An
estimated 28 million people suffer from hearing loss.
There is not an exact statistic since many people do
not realize or refuse to admit that their hearing is
impaired.
What
are some symptoms of hearing loss?
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Others
complain you have the television too loud |
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You
have problems hearing birds or wind |
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You
have difficulty hearing female voices or children |
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You
have difficulty hearing in groups |
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You
find yourself confusing words or making silly mistakes
misunderstanding conversations |
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Other
people, or family members, think you have a hearing
loss |
What
are some causes of hearing loss?
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Noise
exposure (military, hunting, music, industrial,
racing, power saws, lawn mowers, etc...) |
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Heredity
|
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Certain
chemotherapy and radiation treatments |
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Certain
heavy-duty antibiotics |
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Head
trauma |
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Wax
|
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Ear
infections |
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Viral
infections |
One of the first signs of hearing loss is the inability
to understand words in difficult listening environments.
A difficult listening environment might be a noisy restaurant,
church or theatre. Many times, it may be too embarrassing
or inappropriate to ask the person to repeat the words
or sounds.
Hearing is measured in decibels. Normal hearing is between
0 and 25 decibels. A person with normal hearing can
easily communicate at distances of up to 40 feet. Some
can communicate well at up to 100 feet. Others have
trouble hearing the person next to them and many times
believe that everyone around them mumbles when they
speak.
A
difficult listening environment is not the only place
where hearing can be a problem. For many, hearing loss
is a problem at home too. Have you ever missed a visitor
or phone call because you didn't hear the doorbell or
telephone ring?
Hearing
loss can happen at any age. It’s frustrating and
dramatically affects your quality of life.
The
first step to improving your communication is to have
your hearing tested by a hearing healthcare professional.
Following the hearing evaluation, the professional will
counsel you, explaining your test results and introducing
you to our product line.
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How is hearing loss classified?
Your ability to hear is as unique as your fingerprint.
No two people have exactly the same hearing impairment.
Hearing
loss is classified by several factors: degree, understanding
ability, location of loss along the speech frequencies,
and type of loss.
Degree: Degree refers to the amount/severity of the
hearing loss. Hearing loss is categorized as mild
(slight difficulty hearing in daily environment),
moderate (difficult to hear most sounds in your daily
environment), severe (extremely difficult to hear
all sounds in daily life) or profound (deaf).
Understanding Ability: Hearing and understanding are
not the same thing. You may be able to hear speech
sounds but not understand what is being said. Sometimes
understanding ability is impaired as a result of a
hearing loss. This is usually measured by a percentage
of your understanding random words during a hearing
evaluation.
Location of Loss Along Speech Frequencies: Usually
hearing loss does not affect all speech frequencies
the same. For example, loud sounds damage hearing
ability in the high frequencies. This creates a problem
hearing sounds that are high in pitch (i.e.. female
or children's voices, birds, consonant sounds like
"s" and "t"). Some other hearing
losses, from head trauma or ear infections, can affect
the low pitches (i.e.. male voices, loudness, vowel
sounds).
Type of Loss: There are three types of hearing loss.
Conductive Hearing Loss: Conductive hearing loss results
from a problem with the conduction of sound from the
outer ear (part that you see) to the inner ear (where
the nerve is located). This can result from wax buildup,
ear infections, trauma to the ear, or any other problem
with the eardrum or bones that conduct sound through
the middle ear. Those with this type of loss have
a problem with volume rather than understanding ability.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Sensorineural hearing
loss involves some sort of deterioration of the inner
ear or the hearing nerve. The aging process, noise-exposure,
some cancer treatments, illness, and other degenerative
processes could cause this loss. This type of hearing
loss sometimes impairs understanding ability and causes
those with the loss to be sensitive to loud sounds.
Mixed Hearing Loss: Mixed hearing losses contain some
conductive elements and some sensorineural elements.
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