How To Know If You Have Hearing Loss

Do You Need To See A Doctor Right Away

Here’s a checklist to help you know if you should seek prompt medical treatment :

• Were you very recently exposed to several hours of loud noise?
• Have you recently had a cold or ear infection?
• Did you recently exercise very strenuously?
• Have you been under extreme stress?

If you answered no to all of these questions, it could be sudden sensorineural hearing loss, which requires prompt medical care.

Degree Of Hearing Loss

Results of the audiometric evaluation are plotted on a chart called an audiogram. Loudness is plotted from top to bottom top of the graph is very quiet and bottom of the graph is very loud. Frequency, or pitch, from low to high, is plotted from left to right. Hearing loss is measured in decibels and is described in general categories. Hearing loss is not measured in percentages. The general hearing loss categories used by most hearing professionals are as follows:

Normal hearing Mild hearing loss Moderate hearing loss Severe hearing loss Profound hearing loss

Difficulty Hearing Women And Children

When people first begin to experience hearing loss, they have more difficulty hearing women and children than they do men. This is because most people experience hearing loss at a higher frequency first, so they find it more difficult to hear people with higher voices, like women and children to start with.

Don’t Miss: Which Composer Experienced Hearing Loss During His Lifetime

Some Possible Signs Of Hearing Loss In A School

• Does not follow simple commands, such as get your shoes, or understand simple directions
• Is easily frustrated or experiences communication breakdowns
• Is falling behind with speech and communication skills
• Cannot understand what you are saying unless they are looking directly at you
• Cannot identify where sounds are coming from
• Is exhausted at the end of school from concentrating to understand speech
• Shows signs of behavioral problems or social difficulties
• Experiences problems keeping up at school or grades slipping

Prolongedexposure To Excessive Noise

While a single loud blast may temporarily worsen your hearing, repeated exposures to blasts or other loud noises can lead to permanent hearing loss. In fact, this the most common form of sensorineural hearing loss, which is permanent. Sensorineural refers to the ears’ nerves and tiny sensory cells that are easily damaged.

Recommended Reading: How To Pair Compilot With Hearing Aids

Lip Reading And Sign Language

Hearing loss can sometimes affect your speech, as well as your ability to understand other people. Many people with significant hearing loss learn to communicate in other ways instead of, or as well as, spoken English.

For people who experience hearing loss after they’ve learnt to talk, lip-reading can be a very useful skill. Lip-reading is where you watch a persons mouth movements while they’re speaking, to understand what they’re saying.

For people born with a hearing impairment, lip-reading is much more difficult. Those who are born with a hearing impairment often learn sign language, such as British Sign Language , which is a form of communication that uses hand movements and facial expressions to convey meaning.

BSL is completely different from spoken English and has its own grammar and syntax . Other types of sign language include Signed English and Paget Gorman Signed Speech.

How Is Hearing Loss Treated

In most people, hearing loss cannot be reversed, but there are treatments available that can help you improve your hearing, including:

• hearing aids
• cochlear implants and
• surgery

Technology, including some phone apps, can also help. You can find out more about technology for hearing loss at Hearing Australias website.

Find out more about hearing loss prevention and the Australian Governments hearing services program.

Read Also: How To Pair Compilot With Hearing Aids

What Causes Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can be caused by

• years of exposure to noise, which is especially true for people who work in loud environments, such as live music venues, mining, building or farming
• ear infections
• exposure to certain chemicals or medications including aspirin, some antibiotics and some cancer drugs
• listening to very loud music with headphones

Nearly everybody finds their hearing gets worse as they get older. In some cases, genetics plays a part and some families develop hearing problems earlier in life than other families.

When To See Your Gp

See your GP if you’re having problems with your hearing, or your child is showing signs of hearing difficulty. If you lose your hearing suddenly, in one or both ears, you must see your GP as soon as possible.

Your GP can check for any problems and may refer you to an audiologist or an ENT surgeon for further tests.

You can also visit the Action on Hearing Loss website for an online hearing test.

Read more about diagnosing hearing loss

Read Also: How To Pair Compilot With Hearing Aids

How To Tell If You Have Hearing Loss

Have you been thinking that its harder to tune in to discussions in a swarmed room? Do you strain to hear the hints of chirping? These might be signs that point to hearing loss. There are lots of people who keep on struggling with this question How to tell if you have hearing loss? We will talk about more about your listening ability and what you can do to ensure your ears!

You can purchase the latest hearing aids at a fair price through HearingSol, If you need more information or you have a query about Hearing Aid or Hearing Loss, just give us a call on +91-9899437202. We are always here to help you.

Trouble Understanding Phone Conversations

If you notice an increased difficulty with understanding phone conversations or hate using the phone as a means to communicate, it is likely due to not hearing them well. When we speak with someone face to face, we are able to pick up visual, non-verbal cues throughout the conversation. Phone conversations eliminate these visual cues requiring you to rely on hearing alone, which makes phone conversations frustrating for those with a hearing loss.

