Sound Decibel Abuse

The link between the usage of some popular technology devices that provide audio through ear buds or earphones-like Apple's iPod, other MP3 players, and portable DVD players-and hearing loss. Read more»

Hearing Loss and Causes

There are many types of hearing loss and many different causes. An audiologist's testing is designed to help determine the type of hearing loss you have and whether medical treatment may be helpful. Because of the complexity of the hearing mechanism and the seriousness of some of the causes of hearing loss, it is particularly important that you have your hearing checked by an audiologist. Audiologists are trained to do differential testing to help determine the causes of loss and will refer you for further evaluation if medical treatment is indicated.

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The major types of hearing loss are:

• Conductive Hearing Loss
  This means the cause of the hearing loss is in the outer or middle ear. Most conductive hearing losses can be medically treated. Some common causes of conductive hearing loss include cerumen (wax) in the ear canal, middle ear infection, and otosclerosis (a disease of the bones of the middle ear, similar to arthritis).

• Sensorineural Hearing Loss
  This means that the cause of the hearing loss is in the inner ear or the neurological portion the hearing mechanism. The sensory receptors of the ear are damaged or not functioning optimally in sensorineural hearing loss. Some people used to refer to this as "nerve deafness." Most sensorineural hearing losses cannot presently be medically treated. Sensorineural hearing loss can be genetic or caused by problems during pregnancy or birth. Excessive noise exposure can also cause sensorineural hearing loss, as do a variety of drugs. Sensorineural hearing loss is also an associated factor of many diseases, such as high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. Presbycusis, the sensorineural hearing loss of aging, is the most common hearing loss in our society.

• Retrocochlear Hearing Loss and Central Hearing Loss
  This means that the hearing loss lies in the lower or central portions of the brain, where sensory messages are interpreted. These hearing losses can be caused by tumors, strokes or dementia.

• Mixed Hearing Loss
  Some people have hearing loss from more than one cause, for example, wax in their ears and inner ear losses from noise exposure.

Audiological Assessment

A thorough audiological assessment may include the following:

1. Background history
2. Examination of the ear canals
3. Tympanometry, which looks at middle ear function
4. Acoustic reflex testing
5. Testing of pure tones under headphones in a sound booth
6. Testing of the individual's ability to understand words
7. Bone conducted testing
8. And other testing the audiologist may consider necessary

An audiogram is a graph that many audiologists use to record pure tone and other test results. The audiogram shows how much intensity was required before that individual could hear sounds of different frequencies (pitch) in each ear.

Degrees Of Hearing Loss

• Mild loss is when someone may hear well in a quiet environment where the speaker is close and speaks distinctly, but will have trouble when the speaker turns away, or when there is competing noise.

• Moderate loss means that many speech sounds are not audible. Ability to understand speech will be greatly affected in many settings.

• Severe loss will only hear loud sounds and loud voices. Understanding will be very poor.

• Profound loss is the equivalent of the word "deaf." People with profound loss will only hear very loud sounds and may rely on visual information and vibrations.

• Unilateral loss means hearing loss in only one ear. Unilateral loss can affect people's ability to hear and understand in many situations. Also, people with unilateral loss cannot tell where sounds are coming from.

The best way to protect against hearing loss in the future is to protect your hearing today and every day. See how loud sounds are in every day situations.