Hearing Loss Risk Factors
Muchof the risks associated with hearing loss are well known. As weve alreadydetailed with how it occurs, age and prolonged exposure to excessive noise posethe most significant risk to your hearing. Even a sudden burst of noise, suchas that from a gunshot, can cause lasting damage.
Whenit comes to exposure, employees in specific industries may be at higher risk ofhearing loss, including construction or factory workers or those in themilitary.
Geneticsmay also be a circumstance in hearing loss. Numbers show that between 50% and 60% of hearingloss in infants is the result of genetics. Heredity too can also increasethe potential for hearing to deteriorate as you age.
Otherfactors that lead to hearing loss include medications, illness, and trauma. Inthe case of medicine, certain antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, treatments forED, or excessive use of aspirin contribute to damage in the inner ear. Somemedications can even cause tinnitus, which is a constant ringing in the ear.
Withillness, anything that results in high fever or interrupts blood flow may result in damage to the cochlea. Injury tothe skull or brain also increases the possibility of impairment to yourhearing.
More Information About Hearing Impairment
The following are some English-language resources that may be useful. Please note that THE MANUAL is not responsible for the content of these resources.
See the following sites for comprehensive information about updates on research and funding initiatives, educational materials, support services, and quick links to related topics:
Social Struggles Due To Communication Challenges
In addition to academic struggles in school, children with hearing loss can also experience trouble socially. Communication is vital to social interactions and healthy peer relationships without the ability to communicate effectively they often experience feelings of isolation and unhappiness.
If a child with hearing loss is excluded from social interactions or is unwilling to participate in group activities due to fear of embarrassment, the result is that she can become socially withdrawn, leading to further unhappiness. Children with hearing loss are also slower to mature socially, which hinders peer relationships.
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How Hearing Loss Occurs
Ourears suffer from a bombardment of sound.Many of us dont recognize the stress our ears face every day. As webecome conditioned to the consistently high levels of noise, it can be tough togauge if and how our hearing may deteriorate.
Butwith a better appreciation of the strain and the potential risk factors, we cantake better care of our hearing. In most cases, hearing loss stems from one ofthe following:
Hearing Impairment In Toddlers And Children
These signs might become more evident in slightly older children:
- The child is behind others the same age in oral communication.
- The child keeps saying âWhat?â or âPardon?â
- The child talks in a very loud voice, and tends to produce louder-than-normal noises.
- When the child speaks, their utterances are not clear.
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What Is Normal Hearing Loss With Age
What really happens to your ears over the years? Well, heres what we can typically attribute to aging:
- The acuity of your hearing nerves deteriorates. This happens through simple wear and tear related to use.
- The parts of your ear responsible for balance can also wear out as you age.
And thats it. Well, not really. But the list of what can be solely attributed to aging, as far as the research shows, is quite short. Its really when age is combined with other factors that you start to see a spike in so-called age-related hearing loss.
My Hearings Not That Bad
Hearing aid users wait, on average, 10 years before getting help for hearing loss. But during that time, communication with loved ones becomes more difficult, and isolation and health risks increase. Our findings emphasized just how important it is to be proactive in addressing any hearing declines over time, says Lin.
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Using The Relay Service
Individuals with hearing loss, including those who are deaf, now have many helpful devices available to them. Text telephones enable persons to type phone messages over the telephone network.
The Telecommunications Relay Service makes it possible for TT users to communicate with virtually anyone via telephone through a communications assistant. Dial 711 to access all telecommunications relay services anywhere in the United States. The relay service is free.
Auditory Processing Disorder In Kids With Normal Hearing
Some kids may pass traditional hearing tests, but still struggle to listen and understand speech, particularly in noisy environments. They may ask you to repeat what you’ve said a lot, and struggle to differentiate similar sounding words. If this sounds like your child, it’s important to talk to your doctor, as it could be auditory processing disorder. This means the ears can detect sound adequately, but the brain struggles to interpret the sound correctly.
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Does Alcohol Cause Tinnitus
Tinnitus is another common complaint among heavy drinkers Although its not as serious as the other issues weve been talking about, it can be incredibly annoying.
The link between drinking and tinnitus is fairly well established. When we drink, the blood vessels around our ears expand. As a consequence, more blood flows to our ears, and its this blood flow that causes fuzziness when we drink.
Ironically, many people who suffer from tinnitus respond to the irritation caused by the condition with increased alcohol consumption creating a harmful feedback loop. If this sounds like you, there are other solutions to the problem which are much less hazardous for your health, including specialist hearing aids, so dont self-medicate. Get a consultation.