Recommended Reading: What Is Poop In Sign Language

Symptoms By Hearing Loss Type:

• High-frequency: high-pitched sounds are hard to hear
• Noise-notch: some high-pitched sounds are hard to hear
• Mid-range: mid-range sounds are hard to hear
• Low-frequency: low-pitched sounds are hard to hear
• Conductive : hearing loss from damage to middle or outer ear
• Sudden: hearing loss onset is rapid
• Flat: all pitches are hard to hear
• Single-sided: only one ear is affected
• : the hearing loss may go away

What To Do About Hearing Loss

Noticing that your hearing is changing can be very disturbing. For most people, hearing changes very slowly and the early stages often go unnoticed. It is often the case that others begin to notice that a person is not hearing as well as they used to but sometimes feel uncomfortable mentioning it.

Whether youve noticed it yourself and family or friends are making comments about your hearing, its extremely important not to delay having your hearing checked. There is overwhelming evidence that its a big mistake to ignore the signs that hearing is changing and affecting your ability to communicate as youve always done before.

Also Check: How Did Beethoven Hearing Loss Affect His Music

Early Symptoms Of Hearing Loss

Whether you have noise–induced hearing loss, progressive hearing loss from aging, or some other type of hearing loss that occurs over time, the symptoms largely look the same. Here are some common, early signs of hearing loss to watch for. If you’re experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it may be time for a hearing test. Hearing loss progression generally starts with one or more of the following experiences.

Volume And Clarity Are Affected

Sensorineural hearing loss is usually gradualyou don’t wake up overnight not being able to hear. Instead, you slowly lose the ability to hear. Both how loudly and how clearly you perceive sound are affected. You might also experience a phenomenon known as recruitment, which causes some louder sounds to be uncomfortable to listen to. For example, you once loved fireworks shows, but now find the booming sounds nearly unbearable.

Sensorineural hearing loss can affect all ranges of hearing, including the examples below. Some people may struggle to hear both low-pitched and high-pitched sounds, while others may only struggle with one range. One ear may hear better than the other, too. There’s wide variability among people, even with the same type of hearing loss. Have you had a hearing test, but don’t understand the results? This primer on how to read an audiogram can help.

Also Check: How To Pair Compilot With Hearing Aids

Four Levels Of Deafness

There are four levels of deafness or hearing impairment. These are:

• Mild deafness or mild hearing impairment: The person can only detect sounds between 25 and 29 decibels . They may find it hard to understand the words other people are saying, especially if there is a lot of background noise.
• Moderate deafness or moderate hearing impairment: The person can only detect sounds between 40 and 69 dB. Following a conversation using hearing alone is very difficult without using a hearing aid.
• Severe deafness: The person only hears sounds above 70 to 89 dB. A severely deaf person must either lip-read or use sign language in order to communicate, even if they have a hearing aid.
• Profound deafness: Anybody who cannot hear a sound below 90dB has profound deafness. Some people with profound deafness cannot hear anything at all, at any decibel level. Communication is carried out using sign language, lip-reading, or reading and writing.

Is Your Hearing Loss Temporary Or Permanent

Contributed by Joy Victory, managing editor, Healthy HearingLast updated June 16, 20202020-06-16T00:00:00-05:00

Have you noticed you’re not hearing as well as you normally do? There are many causes of hearing loss, from age-related hearing loss to viral infections like mumps.

Depending on the cause, your hearing loss may be temporary or permanent.

Read Also: Ear Infection During Early Pregnancy

General Signs Of Hearing Loss

It can be hard to tell if you’re losing your hearing. Other people may notice it before you do.

Early signs of hearing loss include:

• difficulty hearing other people clearly and misunderstanding what they say, especially in noisy places
• asking people to repeat themselves
• listening to music or watching TV with the volume higher than other people need
• difficulty hearing on the phone
• finding it hard to keep up with a conversation
• feeling tired or stressed from having to concentrate while listening

These problems are often caused by hearing loss that can happen as you get older. This is permanent, but treatments such as hearing aids can help.

What Can I Expect From My Hearing Aids

Unlike eyeglasses, hearing aids do not correct your hearing back to normal. Instead, hearing aids function to amplify sounds in a particular range of pitches the range where the hearing loss exists. Included in those sounds can be speech or environment sounds such as bells ringing, birds singing, conversations from nearby tables at a restaurant or busy traffic noise.

While the hearing aid technology today is excellent, the devices are still an aid and cannot separate the desired speech signal from the background noise as well as our brain and two normal functioning ears can. Therefore, it is important to employ communication strategies when using hearing aids in difficult listening environments.

You May Like: How To Turn On Hearing Aid Mode On Iphone

How To Get Help

If you recognize just one or two of these signs, your hearing may not be affected. Even people with perfectly normal hearing experience times where we have trouble understanding someone or hearing in challenging environments. However, if you frequently recognize more than a few of these signs or any other common hearing loss symptoms, getting a baseline hearing test is a good idea.

