Understanding Hearing Loss
Understanding
hearing loss...
Normal hearing
vs. impaired hearing Types and levels of hearing loss What you
can do about hearing loss Understanding hearing loss... According
to the Hearing Alliance of America, over 28 million Americans
suffer from a significant hearing loss. Nearly half of these
people under the age of 65. Hearing loss is the third leading
disability among people in the U.S., less only than arthritis
and hypertension.
Hearing
is one of the body's major senses, and a loss of that sense can
create severe obstacles in your life. Those who are hearing-impaired
may have difficulty understanding others, finding the source of a sound,
distinguishing sounds in their everyday environment, and following
a conversation with other people. Hearing loss causes a lack of comprehension,
and causes an increase in confusion, frustration, anxiety and stress.
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Normal hearing vs. impaired hearing
Before
you can understand what is considered normal hearing vs. impaired
hearing, you must first know how you are able to hear.
Hearing
is the process of sound traveling in air-conducted waves to your
outer ear (the visible portion of your ear). The sound is then
funneled into the ear canal where it strikes the eardrum, causing
it to vibrate. The eardrum's vibrating motion creates a commotion
in the middle ear.
The middle ear consists of the eardrum and three
bones: the malleus, the incus and the stapes. The vibrations
from the eardrum pushes these three bones into a rocking motion.
The base of the stapes transmits the motion to the inner ear,
where tiny hair cells along the inner ear become agitated. The
agitated hair cells arouse the auditory nerve, which then delivers
a signal to the brain. The brain recognizes this signal as sound.
A
hearing loss results when this path of sound is interrupted or
impeded.
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Types and levels of hearing loss
Hearing
loss is ranked in degrees of: mild, moderate, severe, and profound.
Hearing loss is characterized by ears also: unilateral (loss
of hearing in one ear) and bilateral (loss of hearing in both
ears). Hearing loss is also determined according to its location
across the range of speech frequencies, or "pitches." A
wide range of pitches is in everyday sounds and speech, such
as the high pitch of a bird tweeting (the high pitch is also
known as the "treble")
as opposed to the low pitch of a tuba (the low pitch also known
as the "base").
Usually a hearing loss does not affect all speech frequencies
and pitches the same.
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What you can do about hearing loss
The methods
for treating hearing loss depend on what type of hearing loss
you have. If your problem is located in the outer or middle part
of the ear, you may suffer from conductive
hearing loss, which is treatable
by medicine or surgery. If you have a disorder in the inner ear
or where the actual hearing nerve is located, you may suffer from sensorineural
hearing loss, a more permanet type of hearing loss. Fortunately,
hearing aids can offer significant help in combination with assistive
listening devices and speech-reading in overcoming hearing loss.
Right now,
the market is innundated with advertisements making extravagant
and untested claims targeted at you about hearing loss. Hearing aids
can provide benefit but, like all things, you need to make an educated
decision before committing to them. You can find more information
by visiting HearingPlanet.
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Types of hearing loss
Additional information about hearing aids