Effects Of Hearing Disorder On Academic Performance
Hearing plays an important role in the mental and social life of a child. Children suffering from hearing impairment may face the given problems in their school life-
- Any kind of hearing impairment can lead to delay progress at school, which leads to learning and behavioral problems.
- Struggle to cope up with the increasing complexity of the language and social interactions.
- Even the children having a partial hearing impairment can have problems in reading, writing, learning, and expressing themselves.
- They may miss or misread classroom instructions.
- The poor academic record leads to depression and a lowering of self-confidence.
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Hearing Loss Can Make You Feel Tired
Hearing loss is tiring for all parties involved. It is tiring for the person who is hard of hearing because they have to strain to hear what is going on around them continually. And it is tiring for the other person who is trying to ensure that they are understood.
As hearing loss progresses, people with the condition can find themselves missing out on entire words or sentences. They can often get the wrong end of the stick and reply to a question that they have not been asked. Furthermore, it can be difficult for the person asking the question to correct their understanding, especially if they cannot hear well. The result of all of this is that both parties wind up feeling exhausted, even when asking something as simple as what would you like for dinner?
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How Does Hearing Impairment Affect Emotional Development
of hearing loss can make you lonely. The psychological effects of untreated hearing loss for both children and adults can include increased outbursts of anger, low self-confidence, frustration, embarrassment and depression. Adults may experience periods of sadness and grieving as their ability to hear diminishes.
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How To Get A Complimentary Hearing Assessment
HearingLife offers complimentary hearing assessments to all customers. Use our hearing center locator to find a center near you, where you can book your complimentary hearing assessment. When we assess your hearing, you can expect to receive the following:
- A consultation with a certified hearing care expert
- A thorough hearing test with same-day results
- A selection of high-quality hearing aids from multiple brands
- Risk-free, 30-day hearing aid trial
- Flexible payment plans
What Are Three Warning Signs Of Hearing Loss
Signs and symptoms of hearing loss may include:
- Muffling of speech and other sounds.
- Difficulty understanding words, especially against background noise or in a crowd.
- Trouble hearing consonants.
- Frequently asking others to speak more slowly, clearly and loudly.
- Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio.
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Signs/symptoms Of Hearing Loss
There are signs and symptoms which can help you to find out if you have a hearing impairment. Signs include-
- You are unable to hear someone 2-3 feet away from you.
- You need to raise your voice to be heard.
- After being in a noisy place, you feel ringing in your ears.
- Sounds around you become dull or muffled after leaving a noisy place.
Silently Suffering From Hearing Loss Negatively Affects Quality Of Life
New hearing technologies can help, studies show
Silently suffering from hearing loss negatively affects quality of life
TORONTO Hearing loss in adults is under treated despite evidence that hearing aid technology can significantly lessen depression and anxiety and improve cognitive functioning, according to a presentation at the American Psychological Associations 123rd Annual Convention.
Many hard of hearing people battle silently with their invisible hearing difficulties, straining to stay connected to the world around them, reluctant to seek help, said David Myers, PhD, a psychology professor and textbook writer at Hope College in Michigan who lives with hearing loss.
In a National Council on Aging study of 2,304 people with hearing loss, those who didnt wear hearing aids were 50 percent more likely to suffer from sadness or depression than people who did wear them, he said. Additionally, hearing aid users were much more likely to participate in social activities regularly.
Anger, frustration, depression and anxiety are all common among people who find themselves hard of hearing, Myers said. Getting people to use the latest in hearing aid technology can help them regain control of their life and achieve emotional stability and even better cognitive functioning.
Making public spaces directly hearing aid accessible is psychologically important for people with hearing loss, Myers said.
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What Else Should I Know
If your child is diagnosed with a hearing problem, the audiologist will work closely with doctors, speech-language therapists, and education specialists to create a treatment plan for your child.
It also can help to meet other families of kids with hearing loss. Reach out to a local support group or ask a member of your care team about local programs where you can connect.
You also can find more information and support online at:
History And Evaluations For Hearing Loss
Patients with cognitive symptoms should be evaluated for hearing loss, even those who have not noted this problem. Before the evaluation, it is essential for the physician to take a thorough history. To determine if a patient has a peripheral hearing disorder, some questions to ask include:
When did hearing decline begin? When did cognitive changes begin, and do they relate to hearing changes? Has the hearing loss deteriorated, fluctuated, or improved since onset? Is there a tendency to increase the TV volume and ask people to speak louder? Is there trouble following conversation with background noise or over a loud phone line? What is your current or previous occupation, and did you have exposure to a noisy environment? Have you had any music training and has this been affected by your hearing changes?
