Noise Induced Hearing Loss In Older Adults

Hearing loss continues to linger in the elderly population of today’s society. Yet, the onset of hearing loss can occur at any age and at any point in

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

Having a hearing impairment means that you have the impotence to assimilate what others around you are saying. The loss of hearing and its severity comes in many different levels. In more severe cases of deafness, like in Jacobs’ case, a hearing aid gives very little to no help at all. Jacobs’ disability brought him many challenges. In school he

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.

2. Hearing loss is one of the most common problems in older adults. Seniors with hearing loss can have difficulties communicating with family members, doctors, alarms and warning bells.

Hearing loss is one of the most common ailments faced by American seniors. In fact, nearly 36 million seniors have at least some hearing loss, with the majority of those individuals being more than 65 years of age. On the surface, the consequences of hearing loss may seem to be about the loss of a physical sense. In reality, the actual loss of hearing is the least of a senior's concerns.

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

Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions in the United States, affecting nearly 35 million, or 1 in 9, Americans. Hearing aids is a necessity in the life of someone who is hard-of-hearing, if they choose to use them. Furthermore of the 35 million living with hearing loss only 25% of them actually use a hearing aid, this means that around 26 million are living with untreated hearing loss (Audicus, 2014). Most of the reasoning behind

A study published in 2013 by Johns Hopkins University followed nearly 2,000 people with an average age of 77. Researchers found that people who had deafness that interfered with normal conservations were 24 percent more likely to have diminished cognitive functions. This particular study followed participants for six years. The basic conclusion was that hearing loss, especially in older adults, may speed up dementia and the decline of the brain.

There are four main types of hearing loss: auditory processing, conductive, sensorineural, and mixed. In auditory processing hearing loss, the brain has difficulty processing the information it receives from the inner ear. Conductive hearing loss occurs when the Outer or Middle ear are subjected to damage. A number of factors can yield conductive hearing loss; including problems as simple as an excess of ear wax to problems as complex as otosclerosis, which is abnormal bone growth in the ossicles. Sensorineural hearing loss typically occurs when the cochlea and/or nerve endings are damaged. Unlike conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss is almost always permanent. Over-exposure to a loud environment, or even old age, are the most common factors that lead to sensorineural hearing loss.

When you look at someone that you have never met before, you don’t immediately assume that they are deaf, but so much of the population in the world are deaf. One in five hundred children in America are born without the ability to hear, and usually are born to parents that do have hearing. “Hearing loss in adults can either be inherited from your parents or acquired from illness, ototoxic (ear-damaging) drugs, exposure to loud noise, tumors, head injury, or the aging process. This loss may occur by itself or with tinnitus (ringing in the ears).” (ASHA). Fifteen percent of the american population over the of 18 have hearing problems that could last their entire life. This is some much of the population, and we don’t give it enough recognition.

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.

First I will explain how hearing loss works, So it may be no surprise that loud sounds can damage hearing, but what actually happens is that the pain is caused by damage to the nerves in your ear. For example, if you hear something really loud close to your ear the nerves get hit by a huge wave of sound that can damage your hearing. Furthermore, there is the question

Walton (2014) stated “The prevalence of deafness has been increasing rapidly over the last 30 years. Since 1971 deafness has gone from about 13 million to almost 30 million (Walton, 2014). Of all the students with an IEP under IDEA, almost 2% of them are classified with hearing disabilities and that is not accounting for the others with comorbidity” (Walton 2014). Some people are born deaf whereas others acquire a hearing loss. There is no genetic disposition for being deaf although some disorders and diseases are associated with hearing loss. Hearing is characterized by degrees, types, and patterns of hearing loss. The variations in hearing loss mean no two people experience deafness the same way even if their hearing loss is the same.