Hearing loss is a sudden or slow decrease in how well you hear. It can range from slight to profound. Permanent hearing loss can occur with aging. It also can happen when you are exposed long-term to loud noise. Examples include listening to loud music, riding motorcycles, or being around other loud machines.
Hearing loss can affect your work and home life. It can make you feel lonely or depressed. You may feel that you have lost your independence. But hearing aids and other devices can help you hear better and feel connected to others.
Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. It can happen slowly or suddenly. And it can range from slight to profound. It's often a natural result of aging. But it can affect people of all ages. Long exposure to loud noise can make it worse.
If hearing loss is caused by something that can be treated, hearing will sometimes come back. But most hearing loss is permanent. Hearing aids and other devices can help.
Hearing loss can happen slowly or suddenly. It's often a natural result of aging. Long exposure to loud noise can make it worse. If hearing loss is caused by something that can be treated, hearing will sometimes come back. But most hearing loss is permanent. Hearing aids and other devices can help.
Common symptoms of hearing loss include:
Other symptoms may include:
People who have hearing loss are sometimes not aware of it. Often, family members or friends are the first to notice the hearing loss.
Social situations can be tiring and stressful for people who don't hear well. They may start to avoid those situations as their hearing loss gets worse. Many adults become depressed because of how hearing loss affects their relationships and social life.
Hearing loss can be temporary or permanent.
Hearing loss can range from slight to moderate to profound.
Treatment depends on the type and cause of the hearing loss. Your doctor can help you choose the best treatment.
Proper treatment is important. Hearing loss may lead to loneliness, depression, and loss of independence. Treatment can make communication, social interaction, and daily activities easier and more enjoyable.
Reversible hearing loss can often be treated successfully. Treatment depends on its cause. For example, removing earwax or taking medicine for an infection may help your hearing come back.
Being exposed to loud noise over and over is one of the most common causes of permanent hearing loss. But there are other causes of hearing loss. Here are some steps you can take to lower your risk of other types of hearing loss.
Never stick a cotton swab, hairpin, or other object in your ear to try to remove earwax or to scratch your ear. The best way to prevent earwax problems is to leave earwax alone.
If you have an upper respiratory problem (such as a cold, the flu, or a sinus infection), take a decongestant a few hours before landing or use a decongestant spray just before landing.
You are more likely to have hearing loss if you smoke.
Receive all the recommended immunizations to protect against pneumococcal disease, meningitis, and other conditions that can cause hearing problems.
To diagnose hearing loss, your doctor will do a physical exam and ask about your symptoms and past health. Your doctor also may look in your ears with a lighted device called an otoscope.
If your doctor thinks that you have hearing loss, you'll have hearing tests to check whether you have hearing loss and find out how severe it is. You may be referred to an audiologist for the tests. These tests may include:
You may be referred to an ear, nose, and throat specialist for other tests or treatments.
It's easy for a person with hearing loss to feel cut off from conversations and social interactions. But you can take steps to help keep this from happening.
It can help to use the person's name.
Make sure that the person can see your face, mouth, and gestures. Arrange furniture and lighting so that everyone in the conversation is visible.
Your facial expressions and gestures can provide helpful clues about what you are saying.
It's best to speak slowly and clearly. But don't shout.
If a certain word or phrase isn't understood, find another way to say it.
Don't talk about the person as though the person isn't there.
Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. Gradual hearing loss happens over time. It can affect people of all ages. Hearing loss may range from slight to profound. Depending on the cause, hearing loss may improve with treatment (reversible) or be lasting (permanent).
The most common causes of hearing loss are:
Noise-induced hearing loss can happen slowly over time. Being exposed to everyday noises, such as listening to very loud music or using a power lawn mower, can damage the structures of the inner ear. This can lead to permanent hearing loss. Sudden, loud noises, such as an explosion, can also damage your hearing.
In age-related hearing loss, changes in the inner ear that happen as you get older cause a slow but steady hearing loss. The loss may be mild or severe. It is always permanent.
Other causes of hearing loss include earwax buildup, an object in the ear, injury to the ear or head, an ear infection, a ruptured eardrum, and other conditions that affect the middle or inner ear. Some medicines also can cause it. And some people are born with hearing problems.
If you have hearing loss, you may find that it takes extra effort and energy to talk with others. Hearing may be especially difficult in settings where there are many people talking or there is a lot of background noise. The increased effort it takes to be with other people may cause stress and fatigue. You may begin to avoid social activities, feel less independent, and worry about your safety.
Hearing devices you may want to use include:
Hearing aids make all sounds louder (amplify), including your own voice. Common background noises, such as rustling newspapers, magazines, and office papers, may be distracting. When you first get hearing aids, it may take you several weeks to months to get used to this. Most hearing aids can be adjusted to fit your hearing loss and reduce background noise.
These devices make certain sounds easier to hear by bringing the sound directly to your ear. They shorten the distance between you and the source of sound and also reduce background noise. You can use different types of devices for different situations, such as one-on-one conversations and classroom settings or auditoriums, theaters, or other large public spaces. Commonly used listening devices include telephone amplifiers, personal listening systems (such as auditory trainers and personal FM systems), and hearing aids that you can connect directly to a television, stereo, radio, or microphone.
These devices alert you to a particular sound (such as the doorbell, a ringing telephone, or a baby monitor) by using louder sounds, lights, or vibrations to get your attention.
Closed-captioning shows the words at the bottom of the screen while you're watching TV or your computer screen. Most newer TVs and online programs have a closed-captions option.
You can type messages and send them from your mobile device to someone else's. You can also use voice-to-text if you have trouble typing.
A TTY (also called TDD, or telecommunication device for the deaf) allows you to type messages back and forth on the telephone instead of talking or listening. When messages are typed on the TTY keyboard, the information is sent over the phone line to a receiving TTY and shown on a monitor. A telecommunications relay service (TRS) makes it possible to call from a phone to a TTY or vice versa.
Many other communication devices, such as pagers, fax machines, email, and custom calling features offered by phone companies, can be helpful. To get more information about selecting and using listening, alerting, and telecommunicating devices, talk to an audiologist.
Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your doctor if:
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