What is Hearing Loss

Everyone knows what hearing is. Hearing loss, or deafness, is the partial or total inability to hear sound in one or both ears. The human ear is remarkable as is the smallest and most complex organ in the body. Considering the ear's delicacy, it is remarkably resilient. Nevertheless, illness or injury can impair our ability to hear properly.

It is possible that someone who has hearing loss may be able to hear some sounds or simply nothing at all. Often people also call it deaf, deafness, or hard of hearing when they're talking about hearing loss.

It has been observed that out of 1000 babies born, three may have hearing impairment. This is the most common birth defect. Although there is a possibility that hearing problem can also develop later in life, there are many types of hearing loss:

Causes

The first obvious cause of a loss of hearing is repeated exposure to high levels of noise. Many people work in jobs where they are around large pieces of machinery that emit an extreme amount of noise. If you wish to protect your hearing, you should make sure that you use protective equipment whenever you are around this level of noise.

There are some medications that can cause a hearing loss and this is called ototoxic hearing loss. There are some painkillers such as Vicodin that can cause a loss of hearing for those who are taking it for a long period of time. If you are concerned about a hearing loss, you should check with your doctor to find out if any of the medications that you are taking will cause you to lose your hearing.

Researchers are busy trying to determine the reasons for a variety of types of hearing loss. When there is research in an area like hearing loss there will be many things that can be done to prevent the problem from occurring. If you know what is causing the problem you will be able to prevent it.

Information on Hearing Aids

Hearing aids do not restore hearing to normal. As a general rule, a hearing aid usually improves hearing by one-half of the loss. Hearing aids are typically worn on the outside of the ear by people who still have some natural hearing. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted into the ear and pick up lost middle- and higher-frequency sounds. Hearing aids are battery-operated devices that amplify sound. A microphone receives the sound and amplifies it so that it is louder to the child.

Levels of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss & deafness covers a wide range of hearing difficulties and a patient is often confused about the state of their condition. As a result many people buy inappropriate aids to meet their individual needs, especially if purchased without a professional assessment.

Generally hearing loss can be categorised into 4 ''types'' Mild, Moderate, Severe and Profound.

Mild - Patients with Mild hearing loss have difficulty hearing sound between 20-39 decibels. This condition often leads to difficulty hearing a television & radio at normal levels as well as conducting conversations over distances. Ambient noise can also increase the effects of this hearing loss.