Though often associated with seniors, hearing loss can affect people of any age. In fact, hearing loss can be present at birth, which may have a direct impact on the development of a child if it is not diagnosed and treated early. Depending on the type of injury, losing your hearing can affect you long term or it can affect you for just a short while. Hearing aids are the most common remedy for hearing loss patients, which partially restores hearing and improves their daily life. In this review, we are going to discuss what you should know about hearing loss, how it occurs and what you can do about it. There are various signs that accompany hearing loss. In children, it is common for speech and language development to be lagging when there is hearing loss present. They may not react when called and may not be capable of following directions properly. They also may exhibit a slurring or garbling of words. You may see that a child turns up electronics like radios and television to a high volume. Be sure to take your child in to an audiologist if you notice any of these symptoms that indicate they might be experiencing hearing loss. When a grown-up suffers from loss of hearing, their speech or other cognitive responses won't be as affected as a child's would. However, he may realize that he is often asking people to repeat something that they have said. hearing loss Household members might be frequently asking the individual to turn down the television, and there will be an inability to hear the telephone ringing. If someone has hearing loss, they'll try extra hard to read people's lips when they're talking, so that they can understand better
09/05/2011
Hearing Loss in Children
Hearing loss comes in many forms and comes from a variety of causes. Some of it avoidable-some of it not. Noise induced hearing loss is the largest group of hearing impairment and it is unique in the fact that it is entirely avoidable. Unfortunately once exposed to very loud noises, the damage is done. The good news is that Noise Induced Hearing Loss is preventable by avoiding noises loud enough to do the damage. What is too loud Anything that causes you discomfort, or if it is loud enough to prevent normal conversation, makes you have to shout to be heard, or causes a ringing sensation in your ears.
The most common type of hearing loss among children is called sensorineural which occurs due to damage of the inner ear. The damage can be caused by an infection, injury or most commonly, through exposure to loud noise. This type of damage cannot be repaired.
Parents of children with hearing loss report outstanding results from the use of hearing aids. Some parents claim that prior to getting the child hearing aid, the child was rather unresponsive and often crabby. When they begin using the hearing aid, the child behaved differently. Most children become more confident in their abilities and become more social. hearing loss
How Is Hearing Loss Evaluated And Measured
Hearing loss affects approximately 30% of all Americans age 65 -70 and 50% of those over the age 75 as reported by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. This gradual loss of hearing is called presbycusis and according to many doctors, caused by exposure to loud noises or heredity. Blockage in the ear canal may also be the cause of a hearing problem.
There are solutions for many of those with hearing loss. The first step is to visit an audiologist for an audiological assessment who measures and evaluates hearing loss. The degree and type of hearing loss measured in decibels provides the audiologist with information needed to quantify hearing loss.
Hearing loss is measured in decibels and assessed by testing the individual ability to hear a tone of various frequencies. Normal hearing ranges from approximately 40 Hz to 20,000 Hz. 20-40 dB is considered mild hearing loss, 40-6- dB is considered moderate hearing loss and 60 dB and above is consider severe hearing loss.
The hearing evaluation involves a number of interrelated tests which will provide the audiologist with a comprehensive picture of hearing loss. The frequency range of the hearing loss provides clues suggesting possible causes. Hearing loss may be temporary or permanent and audiological testing will determine the answer.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss The Symptoms And How To Avoid It
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Exposure to different sounds every day is a normal part of our lives but once this mixture of different noises becomes too loud for your ears, it can potentially cause a significant damage. And that is what Noise-Induced Hearing Loss is about. This condition is the result of being exposed to very loud noises which lasts for a long amount of time. The damage these loud sounds cause to your ears is the destruction of hair cells. Hair cells are ends of nerves that are sensitive and very vulnerable to damage especially when open to sounds that are beyond normal. When hair cells become damaged, it can't grow back and the ability of a person to convert sounds into electrical signals fails. Most people who have this type of hearing loss are not aware of their condition even when the symptom of the illness increases.
Who are mostly vulnerable to this type of Hearing Loss
Everyone both young and old can become susceptible to Noise-induced Hearing Loss. This possibility is revealed with the prevalence of young and old individuals who suffer from this kind of condition regardless of their status, class and work. In the United States alone, there are about 13% of teenagers who are suffering from NIHL while there are about 17% of adults who are suffering from that same illness.
Success Despite Hearing Loss
Oddly enough, I've come to think that my hearing loss was one of the best things that ever happened to me, as it led to the publication of my first novel. But it took a while for me to accept that I was losing my hearing. I was born with a mild hearing loss but began to lose more of my hearing when I was a senior in college. hearing loss One day while sitting in my college dormitory room reading, I noticed my roommate get up from her bed, go to the princess telephone in our room, pick it up and start talking. None of that would have seemed strange, except for one thing: I never heard the telephone ring! I wondered why I couldn't hear a phone that I could hear just the day before. But I was too baffled--and embarrassed--to say anything to my roommate or anyone else.
