What is hearing loss?

Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual impairment in the ability to hear sounds. This can occur due to aging, congenital or hereditary factors, exposure to loud noises, certain medications, infections or diseases, and head or ear trauma, as well as a number of other causes.

Common signs of hearing loss:

• • You hear people speaking but you have to strain to understand their words.
• • You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.
• • You frequently complain that people mumble.
• • You play the TV or radio louder than your friends, spouse and relatives.
• • You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone or environmental sounds, such as birds.
• • You find that looking at people when they speak to you makes it easier to understand.

If you have any of these symptoms, you should see a hearing professional to have a complete audiometric evaluation (AE). This diagnostic hearing test allows a licensed hearing professional to determine the type and degree of your hearing loss. The results are then useful to your physician should the tests conclude that your hearing loss may be treated medically or surgically.

Common types of hearing loss:

• • Conductive Hearing Loss occurs when sound cannot travel through the outer ear to the eardrum and tiny bones of the middle ear. This type of hearing loss can often be treated medically or surgically.
• • Sensorineural Hearing Loss occurs when there is damage to the inner ear or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss not only involves a reduction in sound level, or ability to hear faint sounds, but also affects speech understanding, or ability to hear clearly. Sensorineural hearing is a permanent loss and is best treated with the use of hearing aids.
• • Mixed Hearing Loss is a combination of a conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss. In other words, there may be damage in the outer or middle ear and in the inner ear or auditory nerve.