Hearing loss and hearing aids

Nearly 30 million Americans have impaired hearing. Like changes in vision, many people will develop hearing loss with age. Many factors contribute to this, including loud noise exposure, infections, drugs, toxins, and heredity. Most often, the loss is progressive over the years, but can also be sudden.

Noise and hearing protection

Loud noise can permanently damage your hearing. This can include bursts of loud noise as well as sustained loud noise over a period of time. This type of hearing loss is called sensorineural or "nerve"

deafness. Most experts agree that continual exposure to sounds over 85 decibels can be harmful. To give you and idea of what that means, normal conversation is 60 decibel or so. A lawnmower is 90 decibel. A rock concert is 115 decibel. A blast form a gun and a jet engine are 140 decibel.
The best way to prevent hearing loss is to avoid loud noises. Ear plugs etc can help but they are limited in their effectiveness. They must fit properly and even then only reduce the noise level by 15-30 decibel.
More serious causes of hearing loss include eardrum perforations and even tumors of the inner ear. Therefore, if you or a loved one has hearing loss, do not just laugh it off. Also, do not just go to a mall and get a hearing aid. You should see an ENT physician so that a thorough exam can be done to rule out more serious causes of hearing loss.

There are a number of common misconceptions about hearing aids:

1. You don't think you have a hearing problem?

Often, the first people to notice the problem is your family. They notice that they often have to repeat themselves, that the volume on the TV has gone up etc.

You may note that you miss a lot of the conversation but are often too embarrassed to tell anybody. Similarly, your family often won't say anything out of concern for your feelings. The net result is often frustration on the part of both you and your family.

2. Your hearing is OK but your ears ring?

Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) is often a sign of damage to your inner ear, and is often associated with hearing loss.

3. Hearing aids don't work?

While it may be true that hearing aids are not perfect, they often are able to help you hear people more easily and enable you to function better. Again, it is often your family that notices the benefits; that you are able to hear them better and are involved in more of their conversations.

4. Don't Hearing aids look bad/embarrassing?

Technology has advanced to a point that hearing aids can often be "tailored" to meet your hearing needs. Hearing aids are available that fit completely in the ear canal and are very hard to see. The intensity of the amplification can be programmed to meet your needs.