Unbeknown to me at the time, that was only the beginning of my downward spiral, as my hearing grew progressively worse. But I was young and still vain enough not to want to buy a hearing aid. I struggled through college by sitting up front in the classroom, straining to read lips and asking people to speak up, sometimes again and again. By the time I entered graduate school, I knew I could no longer put it off. I had to purchase a hearing aid. By that time my hearing loss was such that even sitting in front of the classroom wasn't helping much. I was still vain enough to wait a few months while I let my hair grow out a bit before taking the plunge but I eventually I did buy a hearing aid. It was a big, clunky thing, but I knew that I would have to be able to hear if I ever wanted to graduate. Soon, my hair length didn't matter much, as hearing aids got smaller and smaller. They also got better and better at picking up sound. The early hearing aids were analog devices and not programmable. They did little more than make sounds louder evenly across the board. That doesn't work for most of us with nerve deafness, as we may have more hearing loss in the higher frequencies. The newer programmable digital hearing aids go a long way toward improving on that. They can be set to match different types of hearing loss, so you can, say, increase a particular high frequency more than the lower ones. Once I bought my first hearing aid and was able to hear again, I could focus on other things that were important to me--like my education, my career and writing that first novel! I didn't realize it then, but that first hearing aid actually freed me to go on to bigger and better things despite having a hearing loss. I had long dreamed of writing a novel, but like others kept putting it off. As my hearing loss grew worse, it was a chore just to keep up at work, let alone do much else. Then once I got the hearing aid, I no longer had to worry about a lot of the things I did before, and I began to think that writing a novel would be the perfect hobby for me. Anyone can write regardless of whether they can hear. I was also determined to prove that losing my hearing would not hold me back. My first novel was published in 1994 and my fifth in the summer of 2005. Writing turned out to be much more than a hobby, as I've been writing full-time for more than 10 years. I'm now hard at work on my first nonfiction work, a photo-essay book to be published by Bulfinch, a division of Time Warner Books, in 2007. I honestly believe that I would never have sat down at the computer and banged out that first novel if I hadn't lost so much of my hearing. Instead, I'd probably still be an editor somewhere and still dreaming about someday becoming a novelist. That's why I sometimes think that my hearing loss was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Connie Briscoe is a New York Times best-selling author of five novels (HarperCollins
Unbeknown to me at the time, that was only the beginning of my downward spiral, as my hearing grew progressively worse. But I was young and still vain enough not to want to buy a hearing aid. I struggled through college by sitting up front in the classroom, straining to read lips and asking people to speak up, sometimes again and again. By the time I entered graduate school, I knew I could no longer put it off. I had to purchase a hearing aid. By that time my hearing loss was such that even sitting in front of the classroom wasn't helping much. I was still vain enough to wait a few months while I let my hair grow out a bit before taking the plunge but I eventually I did buy a hearing aid. It was a big, clunky thing, but I knew that I would have to be able to hear if I ever wanted to graduate. Soon, my hair length didn't matter much, as hearing aids got smaller and smaller. They also got better and better at picking up sound. The early hearing aids were analog devices and not programmable. They did little more than make sounds louder evenly across the board. That doesn't work for most of us with nerve deafness, as we may have more hearing loss in the higher frequencies. The newer programmable digital hearing aids go a long way toward improving on that. They can be set to match different types of hearing loss, so you can, say, increase a particular high frequency more than the lower ones. Once I bought my first hearing aid and was able to hear again, I could focus on other things that were important to me--like my education, my career and writing that first novel! I didn't realize it then, but that first hearing aid actually freed me to go on to bigger and better things despite having a hearing loss. I had long dreamed of writing a novel, but like others kept putting it off. As my hearing loss grew worse, it was a chore just to keep up at work, let alone do much else. Then once I got the hearing aid, I no longer had to worry about a lot of the things I did before, and I began to think that writing a novel would be the perfect hobby for me. Anyone can write regardless of whether they can hear. I was also determined to prove that losing my hearing would not hold me back. My first novel was published in 1994 and my fifth in the summer of 2005. Writing turned out to be much more than a hobby, as I've been writing full-time for more than 10 years. I'm now hard at work on my first nonfiction work, a photo-essay book to be published by Bulfinch, a division of Time Warner Books, in 2007. I honestly believe that I would never have sat down at the computer and banged out that first novel if I hadn't lost so much of my hearing. Instead, I'd probably still be an editor somewhere and still dreaming about someday becoming a novelist. That's why I sometimes think that my hearing loss was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Connie Briscoe is a New York Times best-selling author of five novels (HarperCollins
Understanding Hearing Loss