Hearing loss is well-understood and solutions to fit every budget exist. The testing is easy and painless, too. So, act today and call a hearing care professional near you to get back to hearing your best.

How To Know If You Need Ear Care And Hearing Aid

According to WHO, more than 430 million adults and 34 million children are facing hearing loss worldwide.

It could be because of heredity, chronic illness, head injury, trauma, ear infection, or a hundred different reasons.

Most of the people facing hearing loss are in denial, thereby causing more damage to their ears.

If treated in time, you might be able to save your hearing powers or at least get the right treatment at one-stop audiology services.

Before you seek treatment, you need to know if you need a hearing aid. So here are some things you must look out for.

Read Also: Are You Hungry In Sign Language

How To Tell If You Have A Hearing Loss

Its a question that many people ask themselves when theyre struggling to understand whats going on with their hearing.

The ABCs Victoria Rizzo recently did her own research, interviewing more than 10,000 Australians to learn more about hearing loss.

In the course of the research, she found that most Australians are suffering from hearing loss and that some are more vulnerable than others.

The main issue that people have with hearing loss is that they think theyre having a normal life, she said.

Its a condition that affects one in four Australians, according to the Australian Hearing Loss Society.

Rizzo says hearing loss can be a challenge for both people and society.

People are usually diagnosed with hearing impairment as early as the age of 20, but many dont know it, and can be left to cope with the condition on their own.

You dont necessarily know that youre having hearing loss until it starts affecting your ability to communicate or to use the bathroom, she explained.

While many people struggle with the symptoms, Rizzoo says that most people have the right conditions in place.

I think thats what makes it so difficult to talk about it, she noted.

Its very common to have hearing loss because its part of the social, cultural or physical life that you live.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to hearing loss, so its important to have people around you to support you and make sure that you have support.

Trouble Understanding Sound Source

People with healthy ears can easily figure out where the sound is coming from. That is because the sound travels at a different rate and reaches your ear at different times.

That helps one figure out the source of the sound.

But if you have hearing loss, you might not be able to tell the sound source or direction. Thats another reason to seek professional help.

Don’t Miss: Phonak Icom Pairing

Can You Hear Me Now

We recommend that you visit an audiologist if youre unsure if you have an ear clogged with wax or are experiencing symptoms of hearing loss. The audiologist will be able to examine your ears, check your hearing, and give you a definite diagnosis about whats going on.

If you found this article helpful and are in need of an audiologist in the Chicagoland area, get the conversation started with one of our specialists.

You Have Other Conditions Such As Diabetes Or Hypertension

Unfortunately, these conditions can carry audiological side effects. For example, hearing loss is twice as common in people with diabetes as it is in people without.

Another issue is hypertension, which can accelerate hearing degeneration in other words, higher blood pressure = worse hearing.

Then theres the issue of blood flow, which is crucial when it comes to the health of your ears. Inadequate blood flow throughout the body can also cause hearing loss.

Don’t Miss: American Sign Language Hungry

Questions To Determine Hearing Loss

1. Do I often ask individuals to repeat themselves?2. Do I actually have trouble following conversations with more than two people?3. Do I have complexity hearing what is said unless Im facing the speaker?4. Does it sound like others are mumbling or slurring their words?5. Do I struggle to listen to in crowded places like restaurants, malls, and meeting rooms?6. Do I have a solid time hearing women or children?7. Do I choose the TV or radio volume louder than others?8. Do I experience ringing or buzzing in my ears ?

If you answered yes many of these questions, the probability is you are doing suffer from hearing loss.

You May Have A Hearing Loss If:

• You hear people speaking but you have to strain to understand their words.

• You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.

• Copy of Feature List Item

  You dont laugh at jokes because you miss too much of the story or the punch line.

• You frequently complain that people mumble.

• Copy of Feature List Item

  You need to ask others about the details of a meeting you just attended.

• Copy of Feature List Item

  You play the TV or radio louder than your friends, spouse and relatives.

• Copy of Copy of Feature List Item

  You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone.

• You find that looking at people when they speak to you makes it easier to understand.

• You miss environmental sounds such as birds or leaves blowing.

• Copy of Copy of Copy of Feature List Item

  You find yourself avoiding certain restaurants because they are too noisy, or certain people, because you cannot understand them.

The audiogram it the roadmap that is used to create a prescription and program the hearing aids.

Don’t Miss: Phonak Icom Vs Compilot

You Struggle To Follow Conversations

Its not just TV and phones you might struggle to hear people in real life, too. Just like in our introduction, you might find yourself asking what? more often than youd like, frustrating yourself or the people you talk to.

This might be at its worst in louder environments, like crowded restaurants or windy parks, where the sound gets all mixed up and distorted.