What You Should Do About Hearing Loss
Why Understanding Hearing Loss Matters
Are you constantly asking people to repeat themselves? Do other people in your household complain that your TV is too loud? You might have hearing loss. Mighty Health physician, Dr. Eric Tam answers top hearing loss questions in this lesson on hearing.
Hearing loss is more common than you might realize. 30 million people in the United States have some degree of hearing loss. 80 percent of people 85 years and older experience hearing loss.
To some degree, hearing loss will likely affect all of us as we age. Hearing loss is more than just having to turn up the TV or asking someone to repeat themselves – hearing loss is associated with a number of very serious health conditions, such as dementia and delirium, depression, weakness, and decreased quality of life.
Hearing Loss, Mobility Issues, and Fall Risk
Hearing loss also is linked to risk of falling, and it doesn’t even need to be profound hearing loss. The human brain is performing dozens of independent processes at any given time. Your brain successfully multitasks by focusing its resources on certain important functions, such as hearing, interpreting speech, gait and balance; when a great deal of focus is required for one task, your brain will redirect resources from a lesser process to the more important one.
Difficulty hearing forces your brain to focus more on hearing and less on gait or balance, and this can leave you at increased risk for falls. Research shows that a 25-decible loss, which is the equivalent of going from normal hearing to mild hearing loss, triples your chance of falling.
There Are Things You Can Do to Improve Hearing Loss
While using a hearing aid can transform the way people interact with the sounds around them and greatly improve their quality of life, many people with hearing loss never use hearing aids. Only about a third of those who think they have hearing loss get their hearing tested, so they never know if hearing aids will help. Of those eligible for hearing aids, only 15 percent use them.
Types of Hearing Loss
There are two main types of hearing loss: conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive hearing loss develops as the result of a problem in your eardrum, also known as the tympanic membrane, or your middle ear. This type of hearing loss interferes with your ear’s ability to transmit sound and convert it to the mechanical vibrations.
Causes of conductive hearing loss include:
Infection
Too much earwax, known as earwax impaction
Perforated eardrum
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss involves the inner ear or auditory nerve. It prevents the ear from converting the mechanical vibrations into the electrical signals.
Causes of sensorineural hearing loss include:
Autoimmune diseases
Trauma to the inner ear
Long-term exposure to loud sounds
Presbycusis
Age related hearing loss, also known as presbycusis, is the most common type of sensorineural hearing loss. As its name suggests, it is more common among older adults. It usually comes on slowly, so many people with age-related hearing loss don’t notice it right away. Age-related hearing loss typically affects both ears. The first symptom with this type of gradual hearing loss is usually trouble understanding speech; conversations with background noise can be especially problematic.
Some people have mixed hearing loss, which is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
What Should I do if I Think I am Losing My Hearing?
Take a Self-Administered Questionnaire
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association provides an online self-test for hearing loss. Answering the 13 questions can help you screen for hearing loss. Interpreting the result of this self-assessment is easy. If you answer “yes” to 2 or more questions, you should see an audiologist or primary care provider.
Talk to your Doctor or Audiologist
These healthcare professionals will review a number of factors to determine the cause of any hearing loss you may be experiencing. These factors include:
Duration – how long your hearing loss has been going on, and whether you lost your hearing suddenly or slowly over time
Whether it is affecting both ears or just one
Whether it changes
Medications, as antibiotics and many other common medications may cause hearing loss
Cardiovascular risk to determine if hearing loss is the result of damaged blood vessels
Family history – certain hereditary conditions can lead to hearing loss
Your doctor or audiologist will likely use an otoscope to examine your ears. This handheld device allows the healthcare professional to see your ear canal and eardrums, and to detect any severe earwax, redness or signs of tenderness, or pus associated with infection. Both a doctor and audiologist can test your hearing, but the hearing test an audiologist performs will be more in-depth.
Depending on the type and degree of your hearing problems, your healthcare professional may suggest that you use hearing aids.
Understanding Types of Hearing Aids
If you need a hearing aid, it’s not the end of the world! It’s worth being able to actually hear better. You may be wondering where to even begin with what type of hearing aid is best. The best hearing aid for you is one that you will actually use. After all, your hearing aid won’t do you any good if it is sitting in a drawer instead of in your ear.
Hearing aids are a significant investment, costing anywhere from $800 to $6000, so it is important to choose a hearing aid that is right for you.
How Hearing Aids Work
Hearing aids contain electronic components that include a microphone, amplifier and speaker. The microphone converts sound waves into electrical signals. The microphone then sends those signals to the amplifier, which increases the power of the signals before sending them to your ear through the speaker, also known as the receiver.
The Three Main Types of Hearing Aids:
Behind the ear – the speaker and other components are contained in a small box at the back of the ear, connected by a sound tube to your ear canal
Receiver in canal – the receiver, or speaker, sits inside the ear canal rather than behind the ear
In the ear – the entire device fits in your ear
Each type has its pros and cons. In the ear devices are discreet, for example, but they are the most easily damaged and lost. Behind the ear devices may not be cosmetically appealing to some people, but they are the easiest to use.
More With Mighty Health
Looking for accountability and consistency in your health journey? Mighty Health offers easy to follow, personalized guidance for your unique health goals. Each exercise, lesson, and nutrition plan is designed specifically for those over 50, so you can thrive in these years of your life. Try it out today for more energy, weight loss, improved balance, better mobility, reduced joint pain, and the strength and stamina to spend time with those you love.
Find more great exercise routines for healthy aging and joint mobility on our website. Download the app to match with your very own health coach, who is a real person here to guide, support, and encourage you every step of the way.