hearing loss that's associated with issues in delivering sound to the cochlea, sensorineural hearing loss can be permanent as damage to the nerves in the cochlea is not repairable. While hearing aids may offer some benefit by amplifying sound, they might also pose a risk of further damage, and some individuals may be candidates for cochlear implants which electrically stimulate the auditory nerve.