Hearing loss problems aren’t always resolved by cranking up the volume. Here’s something to think about: Lots of people are unable to understand conversations even though they are able to hear soft sounds. That’s because hearing loss is often uneven. Specific frequencies are muted while you can hear others without any problem.
Hearing Loss Comes in Numerous Types
- Conductive hearing loss is caused by a mechanical issue in the ear. It could be a congenital structural issue or due to an ear infection or excessive wax accumulation. Your root condition, in many circumstances, can be managed by your hearing specialist and they can, if necessary, recommend hearing aids to help fill in any remaining hearing impairment.
- Sensorineural hearing loss is more common and caused by problems with the delicate hairs, or cilia, in the inner ear. These hairs move when they detect sound and send out chemical messages to the auditory nerve, which transmits them to the brain for translation. These delicate hairs do not heal when damaged or destroyed. This is why the ordinary aging process is frequently the cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Over the course of our lives, sensorineural hearing loss increases because we expose ourselves to loud noise, have underlying health issues, and take certain medications.
Symptoms of Sensorineural Hearing Loss
You may hear a little better if people speak louder to you, but it isn’t going to completely address your hearing loss issues. Specific sounds, including consonant sounds, can become difficult to hear for individuals who have sensorineural hearing loss. Despite the fact that people around them are talking clearly, someone with this condition might think that everyone is mumbling.
When someone is dealing with hearing loss, the frequency of consonants often makes them difficult to make out. Pitch is measured in hertz (Hz), and the majority of consonants register in our ears at a higher pitch than other sounds. Depending on the voice of the person talking, a short “o”, for instance, will register between 250 and 1,000 hertz. But consonants including “f” or “s” will be anywhere from 1,500 to 6,000 hertz. Due to damage to the inner ear, these higher pitches are difficult to hear for people who have sensorineural hearing loss.
Because of this, simply speaking louder is not always helpful. If you can’t understand some of the letters in a word like “shift,” it won’t make much difference how loudly the other person speaks.
How do Hearing Aids Help?
Hearing Aids fit in your ears helping sound reach your auditory system more directly and get rid of some of the environmental noise you would normally hear. Also, the frequencies you are unable to hear are amplified and mixed with the sounds you are able to hear in a balanced way. This makes what you hear a lot more clear. Modern hearing aids also make it easier to hear speech by canceling some of the unwanted background noise.