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Common Questions About Hearing Loss
Hearing LossHearing Aids
Hearing Conservation
What is Hearing Loss?
Hearing Loss is the reduction in an individual's ability to hear and understand speech. Sounds, such as a bird's song, paper rattling, directional signals and children's voices have become distant or indistinguishable.
Is All Hearing Loss Alike?
No, there are three types of hearing loss:
- Conductive loss: This is a mechanical problem which includes blockage of sound or a break in the sound conducting system. Examples of blockage are wax in the ear canal, fluid behind the eardrum, scarring of the eardrum and tumors in the conducting mechanism. Sound conducting or transformer problems include holes or tears in the eardrum and breakage or fixation of the middle ear ossicles (bones).
- Sensori-neural: (Nerve loss) The nerve portion of the ear is not receiving signals properly, or sending electrical information to the brain. Causes of sensori-neural or nerve hearing loss are:
- heredity
- noise exposure
- viral diseases
- drug ototoxity
- Meniere's Disease
- tumors & accidents.
- Mixed loss:
This is a combination of a mechanical or conductive loss and a sensori-neural or nerve loss. An example is a wax blockage (conductive) and a noise induced loss (sensori-neural). There are many other combinations.
Otosclerosis, a middle ear bone fixation problem, is often treated surgically.
Where Does a Person Obtain Help for Hearing?
An otologist, a physician specializing in diseases of the ear, is the best person to see for hearing problems. When the doctor completes his examination of the hearing mechanism, a patient will realize everything has been done to rule out medical or surgical treatment. A hearing aid may be indicated if no medical treatment is advised.
Will a Hearing Aid Make Hearing Get Better?
No -- a hearing aid makes sounds louder, but will not cure a hearing loss.
Does Hearing Worsen if Hearing Aids Are Not Used?
No, but people tend to adapt to hearing aids more easily if they begin using amplification before hearing is severly impaired.
Does a Person Become Dependent Upon Hearing Aids?
Hopefully, yes. Just as with glasses or contact lenses people learn to live a better life. Hearing aids allow activities to be resumed which have been limited by poor hearing.
Does a Person Need to Wear a Hearing Aid All the Time?
Many individuals wear their hearing aids selectively. Some persons choose not to wear their amplification in noisy situations or when they don't need to hear people speaking. It is recommended that hearing aids be used as much as possible when trying them out. There are no set rules, but more benefit will be received if hearing aids are worn than if left in the box.
Can Anything Be Done When a Hearing Aid Causes an Ear Itch?
A doctor, preferably an Otologist, should be seen whenever there is persistent itching or inflammation of the ear. Such itching indicates a possible allergic reaction to the earmold material. The hearing aid dealer may need to make an earmold of hypo-allergenic materials if the itching is present only when wearing the earmold.
Can a Nerve Hearing Loss be Helped With Hearing Aids?
Yes, nerve hearing loss may be helped through the use of hearing aids. The key word is “helped”, not cured as some advertising suggests. The condition of a person's residual hearing is important in determining how much help may be expected.
Can a Mild Hearing Loss Be Helped With Hearing Aids?
Yes. The small inconspicuous hearing aid of today is the answer for mild hearing losses. Misunderstanding, straining to hear, and missing parts of conversations are easily eliminated or reduced through the use of hearing aids.
How Bad Does Hearing Have to Be in Order to Use a Hearing Aid?
A hearing test will not always tell when a hearing aid is needed. There are a number of borderline cases where it is up to the individual to decide. An amplifier may be indicated whenever the individual or friends and family notice hearing problems.
The hearing specialist is available to answer personal hearing questions. Hearing tests are easy, painless and may provide the solutions to hearing difficulties.
Does Noise Cause Hearing Loss?
Yes. If you experience any or all of the following:
- a one-time exposure to extremely loud noises,
- repeated or long exposure to loud noise,
- extended exposure to moderate noise,
How Does Noise Cause Hearing Loss?
Your ear receives sound waves and sends them through a delicately balanced system to the brain. Part of this remarkable system is a chamber in the inner ear filled with fluid and lined with thousands of tiny hair cells. The hair cells signal the auditory nerve to send electrical impulses to the brain. The brain interprets these impulses as sound.
When you are exposed to loud or prolonged noise, the hair cells are damaged and the transmission of sound is permanently altered.
