Thursday, February 27, 2014

What are the signs and symptoms of hearing loss?

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We learn about What is hearing loss and what causes hearing loss. Today we will find out whether you have hearing loss, we will be covering the signs and symptoms of hearing loss.

Let us look at what are the symptoms of hearing loss.

Taken from Mayo Clinic, 
  1. Muffling of speech and other sounds
  2. Difficulty understanding words, especially against background noise or in a crowd of people
  3. Frequently asking others to speak more slowly, clearly and loudly
  4. Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio
  5. Withdrawal from conversations
  6. Avoidance of some social settings
Next we look at University of Califonia San Francisco (UCSF) Says about the signs and symptoms of Hearing loss.

"Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Permanent hearing loss occurs when inner ear nerves become damaged and do not properly transmit their signals to the brain. Those who suffer from this condition may complain that people seem to mumble or that they hear, but do not understand, what is being said. The aging process is a very common cause of sensorineural hearing loss. As we get older, the inner ear nerves and sensory cells gradually die. The condition is not often medically or surgically treatable. In most cases, the symptoms can be significantly minimized with hearing aids.
In addition to aging, sensorineural hearing loss may be caused by:
  • Injury
  • Excessive noise exposure
  • Viral infections, such as measles or mumps
  • Ototoxic drugs, which are medications that damage hearing
  • Meningitis
  • Diabetes
  • Stroke
  • High fever
  • Meniere's disease
  • Acoustic tumors
  • Heredity

Conductive Hearing Loss

These disorders can be either temporary or permanent. They are caused by problems in either the outer or middle ear, which prevent sound from reaching the inner ear. People who experience this condition may find that voices and sounds appear faint. Many forms of conductive hearing loss can be helped medically or surgically. Some common causes of this condition include:
  • Infection of the ear canal or middle ear
  • Fluid in the middle ear
  • Perforation or scarring of the eardrum
  • Wax build-up
  • Unusual growths or tumors in the ear
  • Otosclerosis, a condition in which there is an abnormal growth of bone of the middle ear. This bone prevents structures within the ear from working properly and causes hearing loss. For some people with otosclerosis, the hearing loss may become severe.

Mixed Hearing Loss

Some people have a combination of both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss.
Hearing loss is often gradual and not immediately noticed by the person affected. Sometimes friends or family will notice a person's hearing problems before the person with the hearing loss recognizes it. For instance, family members may complain that the person with hearing loss listens to the television or radio too loud and often ask them to repeat what they've just said. Or, that the person with hearing loss doesn't answer the telephone or doorbell because they didn't hear it ringing.
Although each person may experience symptoms of hearing loss differently, some of the most common symptoms may include:
  • Inability to hear people clearly and fully. People may seem to mumble and those experiencing hearing loss may not hear all parts of a conversation. For instance, someone with hearing loss may miss the essence of a story or punch line of a joke that someone just told.
  • Frequent requests for repetition or clarification.
  • Tendency to need to stare at people when they are talking in order to make it easier to understand what they are saying.
  • Fatigue at the end of the day from straining to hear.
  • Avoidance of social situations because of difficulty following conversations in noisy environments.
  • Tendency to bluff when not hearing someone because of the fear of asking them to repeat themselves.
Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center." (UCSF)
Do you have the symptoms above? Come do a hearing test. CLICK HERE to online hearing test.

Hope you enjoyed reading this simple post on the signs and symptoms of hearing loss. 

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

What causes Hearing Loss?

3 Types of hearing loss 

We learn previously hearing loss can be divided into 3 types : 

     1. Conductive Hearing Loss
     2. Sensorineural hearing loss
     3. Mixed hearing loss

After knowing the different types of hearing loss now let us look at the cause of hearing loss. 

What causes hearing loss? 

 1. Conductive Hearing Loss

Recap again, conductive hearing is the damage of the outer ear like the eardrum. 

This is caused by any blockage that prevents sound reaching the inner ear. This might include:
  • A build-up of earwax
  • Fluid in the middle ear
  • Unusual bone growth in the middle ear
  • Middle ear infections
  • Small holes in the eardrum
Conductive hearing loss is not necessarily permanent and can often be corrected medically or surgically. Read more here.....

2. Sensorineural hearing loss

This is the most common type of hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by damage to the tiny hair cells in the ear that help transmit sound to your brain. These can bend or break due to:
  • Exposure to very loud noises
  • Genetic disposition
  • Virus infections in the inner ear
  • Certain medical treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation
  • Head injury
  • Age
The effects are almost always the same – it becomes harder to distinguish speech from noise, certain high-pitched sounds such as birdsong disappear altogether, people seem to be mumbling and you often have to ask them to repeat themselves.

Sensorineural hearing loss is permanent and can’t be corrected medically, but a hearing aid can almost always help. Read more here....
 Let us now watch a meaningful video : Deaf Boy hears Father's voice for the first time. 



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What is Hearing Loss?

What is hearing loss?



hahahaha Looks like Grandma has hearing problem or hearing loss.

Let us look what really is Hearing loss today.

We will be covering on the types of hearing loss and the degree of hearing loss.

Types of Hearing Loss 

1. Conductive hearing loss
2. Sensorineural hearing loss
3. Mixed hearing loss

Conductive hearing loss

American Speech language Hearing Association defines conductive hearing loss as -  Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is not conducted efficiently through the outer earcanal to the eardrum and the tiny bones (ossicles) of the middle ear. Conductive hearing loss usually involves a reduction in sound level or the ability to hear faint sounds. This type of hearing loss can often be corrected medically or surgically.

Take a look at the video that explains conductive hearing loss.


Sensorineural hearing loss

Conductive hearing loss is about the outer ear, sensorineural hearing loss in the damage of the inner ear,  or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Can this be treated? 

The answer is no.

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) occurs when there is damage to the inner ear (cochlea), or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Most of the time, SNHL cannot be medically or surgically corrected. This is the most common type of permanent hearing loss. 




Mixed hearing loss

What are mixed hearing loss? 

It is the combination of sensineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss. 

Check this video out that explains about mixed hearing loss. 




Degree of hearing loss 

How severe can a hearing loss be? Check out the table below for the various degree of hearing loss.

Degree of hearing lossHearing loss range (dB HL)
Normal–10 to 15
Slight16 to 25
Mild26 to 40
Moderate41 to 55
Moderately severe56 to 70
Severe71 to 90
Profound91+
Source: Clark, J. G. (1981). Uses and abuses of hearing loss classification.Asha, 23, 493–500. 
American Speech Language Association 

Hope this help us understand more about hearing loss today.

Let us all recap - hearing loss can be divided into 3 types - conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss and a mixed hearing loss. 

A simple way to  differentiate conductive hearing loss and sensorineutral hearing loss is the damage of hearing. Conductive hearing loss is the damage of outer ear and sensorineural hearing loss it the damage of inner where most of the time it is permanently hearing loss. A mixed hearing loss is the combination of both conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss. 

If you are interested to know more about hearing loss and seeking for a treatment?

All you need to do is CLICK HERE and find more. 


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