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We Know: The Facts About Hearing Loss
What is hearing loss?
In Hearing loss parts of the ear do not function properly, leading to decreased sensitivity to
sounds and hearing impairment in one or both ears. Hearing loss is commonly known as deafness,
hearing impaired or hard of hearing. It ranges in severity from mild, moderate, severe, to profound.
Who has this condition?
Hearing loss is a common phenomenon. Hearing loss is a gradual process; in fact, we start losing our
ability to hear certain sounds after the age of 20. According to Statistics from the Hearing Loss
Education Center:
- 10% of the world's population suffers from hearing loss.
- 50% of the elderly aged 65 or older suffer hearing loss.
- 250 million people have moderate or worse hearing loss.
- Hearing loss occurs more frequently in men than women.
In the U.S.,
- 15% of adults suffer from some form of hearing loss.
- 5% of all children under the age of 18 suffers hearing loss.
What causes hearing loss?
Hearing loss is caused by a number of factors, which include increasing age, genetic diseases,
congenital conditions, infectious diseases, injury, and environmental conditions or the workplace.
Ear wax build-up or foreign objects in the ear may result in a temporary loss of hearing.
Hearing loss is categorized as two types:
- Conductive hearing loss (CHL)
- Concerns the middle ear, eardrum, or ossicles (tiny bones that vibrate in response to
sound).
- Due to damage incurred by infection, trauma, or congenital defect.
- Reversible damage.
- Results in mild to moderate hearing loss in which person fails to hear "softer" sounds.
- Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL)
- Concerns the inner ear (cochlea) and cilia (tiny hairs of the inner ear).
- Caused by increasing age, loud noises, genetic history, trauma, and medications.
- Irreversible damage.
- Results in mild to profound hearing loss in which person hears "muffled" sounds.
Although there are two distinct types, a combination of the two may be responsible for some cases of hearing
loss.
How is hearing loss diagnosed?
Because our hearing plays such a central role to our language development and our psyche, children
receive regular auditory screenings beginning at birth. Typically the following tests are administered:
- Otoacoustic Emissions Test (OET), testing the functions of the inner ear.
- Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (AABR), testing the nervous system's response to a sound.
- Tympanometry, which tests how the eardrum conducts and responds to sound.
Ear infections is the primary culprit responsible for hearing loss in children. Adults who suffer
from hear loss complain of unexplained hearing problems or ear pain. Medical professionals use the
following to diagnose adults with hearing impairment:
- Take a detailed medical history to determine possible hereditary connections and to
determine how long this has been occurring.
- Perform a physical examination of the ears.
- Use diagnostic tests, such as audiometry, auditory response, head scan or tympanometry.
How is hearing loss treated?
Treatment of hearing loss takes two forms: hearing aids and cochlear implants. Hearing aids
are electronic devices that amplify sound. Cochlear implants replace the defective parts of the
inner ear that have stopped functioning properly.
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