Hearing Loss : A Common Health Problem

Now getting older, I see the effects that hearing loss has had on me. For one, I will admit to having the worst vocabulary skills (thank goodness for a dictionary and thesaurus). For two, I get tongue twisted a lot and do not

The ear is an extraordinary human organ that many people take for granted until it doesn’t function. It is the only device that allows the human to hear sounds in their environment. The ear is made up of many parts that distinguish various sounds through different means. The ear anatomy and physiology along with how sound waves are transmitted into meaningful sounds will help one understand how hearing loss occurs.

Long-term noise exposure is an example; this is due to the damage that the noise exposure can have on the sensory hair cells. Sensory hair cells are what allow you to hear and if damaged the ability to hear is reduced and these hair cells do not grow back. As Colin was a car mechanic this meant he will have been in contact and close proximity to loud equipment and machinery daily, this could have had a detrimental effect to his hearing and prevented him from hearing Mary. Other environmental factors include ototoxic drugs, genetic factors and cell damage and neural degeneration which are common effects of aging. Ototoxic drugs can effect hearing as they can damage the inner ear including the hair cells and also the auditory nerve, this is important as it carries the sound information to the

There are hundreds of thousands of older people who sadly experience the difficulty of not being able to hear high pitched sounds. This can normally happen because of the sensitivity with the nerve cells in which can possibly result in hearing loss. Some of the older generation can start to experience an unwanted build-up of ear wax which can be quite painful and could eventually block the transmission of sound from getting to them.

Deafness can be the result of many different causes such as otitis media (middle ear infections), hereditary disorders, genetic mutations at birth, prenatal exposure to certain diseases such as meningitis, and trauma to the eardrum or auditory nerves. (Better Health Channel, 2013)

Once a senior has a hearing loss identified, there are a number of different treatment options. From hearing aids and assistive devices to surgery, most hearing problems can be fixed or moderated. While your senior loved one may initially feel self-conscious or embarrassed about their hearing issue, hearing aid, or assistive device, senior care personnel can slowly, lovingly, and compassionately help them through the

Hearing loss isn’t rare because it is estimated 50 million Americans suffer from hearing loss. The authors state this in the title of her book about the many millions of individuals affected by hearing loss. Hearing loss isn’t confined by age. The author developed her hearing loss at the early age of 30 but the significant onset of adult hearing loss occurs between the ages of 19 and 44. People usually think that hearing loss only affects the older generation, but we learn that it can affect individuals

Age is the most common factor in increasing hearing loss. About 30 percent of people between 65 and 74 experience some difficulty in hearing. That percentage and the severity of the loss increase with age.

Noise induced hearing loss affects the hair cells of the cochlea and typically develops over years of exposure to noise (Kirchner et al., 2009). Although noise induced hearing loss typically develops over years, noise trauma occurs after one incidence of excessive noise exposure, such as an explosive blast or fireworks. Due to the nature of noise exposure, a noise induced hearing loss typically occurs bilaterally; however, in certain environments, asymmetrical hearing losses can occur as the result of noise exposure (Bess & Humes, 2009; Kirchner et al., 2012). Currently, there is no treatment for noise induced hearing loss. Nevertheless, hearing loss can easily be prevented by limiting noise levels and time of exposure (Fligor, 2011). Approximately 10 million Americans are currently suffering from noise induced hearing loss and an additional 30 to 50 million Americans are exposed to excessive noise levels each day (Fligor, 2011). In recent decades, noise induced hearing loss has become one of the leading occupational hazards in

One example of our hearing being affected is by noise. Everyday we live our life with many different noises coming from all over the place.Hearing loss from noise can happen to anybody at any age. Close to 24% of American adults from ages 20 - 60 have shown hearing loss from one or both ears during hearing test due to loud noises. As this starts to happen you may realize your hearing becoming more muffled.

Young children often receive hearing tests as part of their childhood well checks and many doctors recommend that elderly patients get their hearing checked regularly. Hearing loss affects people of all ages and may occur so gradually that it may not be noticeable until the loss is significant. Untreated hearing loss is associated with decreased cognitive, social and psychological function. If any of the following situations apply to you, make an appointment for a hearing exam.

Increasingly Millennials are starting to experience hearing loss as they grow older. Hearing loss means individuals often can’t make out T’s and K’s. When people listen to music they want to cancel out outside sound however, earbuds don’t cancel out much noise at all. Headphone that either rest on or go around the ear cancel more sound then regular earbuds. Earbud users listen to music at a higher volume to try to cancel out outside sound. This topic is extremely good to inform people because teenagers or adults needs to know that headphones and earbuds are damaging their ears. Listening for an hour with a high volume can permanent ruining your hearing. Virginia Heffernan is not effective at persuading Millennials that headphones are destroying

Thanks to advance technology, people with hearing loss now have options to choose what is the most ideal treatment for them. Before we jump on different hearing loss treatment, let us first discuss on what kind of hearing loss condition a person can have. Because your choice of hearing loss treatmet depends on the condition that you have.

Hearing loss is common among the older generation, yet many times seniors with age-related hearing loss do not realize they have trouble hearing. They do not realize they are turning the television or radio up louder, they do not know that they are talking louder or mumbling, and they do not know just how many times they have to ask for clarification or a repeated sentence when talking to people.

Hearing loss can simply be defined s a partial or total loss of hearing and can be classified into three main types viz; Conductive loss where mainly the outer or middle ear function is affected, sensorineural hearing loss which involves the damage to cochlea or the auditory nerve and mixed hearing loss having both conductive as well as sensorineural components present. Mechanism involved in normal hearing is very complex. Sound waves enter the outer ear and set the tympanic membrane into vibrations. These vibrations are conveyed via the ossicular chain to the inner ear through the oval window setting the inner ear fluids and the basilar membrane in motion. These vibrations take form of “travelling wave” that travels from the base of the cochlea to the apex. This wave peaks at the place tuned to the frequency and dies away rapidly. These in turn stimulate the sensory hair cells of organ of Corti which activate the auditory nerve and the signal is now a neural code that can be processed by the nervous system (Gelfand, 2009). Damage to any part of the ear, thus disrupts the hearing mechanism and results in hearing loss of varying degrees depending on the severity and the site of destruction. Ototoxicity, trauma, noise exposure, ageing, infections , tumors, temporal bone fracture etc are few of the many other reasons that disrupt the hearing mechanism and elevate the hearing thresholds. Prevalence of hearing loss dropping with age has been well documented and falls below 35%