Hearing Loss

This week we discuss hearing loss. A person who is not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing – hearing thresholds of 20 dB or better in both ears – is said to have hearing loss. Hearing loss may be mild, moderate, severe or profound. It can affect one ear or both ears and leads to difficulty in hearing conversational speech or loud sounds. Hard of hearing refers to people with hearing loss ranging from mild to severe. People who are hard of hearing usually communicate through spoken language and can benefit from hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other assistive devices as well as captioning. ​Hearing loss that comes on little by little as you age, also known as presbycusis, is common. More than half the people in the United States older than age 75 have some age-related hearing loss. There are three types of hearing loss: Conductive, which involves the outer or middle ear. Sensorineural, which involves the inner ear. Mixed, which is a mix of the two. Aging and being around loud noises both can cause hearing loss. Other factors, such as too much earwax, can lower how well ears work for a time.  Deaf people mostly have profound hearing loss, which implies very little or no hearing. They often use sign language for communication.  We will not cover deafness during this episode