Only very few cases of sensorineural hearing loss can actually be cured. In case of age-related, noise- or drug-induced hearing loss, the only effective way to "treat" the disorder or reduce its severity is prevention: avoiding excessive noise and using ear protectors, practising a healthy lifestyle, and avoiding exposure to ototoxic drugs and substances if possible.

Once the hearing loss has developed, people may use a hearing aid. While there have been remarkable advances in the performance of these prostheses, they still have their limits: hearing aids mainly amplify sound and can't correct for the fine different types of sound. So users get louder sounds, but there may still be some distortion, and speech discrimination will still be impaired. Hearing aids allow only to make use of the remaining hair cells, which are, however, often damaged as well.

In case of complete or profound deafness, a cochlear implant may help. This device transmits sound directly into the auditory nerve via electrodes surgically implanted into the cochlea. A cochlear implant can be of particular help for deaf children if it is implanted around the age of two or three, the time when language skills are developing fastest.