Hearing Loss - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Impairments in hearing can happen in either frequency or intensity, or both. Hearing loss severity is based on how well a person can hear the frequencies or intensities most often associated with speech. Severity can be described as mild, moderate, severe, or profound. The term "deaf" is sometimes used to describe someone who has an approximately 90 dB or greater hearing loss or who cannot use hearing to process speech and language information, even with the use of hearing aids.

Causes of Hearing Loss

How you hear

Hearing occurs when sound waves reach the structures inside your ear, where the sound wave vibrations are converted into nerve signals that your brain recognizes as sound.

Middle ear fluid

Serious infections, such as meningitis

Head injury

Listening to very loud music, especially through headphones

Repeated exposure to loud sounds, such as machinery

Common causes of deafness in children include inherited conditions, infection during pregnancy, meningitis, head injury and glue ear.

Common temporary causes include earwax, infection, glue ear and foreign body obstruction.

Hearing Loss Symptoms

If hearing loss is sudden, it may be from trauma or a problem with blood circulation. A gradual onset is suggestive of other causes such as aging or a tumor.

Some people may have a hearing problem without realizing it. Others might think they have a problem, but are too embarrassed to tell their doctor, friends, or family. You can help identify a possible hearing problem by asking yourself some key questions and, if necessary, having your hearing checked by a doctor.

The first sign of a noise-induced hearing loss is not hearing high-pitched sounds, like the singing of birds, or not understanding speech when in a crowd or an area with a lot of background noise. If the damage goes on, hearing declines further, and lower pitched sounds become hard to understand.

Treatment of Hearing Loss

When a hearing aid does not give enough amplification, as with profound deafness, a cochlear implant - sometimes known as a bionic ear - may help.

This device transmits sound directly into the auditory nerve via electrodes which are surgically implanted into the cochlea. The results of a cochlear implant vary between people, and it is hard to tell how useful it will be before it is implanted.

Home Care

Wax build-up can frequently be flushed out of the ear (gently) with ear syringes (available in drug stores) and warm water. Wax softeners (like Cerumenex) may be needed if the wax is hard and impacted.

Care should be taken when removing foreign bodies. Unless it is easy to get to, have your health care provider remove the object. Don't use sharp instruments to remove foreign bodies.

Hearing Loss Prevention

Protect your ears in the workplace. Specially designed earmuffs that resemble earphones can protect your ears by bringing most loud sounds down to an acceptable level. Foam, pre-formed, or custom-molded earplugs made of plastic or rubber also can effectively protect your ears from damaging noise.