Hearing loss
Hearing loss is when you’re unable to partially or completely hear sound in one or both of your ears.
It may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards.
Symptoms of hearing loss may include
- Muffling of speech and other sounds.
- Staying clear of some social settings.
- Being bothered by background noise.
- Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio.
- Often asking others to speak more slowly, clearly and loudly.
- Trouble hearing the letters of the alphabet that aren’t vowels.
- Trouble understanding words, especially when in a crowd or a noisy place.
Types of hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss occurs when sounds aren’t able to travel from the outer ear to the eardrum and the bones of the middle ear. This type of hearing loss isn’t always permanent. Medical or surgical interventions can treat it. Sometimes, it can be corrected with wax removal. Conductive hearing loss can be the result of: ear infections, allergies, swimmer’s ear, or buildup of wax in the ear.
SNHL is a type of hearing loss in which the root cause lies in the inner ear or sensory organ (cochlea and associated structures) or the vestibulocochlear nerve (cranial nerve VIII). This type of hearing loss is usually permanent. SNHL can result from: aging, Congenital inner ear malformation, Sudden hearing loss—may be caused by a virus, loud noises, Head trauma, Benign tumor—called vestibular schwannoma, or Meniere’s disease.
With a mixed hearing loss there is at the same time damage to the outer and middle ear’s ability to conduct sound into the inner ear and the brain and damage to the inner ear (cochlea) or auditory nerve. In these cases, you may need treatment such as wax removal, medication, or surgery in addition to hearing aids.
Degree of hearing loss
To determine how severe your hearing loss is, an audiologist will conduct a hearing test. Your degree of hearing loss is assessed by how loud sounds have to be for you to hear them. It’s measured in decibels of hearing loss,
or dB HL
