Hearing Loss

What is hearing loss?

Hearing loss happens when something affects your hearing system. If you have hearing loss, you may have trouble understanding, following or participating in conversations. It may be hard for you to hear telephone conversations, to take part in online meetings or follow dialogue when you’re watching television.

Hearing loss can affect your ability to work, communicate with others and generally enjoy life. Most often, hearing loss can’t be reversed. But audiologists — healthcare providers who specialize in diagnosing and treating hearing loss — can help. They can recommend treatments like hearing aids or cochlear implants that reduce hearing loss.

Is hearing loss common?

Yes, it is. More than 1 in 10 people in the United States have some degree of hearing loss:

An estimated 60,000 people have hearing loss in one ear (unilateral hearing loss).
About 1 in 3 adults over 65 and nearly half adults 75 and older have age-related hearing loss.
About 2 in 1,000 babies are born with some type of hearing loss.

What usually causes hearing loss?

Many things can cause hearing loss. For example, short-term or sudden exposure to very loud noise — like attending a loud concert — can affect your hearing. Conductive hearing loss causes include:

1) Earwax that’s built up in your ear.

2) Fluid in your middle ear from colds or allergies.

3) Middle ear infection (otitis media).

4) Swimmers’ ear (otitis externa).

5) Eustachian tube issues that traps fluid in your middle ear.

6) Ruptured eardrum.

7) Ear tumors.

8) Something stuck in your ear. For example, your child, faced with a side dish of peas, may decide to put one in their ear.

9) Congenital conditions (conditions present at birth) that affect how babies’ middle or outer ears are formed.

Sensorineural hearing loss causes include:

1) Aging.

2) Illnesses like coronary artery disease (heart disease), high blood pressure (hypertension), strokes or diabetes.

3) Ototoxicity.

4) Certain genetic (inherited) conditions.

5) Being hit in the head.

6) Noise-induced hearing loss. Long-term exposure to loud noise, like working in a very noisy environment like factories and construction sites.

7) Congenital infections like cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Mixed hearing loss in a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. That means it affects your outer and middle ear as well as your inner ear. For example, if you take medications that affect your inner ear and you accidentally rupture your eardrum in your middle ear, you have mixed hearing loss.

What are hearing loss symptoms?

Most people lose their hearing gradually. They may not even notice that it’s happening. In general, you may be developing hearing loss if:

1) You often ask people to repeat themselves.

2) You have trouble following a conversation, especially when you’re talking on the telephone or in a noisy environment like a restaurant.

3) You think people are mumbling.

4) You can’t hear certain high-pitched sounds, like birds singing.

5) You need to turn up the volume on your television, computer or tablet.

6) You have tinnitus (ringing in your ears).

7) Your ear hurts (earache).

8) You feel as if there’s pressure or fluid inside your ear.

9) You have balance problems or dizziness.

What are symptoms of hearing loss in babies and children?

Babies with hearing loss may seem to hear some sounds but not others. They may:

1) Not startle to loud noises.

2) Not turn to the source of a sound after 6 months of age.

3) Not say single words like “mama” or “dada” by age 1.

4) Not react when you say their name.

Older children with hearing loss may:

1) Say “huh” a lot.

2) Be slower to learn to speak than other children their age.

3) Have unclear speech.

4) Not follow directions.

5) Turn up the volume on television or tablets.