To understand how we lose our hearing it is necessary to understand how we hear in the first place. Contrary to what most people think we hear with our brains rather than our ears, and there are two distinct pathways that produce the sensation of hearing. Air conduction For air conduction to take place the sound waves travel through the air and into your ear canal. When the sound waves hit the tympanic membrane (the eardrum) it causes it to vibrate hearing loss. The tympanic membrane is connected to the three smallest bones in the body, the malleus, the incus, and the stapes. The vibration of the tympanic membrane transfers this movement to those three bones which in turn vibrates a membrane attached to the inner ear. The cochlea (the inner ear) is a fluid filled cavity containing multiple tiny hair cells which send nerve impulses up to the brain when triggered by the movement of fluid in the cochlea caused by the vibrations. Different frequencies of sound stimulate different hair cells and this is how we differentiate different pitches of sound, resulting in our sensation of hearing. Bone conduction Sound can also be transmitted by bone conduction. If sound vibrates against the skull bone, these sound vibrations can transfer directly through to the cochlea rather than the conventional route down the ear canal and via the middle ear. You could think of bone conduction hearing as a shortcut, bypassing the outer and middle ear as it does. As there are two types of hearing there are two types of hearing lossConductive hearing lossConductive hearing loss occurs when the sound waves can't actually get to the inner ear. Generally this has three main causes, the ear is blocked with excessive wax, an accident has caused damage to the tympanic membrane, or the three bones are not functioning properly. If the cause of conductive loss is excessive wax build up, this is the easiest type of hearing problem to fix with ear syringing. Once the obstruction has been removed normally hearing resumes. Antibiotics can sometimes be used for infections which have caused a temporary conductive hearing loss. Sensori-neural hearing loss Sensori-neural Hearing loss occurs when the nerves or the hair cells that sense sound waves have been damaged. The most common way that this happens is quite simply the ageing process, followed by noise induced hearing loss. Other factors can cause this type of loss too, such as hereditary factors, drugs etc Certain antibiotics can damage the nerves which are involved with hearing
Who Treats Hearing Loss
Once you accept the fact that you may be experiencing hearing loss, the next decision is who to see for treatment. The first choice for most people would be the family doctor. He or she would then refer you to a specialist such as an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, throat), otorhinolaryngologist (head and neck), or an otologist (ears only). Before a person gets a hearing aid, he or she must consult a doctor to be sure no medical reason exists to keep that person from wearing hearing aids. An otolaryngologist must have five or more years of specialty training in otolaryngology. These specialists treat conditions ranging from ear infections and minor hearing loss to otosclerosis and Meniere's disease. Being experts in the diagnosis and treatment of different types of hearing loss, these specialists can tell you if a hearing aid will help and which kind to use. An otologist/neurologist specializes in treatment of the ear and the brain. These physicians complete training in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that affect the ear and base of the skull. This training is in addition to their medical school, general surgery, and otolaryngology training. Otologist/neurologists are usually referred by an otolaryngologist because of complications of the case or conventional treatment is not working. On your first visit, your doctor will record a detailed history of your hearing problems. He or she will then use an otoscope to look inside your ears. The doctor will be checking for blockage, infection, or problems with the eardrum or ear canal. This exam, known as a nasopharynx exam, can reveal problems like middle ear effusion (sticky fluid in the middle ear), sinusitis, allergies, a retracted eardrum, enlarged adenoids, or infections that could be obstructing the eustachian tubes. The doctor can check the nasopharynx in different ways, which include using a mirror and looking in the mouth, or by using a right-angle telescope and looking in the mouth. Other methods can go through the nose using a nasopharyngoscope or a fiber-optic endoscope. Other tests that may be performed will check balance and coordination. This is to help rule out neurological problems. A tuning fork may also be used by the doctor to help make a rough estimate of your hearing ability. After this exam, depending on the results, your doctor may refer you to an audiologist. An audiologist will conduct hearing tests and give you a complete examination. The audiologist can provide counseling and therapy, and recommend different types of hearing aids. Audiologists are licensed and/or certified professionals who are trained to measure and identify hearing loss, and to help rehabilitate people with hearing or speech problems. An audiologist can determine where your hearing loss occurs and can assess how much the loss will affect your ability to communicate hearing loss. Because an audiologist is not a doctor, he or she cannot treat infections or diseases of the ear. They can offer auditory training, speech reading techniques, speech counseling, and hearing aid evaluation and orientation. Audiologists will perform different tests to check different parts of the patient's ear. After these tests are complete, the audiologist will let the patient know if a hearing aid will help or not. Problems in the middle or outer ear may be corrected with surgery or medical treatment. If the problem exists in the inner ear, such as hearing loss from age, the only option may be a hearing aid. If the audiologist recommends using a hearing aid, a follow-up visit will be scheduled. This visit will feature tests to help evaluate which type of hearing aid will work best with the type of hearing loss the patient has.