Am I Exposed to Damaging Noise?
Today, over 20 million people in the United States are exposed to environmental noise that can damage hearing. If you use stereo headsets, operate power tools for yard work, have a long daily commute in heavy traffic, or use a number of household applicances, you, too, may be exposed to potentially damaging noise.
Many people are exposed to hazardous noise levels at work, including: firefighters, military personnel, disc jockeys, construction workers, farmers, industrial arts teachers, computer operators, factory workers, as well as cab, truck and bus drivers, to name a few.
Exposure to damaging noise does not come only from the workplace. Recreational activities such as hunting, motorboating/waterskiing, snowmobiling, motorcycling, and exposure to rock music or the use of stereo headsets also expose you to hazardous noise.
What Is a Dangerous Noise Level?
Both the amount of noise and the length of time you are exposed to the noise determine its ability to damage your hearing.
Noise levels are measured in decibels (dB). The higher the decibel level, the louder the noise. Sounds higher than 80 decibels are considered potentially hazardous. The following noise “list” gives an idea of average decibel levels for everyday sounds around us.
| dB | ||
| Painful Extremely Loud Very Loud Moderate Faint | 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 | Firearms, air raid siren Jackhammer Jet plane takeoff Rock music Snowmobile, Chain Saw Lawnmower Alarm Clock Busy traffic, vacuum cleaner Conversation, dishwasher Moderate rainfall Quiet room Whisper |
What Are Warning Signs That Noises Around Me Are Too Loud?
- You have to raise your voice to be heard.
- You can't hear someone two feet away from you.
- Speech around you sounds muffled or dull after leaving a noisy area.
- You have pain or ringing in your ears after exposure to noise.
First, avoid loud noise whenever possible. If you cannot avoid exposure to noise:
- Wear hearing protectors: ear plugs or earmuffs (you can probably get them from your drug store). Using cotton in your ears does not work. When using hearing protectors, you can still hear and understand voices and other sounds with ease.
- Have your hearing tested by an audiologist.
- Limit periods of exposure to noise; for example, if you are at a rock concert, walk out for awhile--give your ears a break.
- Be aware of the noise in your environment and take control of it when you can. Your county may have a local noise ordinance. Find out what you can do in your community to advocate for quiet. For example, some high schools have set a decibel limit for the music played at school dances to protect the students' hearing. An audiologist can measure sound levels at a specific location and make recommendations for keeping sound levels safe.
What Resources Are Available to Me If I Think I Have a Hearing Problem?
For an evaluation of hearing abilities, an audiologist should be contacted. When hearing loss is the result of current disease, or if a medical problem is suspected, a physician should be seen. The audiologist you select should hold a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). In many states a license is also required. For a list of audiologists in your area, contact ASHA, 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, 800/638-8255 or 301/897-8682. E-mail: irc@asha.org
Why Hearing Aids for Both Ears?
- We don't hear in our ears.
Our ears receive the sound, but we really “hear” with our brain.
The brain analyzes what our ears receive from our surroundings, allowing us to understand and make sense of the sounds around us.
Both ears must work equally well for the brain to provide the best possible understanding. If you can benefit from amplication in each ear, it is in your best interest to have both ears fitted with hearing aids. - Why make one ear do all the work?
When we are fitted with glasses, there is a lense for each eye. That's because, like hearing, we see better with BOTH eyes working together. (No one wears monocles anymore!)
Hearing with both ears makes such a difference that one-ear hearing aid fittings are going the way of the monocle. - Understand better in noisy places.
Hearing with both ears helps your brain distinguish speech from noise easier than if only one ear receivers the sound. - It is easier to tell where sound is coming from with both ears.
Because sound reaches both ears at slightly different times and intensities, our brain is able to detect these tiny differences.
This enables us to tell the exact location of the sound.
Hearing with both ears makes it easier to determine:- The location of the oncoming car.
- The location of someone speaking to you in a group of people.
- The location and intensity of sounds when driving in traffic, such as an ambulance siren.
- Less power; more comfort.
With both ears working together, less volume is needed to listen comfortably.
With less volume, there is less discomfort from distracting background noise. - The quality of hearing is better.
People who wear two hearing aids report a richer, fuller, more natural quality of sound than those who wear only one hearing aid. Hearing with both ears is what nature intended... with the technology available today, there's no more natural solution.