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Understanding hearing loss
According to the Hearing Alliance of America, over 28 million Americans suffer from a significant hearing loss. Nearly half of these people under the age of 65. Hearing loss is the third leading disability among people in the U.S., less only than arthritis and hypertension. Hearing is one of the body's major senses, and a loss of that sense can create severe obstacles in your life. Those who are hearing-impaired may have difficulty understanding others, finding the source of a sound, distinguishing sounds in their everyday environment, and following a conversation with other people. Hearing loss causes a lack of comprehension, and causes an increase in confusion, frustration, anxiety and stress.
Normal hearing vs. impaired hearing Before you can understand what is considered normal hearing vs. impaired hearing, you must first know how you are able to hear.
Hearing is the process of sound traveling in air-conducted waves to your outer ear (the visible portion of your ear). The sound is then funneled into the ear canal where it strikes the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. The eardrum's vibrating motion creates a commotion in the middle ear. The middle ear consists of the eardrum and three bones: the malleus, the incus and the stapes. The vibrations from the eardrum pushes these three bones into a rocking motion. The base of the stapes transmits the motion to the inner ear, where tiny hair cells along the inner ear become agitated. The agitated hair cells arouse the auditory nerve, which then delivers a signal to the brain. The brain recognizes this signal as sound. A hearing loss results when this path of sound is interrupted or impeded.
Types and levels of hearing loss Hearing loss is ranked in degrees of: mild, moderate, severe, and profound. Hearing loss is characterized by ears also: unilateral (loss of hearing in one ear) and bilateral (loss of hearing in both ears). Hearing loss is also determined according to its location across the range of speech frequencies, or "pitches." A wide range of pitches is in everyday sounds and speech, such as the high pitch of a bird tweeting (the high pitch is also known as the "treble") as opposed to the low pitch of a tuba (the low pitch also known as the "base"). Usually a hearing loss does not affect all speech frequencies and pitches the same.
What you can do about hearing loss The methods for treating hearing loss depend on what type of hearing loss you have. If your problem is located in the outer or middle part of the ear, you may suffer from conductive hearing loss, which is treatable by medicine or surgery. If you have a disorder in the inner ear or where the actual hearing nerve is located, you may suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, a more permanet type of hearing loss. Fortunately, hearing aids can offer significant help in combination with assistive listening devices and speech-reading in overcoming hearing loss. Right now, the market is innundated with advertisements making extravagant and untested claims targeted at you about hearing loss. Hearing aids can provide benefit but, like all things, you need to make an educated decision before committing to them. You can find more information by visiting HearingPlanet.
Types of hearing loss Conductive
hearing loss Articles on hearing loss Facts
about hearing disorders | |
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