A Sound Way To Treat Hearing Loss In Children
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There's good news for parents who have a child born with significant hearing loss. Advances in technology are making it possible to address profound hearing loss in children as young as 12 months of age. Approximately one of every 1,000 newborns in the United States-about 33 babies per day-is born profoundly deaf. Fortunately, there are treatment alternatives. For example, cochlear implants are small, complex, implantable electronic devices that restore hearing by bypassing the damaged parts of the ear to directly stimulate the auditory nerve, and may be beneficial to those who cannot hear or understand speech well with a hearing aid. One of the latest developments in cochlear implant technology is the HiResolutionBionic Ear System. Developed by Advanced Bionics Corporation, the Neuromodulation Group of Boston Scientific Corporation, it is described as the only cochlear implant system that can provide HiResolution sound, which is designed to enhance the fine details of sound to stimulate a more natural hearing nerve response for both children with profound hearing loss and adults with severe or profound hearing loss.
Potential advantages of the cochlear implant include better distance hearing, comfortable loudness growth, and clearer, more understandable speech. Experts say people with cochlear implants can hold normal conversations, hear in noisy environments such as restaurants, use the telephone, work, participate in sports, attend school, and even play musical instruments. Early screening and implementation of a hearing device, such as a cochlear implant, have medical, financial and social benefits. "Cochlear implants, coupled with auditory therapy, can help young children more quickly acquire the speech, language and social skills needed to successfully mainstream into regular classrooms with their normal-hearing peers," said Patricia Trautwein, Au. D. , director of auditory education and training for Advanced Bionics. Nearly half of all cochlear implant recipients are children. Children benefit most from a cochlear implant when their hearing loss is detected in its beginning stages and they receive early intervention and treatment. Adult candidates for a cochlear implant are most often those who are post-lingually deaf in both ears. These individuals typically receive limited benefit from hearing aids hearing loss. hearing loss
Hearing Loss - Choices of Communication Tools For Assistance
Due to the large numbers of people all over the world afflicted with ear problems resulting in hearing difficulty or loss, technological experts have developed some communication tools for assistance. These gadgets may be applicable to other tools as well like telephones, cellular phones and many others with the aim of helping patients cope with their condition. hearing loss
Individuals suffering from hearing difficulty or loss due to ear problems and other underlying diseases may try a variety of approaches like learning sign language, writing notes when communicating, undergoing therapy to understand audible sounds and speech, medications or surgery. All these may help reduce or totally eliminate the problem. hearing loss The rise of technological devices like hearing aids has also been very helpful during the coping process.
Hearing Loss and Depression
Hearing loss could affect many different people and age groups. It could be caused by hereditary factors, natural aging, injury to head, earwax build up, ear infections, or exposure to noise. As we age our sensory abilities diminish. Hearing loss is the third most common long-term health problem in older Americans and affects up to 40 out of 100 people age 65 and older, and up to 80 out of 100 people older than 85 (National Institute of Health). Hearing loss can cause sufferer's to feel isolated, anxious, self conscious, lonely, and disconnected. If someone is experiencing hearing loss it could certainly make life less enjoyable. This problem is not just confined to older adults. Children as young as three weeks old could be diagnosed as having a hearing deficit. About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing and approximately 15 percent (26 million) of Americans between the ages of 20 and 69 have high frequency hearing loss due to exposure to loud sounds or noise at work or in leisure activities (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders). Hearing loss in children could affect grades, self confidence, and peer relations. Since children are not always able to articulate their problems, identifying the problem makes it more challenging. In a 2010 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found a 31 percent increase in teenage hearing loss. The study compared teens in 2005 and 2006 to teens tested from 1988 to 1994. According to the research, called the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the results show that "one in five U. S. adolescents 12 to 19 years old demonstrated hearing loss. " (Deafness research Foundation). For older adults, certain settings for them may provide challenges. Rooms with particular structures may make it more difficult to hear (acoustics). Background noise could also factor into ability to hear others. Lastly, certain pitches in voices (usually higher ones) are hard to decipher. The impact could be felt at work (business meetings), social, and family relations (being able to communicate with children or grandkids). There are preventive measures individuals can do in avoiding hearing loss. For some, it may not be avoidable (hereditary factors and aging). Here are some suggestions:
