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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:

You often ask people to repeat themselves.

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

You think people are mumbling.

You can't hear certain high-pitched sounds, like birds singing.

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

You have tinnitus (ringing in your ears).

Your ear hurts (earache).

You feel as if there's pressure or fluid inside your ear.

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:

Not startle to loud noises.

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

Not say single words like "mama" or "dada" by age 1.

Not react when you say their name.

Older children with hearing loss may:

Say "huh" a lot.

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

Have unclear speech.

Not follow directions.

Turn up the volume on television or tablets.

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:

Earwax that's built up in your ear.

Fluid in your middle ear from colds or allergies.

Middle ear infection (otitis media).

Swimmers' ear (otitis externa).

Eustachian tube issues that traps fluid in your middle ear.

Ruptured eardrum.

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

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

Sensorineural hearing loss causes include:

Aging.

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

Ototoxicity.

Certain genetic (inherited) conditions.

Being hit in the head.

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

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 the complications of hearing loss?

Having hearing loss can make you feel disconnected from the world around you. You may become frustrated, irritable or angry. People with severe hearing loss can become anxious or depressed. Children with hearing loss may struggle in school and get poor grades. Studies also show a link between hearing loss in older adults and dementia.

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Hearing loss is a common issue that may affect everyone from babies and children to people in their 60s and 70s. Treatments like hearing aids can help.

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Who is affected most by hearing loss? AGE

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Who is affected most by hearing loss? AGE

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Hearing loss affects about 60.7 million Americans age 12 and older. 31% of people age 65 and older experience hearing loss.

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Who is affected most by hearing loss? ETHNICITY 

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Who is affected most by hearing loss? ETHNICITY 

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Non-Hispanic whites have a higher rate of hearing loss than other races and ethnicities. Smaller population size was associated with higher hearing loss.

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Who is affected most by hearing loss? GENETICS

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Who is affected most by hearing loss? GENETICS

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A common form of hereditary deafness is caused by mutations in the GJB2 gene. Hearing loss varies in progression and degree.

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Damage to the inner ear: Loud noise and aging wear the hairs or nerve cells located in the cochlea that send sound waves to the brain.

Tumors or Ear Infections: these can cause hearing loss in the outer or middle ear.

Ruptured eardrum: Change in pressure or poking eardrum can cause it to burst.

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Anatomical Structures Involved in Hearing Loss

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Anatomical Structures Involved in Hearing Loss

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The primary anatomical structure involved in hearing loss is the auditory system. This includes the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear.

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Each section of the ear is composed of structures that have different roles. Outer Ear includes the pinna and ear canal. The middle ear has three tiny bones called ossicles. The inner ear helps with hearing and balance and is where the cochlea is located.

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Damage to the inner ear can cause damage and hearing loss. Aging can cause hearing loss because the inner ear breaks down over time. Heredity can play a huge role because your genes may make you more likely to hearing loss.

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Processes that are affected by hearing loss 

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Processes that are affected by hearing loss 

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Speech production may be harder because the brain sends signals to muscles involved in producing sounds. Hearing loss can contribute to social isolation because you may not want to engage in conversation. It can also interfere with how you walk; your ears help with balance.

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Difficulty understanding what others are saying.

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Listening to the television or radio at a higher volume than others.

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Experiencing a ringing or buzzing in the ears.

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The perception that others are mumbling or not speaking clearly.

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One common way hearing loss is diagnosed is a hearing test. There are multiple types of tests used. Pure-tone testing finds the quietest volume you can hear at each pitch. You’ll wear headphones or earplugs to hear the sounds and speech. The otoacoustic admissions test is where audiologists use this test to check your inner ear function. Tympanometry tests how well your eardrum moves.

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CT scan (computed tomography scan)

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Hearing Aids can help with age related hearing loss

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Assistive devices, such as telephone amplifiers or technology that changes spoken words to text.

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There can be many safety risks in age-related hearing loss. Older people can have trouble understanding a doctor’s advice, responding to warnings, and hearing doorbells and alarms. Also, some older people may not want to admit they have trouble hearing and, if ignored, can worsen.

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Most people have a cognitive decline when faced with hearing loss. Research suggests hearing loss leads to an increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline, due to reduced social interaction and stimulation.

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While some shrinking of your social circle may occur naturally with age, it’s more pronounced for older people with hearing impairments, according to research.

A lack of face-to-face contact can make both social isolation and loneliness worse for people with hearing loss. https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/53298-Loneliness-and-hearing-loss-social-isolation#:~:text=While%20some%20shrinking%20of%20your,for%20people%20with%20hearing%20loss.

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One of the inspirations for the Talkabout study, which pairs people living alone with conversational partners for biweekly video chats, was an encounter Geoff Plant, founder of the Hearing Rehabilitation Foundation, had in the park.

It was the early days of the pandemic, and Plant was masked up. He stopped to chat with an older woman, but could tell she was struggling to comprehend him through the mask.

"I walked away with this terrible feeling of inadequacy," says Plant, who retired in 2016 and is now a full-time volunteer with the organization. "I felt so sorry for her."

He'd been aware of the issue of loneliness with people hearing loss for a long time, but the moment struck a chord.

"I started seeing figures of the percentage of older people with hearing loss who live alone-it's startlingly high," he says. This all percolated, leading to the idea of bridging the gap with help from technology.

Participants in the Boston-based Talkabout study are loaned a special videophone device, known as the Facebook Portal, to participate in ongoing conversations with an assigned partner. When the study ends, the study team will evaluate whether it helped alleviate loneliness.

Loneliness is a major concern

Even before waves of shutdowns due to COVID-19, the United States was experiencing a loneliness epidemic.

And, in February 2021, a report from Making Caring Common found that 36 percent of all Americans feel serious loneliness.

Don't dismiss this emotion: Being lonely is associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC).

And hearing loss can accentuate social isolation and loneliness: One frequently cited study found that each decibel decrease in hearing perception increased the odds of developing severe loneliness by 7 percent. Here's what you need to know about the connection between hearing loss and loneliness.

What's the difference between social isolation and loneliness?

It's easy to group social isolation and loneliness together (in fact, researchers often study them jointly) but they are distinct phenomena:

Social isolation: This occurs when someone doesn't have a lot of social contacts, according to the National Institute on Aging. This is measurable-that is, you could tally up how many social interactions a person has in a day as well as other factors that indicate isolation.

Loneliness: Unlike social isolation, which is quantifiable, loneliness is a feeling. You can feel lonely in a crowd. Or, you relish solitude and do fine with few social interactions. Think of loneliness as the gap between the amount and type of connections you'd like to have and what you actually experience.

What's clear: Hearing loss makes social isolation more common, and this in turn can lead to feeling lonely.

"My clinical experience has been that a lot of people, a lot of my patients, have said, 'I don't feel like going out with whomever, my friends anymore, because I can't hear them and I can't participate in the conversation,'" says Cynthia A. Modrosic, AuD, of Professional Hearing Center in Missouri.

Hearing aids make it easier to maintain
social connections and hobbies.

While some shrinking of your social circle may occur naturally with age, it's more pronounced for older people with hearing impairments, according to research.

A lack of face-to-face contact can make both social isolation and loneliness worse for people with hearing loss.

Technology can only help so much, points out Modrosic. Many of her patients use older flip phones, putting video chat services like FaceTime out of reach. And, she points out, not everyone has reliable internet or cell service to use video chat programs.

If you or your loved one doesn't have access to videochat and smartphones, there are government-funded free and steeply discounted captioned phones that make standard phone communication much easier.

More: Why you should consider joining a hearing loss support group

How treating hearing loss can ease loneliness

If hearing loss can increase isolation and loneliness, it stands to reason that improving someone's ability to hear has the potential to alleviate those problems. However, there isn't a lot of data on that yet: A 2020 systematic review on the topic stated more research is needed to measure whether hearing loss treatment helps with loneliness.

Courtney Voelker, MD, PhD is a board-certified neurotologist and director of the Adult & Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center. Many of her patients arrive with a family member who describes them as being withdrawn, socially isolated, and depressed.

"After being fit with hearing aids or undergoing a surgical cochlear implant, these same patients return with a smile and their family reporting that they are a changed person," Dr. Voelker says. "This is very rewarding to me as a neurotology surgeon."

Hearing aids are part of the solution

Hearing aids are one very important tactic to treating hearing loss. But, Modrosic points out: "Hearing aids aren't the solution; they're part of the solution."

Appropriate counseling from an audiologist plays a significant role in helping people hear better, she says. This includes auditory rehab. Audiologists may recommend common-sense but meaningful adjustments such as:

Asking people to face you when they talk

Requesting that people take turns when speaking to you

Muting the TV if someone in the room is speaking to you

Taking advantage of FM/DM systems

When it comes to loneliness, we all have a role to play.

"We quite happily fit hearing aids for people without asking the obvious question: Who are you going to talk to with these?" Plant points out.

If you have friends and family with hearing loss, include them in social gatherings, call them on the phone, meet them outside, or see them with masks on, Modrosic says.

The Talkabout Study is still ongoing, but Plant points to early positive indications.

"That little angel has made such a big difference in my life," Plant says one of the participants said about a weekly conversational partner.

More: I'm 85. Can I get a cochlear implant?

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Don't let hearing loss make you feel lonely

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Hearing loss can lead to social isolation and loneliness. Treating the hearing loss is an important first step in helping a person who is feeling isolated, along with social support and auditory training.

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Depression is a consequence of age related hearing loss because hearing loss may limit your social engagement and lead to depression: You avoid simple duties. You find yourself avoiding social situations. You feel alone even with family and friends.

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Oct. 7th Long Term Treatments for Hearing Loss

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Oct. 7th Long Term Treatments for Hearing Loss

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The average cost of a hearing aid is $2,500 for one ear. They usually aren't covered by health insurance. If left untreated, hearing loss can affect the social, physical, and cognitive well-being of older adults.

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The cost of assistive devices ranges from $1,000-$3,500. These usually aren't covered by health insurance. The consequences is understanding speech can be difficult.

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The cost of speech therapy is $100-$250 per session. It depends if it is covered by insurance on the plan and situation. The consequences of not treating is decline in speech.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that contribute to mental health problems. Long term effects of this therapy is developing coping strategies for dealing with challenges like social isolation and frustration. This can help feelings of being more comfortable. Short term effects may just be feeling more comfortable in your body during therapy. Many people with hearing loss feel insecurities that this therapy can help prevent.

Counselor, psychologists, mental health social workers and therapists can all provide CBT

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Behavioral therapy is a therapeutic approach that uses behavioral techniques to eliminate unwanted behaviors. Learn how this approach is used to treat phobias, OCD, and anxiety.

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Participating in support groups allows individuals with hearing loss to connect with others facing similar challenges. Counseling can help address emotional and psychological aspects, such as feelings of isolation or frustration. These groups provide a safe space to share experiences and learn coping strategies.

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Support Groups: Types, Benefits, and What to Expect

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Whether you’re seeking support for addiction, caregiving, or a mental health issue, overcoming your fear and attending a support group can be a valuable step toward healing

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It causes delays in the development or receptive and expressive communication skills. The language deficit causes learning problems leading to poor academic performance. Treatments for delays in communication can be speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Speech therapy can provide therapy to improve communication skills, occupational therapy can improve language, cognitive, and fine motor skills.

Professions required are speech therapist and cognitive therapist.

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Audiologic, or hearing, rehabilitation helps people with hearing loss. Rehabilitation, or rehab for short, helps people relearn skills that they have lost. If you lose your hearing, rehab can help you learn to hear again. Hearing rehab helps you get used to your hearing loss. It helps you use hearing aids and other devices to help you hear.

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A healthy diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids and zinc can support hearing health and create a better lifestyle for someone with age-related hearing loss. It's 4/10 difficulty to make this lifestyle change. A medical professional can help someone with age-related hearing loss make this change and provide guidance on lifestyle modifications.

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Exercising regularly will help improve blood flow to the inner ear which is essential for someone with age-related hearing loss. This lifestyle change is probably a 5/10 difficulty to make. An audiologist can evaluate hearing problems and tell them these modifications to make to their lifestyle.

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Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) results from exposure to high levels of sound, which can damage the hair cells in the cochlea, leading to permanent hearing impairment. Encouraging the use of earplugs or earmuffs in noisy environments

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Education campaigns, such as those led by the World Health Organization (WHO), have helped raise awareness about hearing protection in the workplace and among recreational noise-exposed groups.

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Good cardiovascular health is essential for maintaining healthy blood flow to the auditory system. A healthy diet, regular exercise, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol can improve overall health and reduce the risk of conditions that contribute to hearing loss.

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High blood pressure is a risk factor for age-related hearing loss. Public health efforts to reduce salt intake and manage blood pressure through diet and medication may help prevent ARHL.