It is often difficult to realize just when hearing loss occurs. It is a natural aging process and can often happen gradually. Difficulty hearing can often go unnoticed. It is important to familiarize yourself with the common signs of hearing loss.

Hearing Loss Causes can be due to headphones to our personal recreation choices, we’re constantly exposed to harmful levels of sound. Activities that can be harmful to your hearing include: live music concerts, video arcades, movie theaters, health clubs and aerobic studios, sporting events, motorboats, motorcycles, and snowmobiles.

Signs of Hearing Loss: Do you notice that:

• It sounds to you as though people are mumbling or speaking more softly than they used to.
• You are turning up the volume on the TV or radio above the level where others typically listen.
• You can hear people talk, but you have difficulty understanding the words.
• You frequently ask people to repeat themselves.
• You can't always hear the doorbell or telephone clearly.
• Family, colleagues and friends suggest you might have a hearing problem.
• It has become difficult to understand a speaker at a business meeting or service.
• It is especially difficult to hear women or children speak.
• You often hear a ringing or buzzing in your ears.
• You might notice a slight muffling of sound after noise exposure.
• It can be difficult to hear or understand people when you leave a noisy area.

If you answered yes to a majority of these questions, it is time to seek help from your Hearing Advantage Professional.

For more information on common symptoms, causes and treatments for hearing loss, please visit the following sites:

• MicroTech Pro
• Alexander Graham Bell Assoc. for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Better Hearing Institute
• Hear It
• International Hearing Society
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Hearing Loss: Self Help for Hard of Hearing People
• Starkey Hearing Foundation
• http://www.nbc-his.com/

 

The improved ability to hear has a tremendous impact on the quality of life for both those with a hearing loss and thier families. Having a good understanding of how your hearing works and then knowing your options for the best help available through today's advanced hearing aid technology will help you make the right choice in amplification - and to use your new hearing instruments to thier fullest potential.

• How Our Hearing Works

 As sound passes through the ear, it sets off a chain   reaction that could be compared to the toppling of a row of dominos. First, the outer ear collects pressure(or sound) waves and funnels them through the ear canal. These vibrations strike the eardrum, then the delicate bones of the middle ear conduct the vibrations to the fluid in the inner ear. This stimulates thetiny nerve endings,    called hair cells, which transform the vibrations into electro-chemical impulses. The impulses travel to the brain where they are understood as sounds that you recognize.

  

 

• Types of Hearing Loss

A number of conditions can exist that cause a disruption in the hearing process and lead to hearing loss. The two most common types of hearing loss are sensori neural and conductive.

1. Sensori - Neural Hearing Loss

Sensori - Nueral (or "nerve" hearing loss) results from damage to the hair cells , nerve fibers or both in the inner ear. This is the most common type of hearing loss and is often caused by aging or prolonged exposure to noise. It can also be caused by a high fever, birth defects, and certain drugs. People with a sensori neural hearing loss can hear speech, but frequently have difficulty understanding it. The problem is usually compounded when background noise is present. Sensori neural hearing loss is most commonly treated by the use of a hearing instrument, and generally cannot be corrected through surgery or medicine.

  2. Conductive Hearing Loss

Conductive hearing loss typically involves an obstuction in the outer or middle ear, which reduces transmission of sound vibration through air, bone, or tissue to the inner ear. Fortunately, may conductive hearing losses can be treated successfully by medical or surgical procedures. Hearing istruments can also successfully treat conductive hearing loss. Persons with both conductive and sensori-neural hearing loss are commonly referred to as having mixed hearing loss. Most of these cases can be helped by either a hearing instrument or medical intervention.

• Symptoms of Hearing Loss

You should suspect a hearing loss if you:

 1. Have a family history of hearing loss

 2. Have been repeatedly exposed to high noise levels

 3. Are inclined to believe that "everybody mumbles" or "people don't speak as clearly as they used to"

 4. Feel growing nervous tention, irritability, or fatigue from the effort to hear

 5. Find yourself straining to understand conversations and watching people's faces intensify when you are listening

 6. Frequently misunderstand or need to have things repeated

 7. Increase the television or radio volume to a point that others complain of loudness

 8. Have diabetes, heart, thyroid, circulation problems, reoccurring ear  infections, constant ringing in the ears, diziness, or exposure to ototoxic drugs or medication