Understanding hearing loss

Hearing loss is a gradual process associated with aging. It’s also a common problem that affects many of us – one that can be effectively confronted.

If you are experiencing hearing loss, you may have difficulty in following conversations. You may have a hard time understanding words that are spoken softly, even more so if surrounded by noise. Hearing loss leads initially to lost perception of some sounds, particularly high-pitched tones. Words are heard with some of the frequencies missing and are then wrongly interpreted.

The greatest difficulty you may have is hearing in settings that are in the middle of noise, like a conversation held in traffic or in a car or when several people are talking at once.

Types of hearing loss
Circulatory diseases, metabolic disturbances and ear infections can be responsible for hearing loss, but the natural aging process is often the beginning of the problem. Noise pollution is one of the leading culprits. Here are different types of hearing loss.

Conductive
The conductive organ is the outer and middle ear. Hearing loss here could be the result of an obstruction like an accumulation of wax in the ear canal, perforation of the eardrum, or an infection or disease.

Sensorineural
This type of hearing loss affects the inner ear (the sound-sensing hair cells and auditory nerve) which becomes incapable of transforming vibrations into the correct nerve impulses. The first hair cells to be damaged are the ones that pick up shrill sounds, like the ring of a telephone or doorbell and consonants in language.

Then at a certain point, you may begin to hear without fully understanding. People talking louder may only add to the confusion. Conversations may become unclear and the voices of women and children and the telephone may become nearly impossible to hear.

Mixed
This refers to hearing loss that affects both the middle and inner ear.

Central
The hearing center is located in the brain. Sometimes sounds sent from the ear are incorrectly interpreted, even though they reach the brain.

Tinnitus
With this condition, you may hear noise, sounds and/or buzzing in the ears which may or may not be associated with hearing loss.