The following questions may help determine whether a patient has a central cerebral disorder:
Do you have trouble locating sounds, such as alarms, mobile phones, or many people speaking in the same room? Do you only have problems understanding speech but other sounds are well recognized? Do you have trouble understanding a persons tone of voice, such as being angry or upset?
Measurements of speech-in-noise perception more closely reflect the real world hearing impairment than pure tone audiometry. If these measurements are out of proportion to basic hearing loss tests, it is likely that auditory cortical processing is impaired.
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What Causes Hearing Loss
Loud noises frequently cause hearing loss. Sometimes this exposure is sudden and short-term. Attending a loud concert or being close to a gun blast can damage hearing.
Long-term noise exposure affects many professions. Farmers, construction workers, musicians and military members are most at risk. Occupational hearing loss is a top work-related illness in the U.S.
Other risk factors that raise your likelihood of hearing loss include:
- Congenital conditions such as cytomegalovirus .
Can Hearing Come Back After A Year
Your hearing normally returns to normal once the blockage is cleared, and thats the good news. Damage based loss of hearing: But around 90 percent of hearing loss is accounted for by another, more prevalent cause. This kind of hearing loss, which is usually irreversible, is known as sensorineural hearing loss.
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How To Help Someone With Hearing Loss
It can be difficult to talk to a friend or loved one about hearing loss. Its important to find a good time to have the conversation. Be mindful of the fact that it may be a sensitive topic for them.
They may be experiencing lowered confidence as a result of their hearing loss. With this in mind, be understanding and supportive in your approach. Here are a few tips for talking to someone about hearing loss:
- Prepare yourself for the conversation
- Find a comfortable place to talk
- Show compassion and support
Beyond Understanding That Your Dog May Be Hearing Things You Dont Its Also Important To Think About The Sounds We Use To Communicate With Our Dogs
- Short staccato sounds like snapping your fingers, clicking your tongue or making a kissy noise with your lips will sometimes get your dogs attention better than, Fido, come.
- The tone of your voice can also be important. Does your dog get excited when you say Do you want to go for a walk? In her book Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz suggests this experiment. Instead of saying Do you want to go for a walk, try saying Do you want to snow forty locks using the very same tone you always use. Horowitz suggests that many, if not most, dogs would still get excited.
- Initial sounds also seem to be important. There is some belief that when we are talking to our dogs they only hear the first word or first sound before reacting. So thinking about the example above, it could be that all your dog has to hear is Do and he reacts with excitement.
- You need to choose your words carefully. There has also been some research that indicates dogs may not be real good at distinguishing similarly sounding words from each other. So before you name your puppy Bo, like the first family did, you might want to think about whether your puppy would understand when you said No, Bo.
Maybe the most important thing to remember about how your dog hears is that it is only one sense your dog uses to understand his world and to understand you. In previous blogs Ive written about the other senses sight and smell both of which your dog uses in combination with his hearing.
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An Inability To Communicate
More than any other sense, hearing is critical to our ability to communicate with each other. Certainly, touch and sight are useful in helping convey and interpret emotion to see and feel whats going on around us. Our hearing, however, allows us to put things into a specific context other senses cannot.
Thinkabout your world if you were unable to hear the following:
- Kids laughing.
- The lyrics of a song.
- The dialogue from a movie.
- Someone saying I love you.
Itsnot just the positive aspects of sound wed miss out on either. Hearing worksas a warning system. It can alert us to danger or aide in sensing when othersare in distress, allowing us to intervene.
Imagineif you couldnt hear the cries of a baby or tornado sirens or a fire alarm.
Hearingloss may also lead to a person feeling isolated or alone. Communication is abasic tenet of how humans interact. The inability to hear others speak can leadto poor work performance, sparse social interaction, or an individualwithdrawing from those with whom they are close.
Studieshave shown that hearing loss may even lead to dementia in olderpatients, with years of struggling to hear and the social isolation that comeswith it, taking its toll.
Aswith the other senses, its easy to take our hearing for granted. When itworks, we pay little attention to our capacity to hear and rarely thinkanything of it. That, however, is starting to change. Based on recentstatistics, hearing loss is a growing health concern for many.
Prepare For An Adjustment Period
The neuroplasticity on display in your brain is usually a good thing, helping you to adjust to changing circumstances. But researchers do point to a couple of moments when it could get a bit awkward.
Lets say that youre finally going to pick up a pair of hearing aids. Youre tired of reading lips, and who can blame you? But when you first put those hearing aids in, the clarity of speech is lackinga lot. Its hard for you to understand what anyone is saying, even though the volume of the speech seems okay.
This happens because the audio centers of your brain are now accustomed to working with visual information, not audio stimuli. The pathways have been repurposed. It will take some time, but they will readjust again.
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