Our ears have two main functions for listening and keeping our balance. Hearing is worn out and less effective throughout our lives. It is a fact that one in three people over 65 has a hearing problem and that 50% of people over the age of 75 also have hearing problems. But you don’t have to endure it. Find professional help and find the best treatment for you. A simple, modern hearing aid may be what you need. Hearing loss is often due to high volume overexposure, an inheritance, or both.
The signs of hearing loss are fairly easy to spot:
A) You will find that everyone seems muffled while speaking.
B) It is difficult to easily decipher their words.
C) You should ask others to speak slower or louder.
D) It seems like you still need to turn up the volume on your home theater or TV.
If you are suffering from any of the issues listed above, it is very likely that you yearn to withdraw from personal interaction and make every effort to work around social attitudes. You are in fact embarrassed by your hearing loss.
Almost all hearing problems result from an impaired cochlea (a tortuous construction in the inner ear that is responsible for hearing). This inability is often the result of excessive exposure to loud noises of 85 decibels or more. A decibel is the unit used to assess loudness levels and is often abbreviated as dB.
Other common causes of hearing problems are:
A) Ear infections
B) Abnormal bone growth.
C) Tumors of the outer or middle ear.
D) rupture of the eardrum.
Other non-age-related causes of deafness include auditory neuropathy, Ménière’s disease, most audible sclerosis, and Usher syndrome.
There are three types of hearing problems:
Type 1 – conductive hearing loss
This happens when sound is not transmitted successfully to the middle ear, which can be caused by fluid, wax, infections, foreign objects, or abnormalities in the middle or outer ear.
Type 2 – Sensorineural hearing loss
This condition occurs after the inner ear (cochlea) or the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain have been affected in any way. Other causes of sensorineural hearing loss are illnesses, birth injuries, medications, or genetic syndromes. Other causes can include noise pollution, viruses, head trauma, tumors, and a person’s age.
People who suffer from this type of hearing problem may show poor speech understanding.
Type 3 – mixed hearing loss
Sometimes a person can suffer from conductive hearing loss accompanied by sensorineural hearing loss. This type of problem is recognized as mixed hearing loss.
A person can have hearing loss in one ear or the other. The severity of hearing loss in each ear may be the same or different. Hearing loss can happen suddenly or over a long period of time.
Some people suffer from fluctuating hearing loss and their problem may deteriorate or improve irregularly. This is usually caused by an ear infection which results in conductive hearing loss.
If you suspect that you have hearing problems, you should see your doctor for a qualified diagnosis and appropriate treatment for your problem. The treatment can be very simple or require the adaptation of a modern hearing aid.