One in 5 Americans Has Hearing Loss…
One in five Americans has hearing loss, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, and even minor hearing loss can have a profound impact on your well-being. Untreated hearing loss can affect your emotional health, causing anger, depression, anxiety, lack of focus, and fatigue. Untreated hearing loss can cause social problems, such as isolation and reduced social activity. And because good communication is key to maintaining healthy relationships, untreated hearing loss can strain relationships – at home, work, etc.
Furthermore, one study found individuals with “mild hearing loss were twice as likely to develop dementia as those with normal hearing, those with moderate hearing loss were three times more likely, and those with severe hearing loss had five times the risk.”
How We Hear
The ear consists of three major parts – the outer, middle, and inner ear. Sound waves enter the outer ear and cause vibrations in the eardrum, which are amplified by the eardrum and three bones in the middle ear. These vibrations pass through fluid in the cochlea (the inner ear), where thousands of tiny hairs translate those vibrations into electrical signals before transmitting them to your brain. Hearing loss can occur if any part of the ear is damaged.
Five Causes of Hearing Loss
Aging
Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a common problem for older adults. About one in three Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 has some hearing loss. Typically, age-related hearing loss occurs gradually and affects both ears. There can be many causes, but presbycusis is often the result of changes in the inner ear as we age.
Loud Noises
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) can occur with a one-time exposure to an extremely loud sound – such as firecrackers, guns, and jet engines- or from repeated exposure to loud sounds – such as power tools, headsets at high volume, and loud concerts. NIHL results from damage to the tiny hairs in the inner ear (cochlea).
Heredity
Individuals can inherit a mutated gene that causes hearing loss at birth or later in life. A person can also be a carrier, which means they have the mutated gene but don’t experience hearing loss; however, their children may experience hearing loss. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 50% to 60% of hearing loss in babies is due to genetic causes.
Some Medications
Ototoxic medications – such as large doses of aspirin, certain antibiotics, NSAIDs, certain chemotherapy drugs, and loop diuretics – can cause hearing loss, ringing in the ear, or balance disorders. There are more than 200 ototoxic medications – both prescription and over-the-counter – on the market today.
Some Illnesses
Illnesses, such as Meniere’s disease, middle ear infections, Usher’s syndrome, mumps, German measles, Paget’s disease, and otosclerosis, can contribute to hearing loss.
Other causes include a buildup of earwax, head traumas, abnormal bone growth, and tumors.
Hearing Loss Treatment
The bad news is that most hearing loss – regardless of the cause – can NOT be reversed. There are currently no drugs that can treat hearing loss, and surgeries – such as cochlear implants – are not typically recommended for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss.
The good news is that hearing aids – electronic, battery-operated devices that amplify and change sound – can help improve hearing for many people with hearing loss. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about 28.8 million U.S. adults could benefit from the use of hearing aids.
Precision Hearing Aid Center offers free hearing screening – including Air Pure Tones, Speech Reception Thresholds, Bone Conduction Pure Tones, and Otoscopy. During a comprehensive hearing evaluation, we focus on speech recognition to determine…
- Whether or not you have a hearing loss that is treatable with an aid device.
- If any underlying medical conditions should be addressed first.
- If hearing aids are appropriate, and to what extent can you expect them to help.
Concerned About Hearing Loss? Contact Us Today.
If you suspect that you or a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss, give us a call at 610-779-3205 or contact us online.