Keep Listening: Coping With Hearing Loss

April 15th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

There are a lot of simple bodily mechanisms that we take for granted, the chance to see someone you care about, to smell a fragrant rose, or to hear a beautiful sound. When one of these functions, such as hearing begins to slowly diminish, it can be a difficult and frustrating adjustment.

That is why learning ways for coping with hearing loss is essential. Coping with hearing loss does not have to be a battle. It is best to know why you are losing or have lost your hearing, and what you can do about it. Your physician or audiologist will probably inform you of the main reason behind your hearing loss, but here are some reasons why is may have occurred.

If you have a blockage in the canal that lead to the middle ear, where the eardrum is located, then that is known as conducive hearing loss. If you are experiencing this, it can be corrected with surgery to correct the tiny bones in the eardrum to allow sound through better, or it can be as simple as taking a Q-tip to your ear and cleaning out some of that wax.

Causes of Hearing Loss

The other type of hearing loss that is more unfixable is sensor neural hearing loss. In this instance, the nerve that runs from the ear to the auditory section of the brain is damaged. This type of damage cannot be fixed with surgery and is permanent.

Causes of this include prolonged exposure to loud noise, a viral infection, birth defect, or exposure to drugs. If you are coping with hearing loss, chances are it is the sensor neural kind that cannot be corrected. Your physician will probably let you know how much hearing has been lost, and what can be done about it. A lot of times, if the damage isn’t too bad, a hearing aid will be prescribed.

There are a lot of advanced forms of hearing aids that fit inside of the ear, so it is not as conspicuous. If, however, significant hearing loss has occurred, it may have a serious affect on how you communicate with others, and understanding someone when they speak.

Sign language, as well as reading lips is alternatives to coping with hearing loss, and helping to continue communicating effectively with the rest of the world. If this is a choice of yours, contact a speech pathologist to help you turn coping with hearing loss into a gain. Coping with hearing loss can be hard, but it is not impossible. Keep a high spirit and remember that you do not need ears to here your loved ones speak to you.


Moderate Hearing Loss and Learning among Students

April 12th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Moderate Hearing LossNormal people usually have the ability to hear the quietest sound of 40 to 70 decibels (dB) with their better ear. Moderate hearing loss is the condition in which people are unable to keep up with a conversation while they are not wearing a hearing aid.

Educationists have been concerned about hearing loss of all types among students. Students that are experiencing a moderate level of hearing loss cannot understand the teacher’s speech without using a hearing aid.

If they are not wearing a hearing aid, they will have to rely on speech reading cues. This may work for a short time but becomes a serious hindrance to concentration of the student over longer periods of time.

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Taking Care of Your Ears with Hearing Loss Prevention

April 11th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Hearing Loss PreventionAs an active member of society, you put your body in harms way on a daily basis. A lot of accidents and injuries can occur, whether minor or severe, in just your every day life. The best way to take care of yourself and your body it to prevent bad things from happening to it, and hearing loss prevention is not exception.

Hearing loss prevention is a very important part of your health and wellbeing. Listed below are the causes of hearing loss, and what you can do to prevent it. Whether you are born with hearing loss, develop it over time or just have an object stuck in your ear that needs to be removed, hearing loss is divided into two main categories: conducive and sensor neural.

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When a Hearing Loss Test Is Needed

February 22nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

When a Hearing Loss Test Is NeededFor some people, hearing loss is inevitable. Genetic disorders or serious injuries can mean an unavoidable loss. For most people who experience hearing problems, a hearing loss test taken in time can lead to successful treatment or timely rehabilitation.

While older people can adjust to some hearing loss (Beethoven wrote symphonies after losing his hearing), babies need their hearing to develop language, communication and social skills.

More and more hospitals are screening newborns for hearing problems. If an infant is found to be hearing impaired, steps can be taken to treat a problem that can be treated or take other steps to help a child develop language and social skills with some or total loss of hearing.     Read the rest of this entry »


Hearing Loss Statistics and Their Meaning

February 22nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Hearing Loss Statistics and Their MeaningHearing loss is a common disability. It’s natural to lose some hearing as you age. Most people know someone, probably well, who needs some kind of hearing help. Even fairly profound hearing loss is not unfamiliar. While some level of hearing loss is not a frightening aspect, hearing loss statistics are important for their ability to determine how to prevent hearing loss if possible.

Many organizations maintain hearing loss statistics. The United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 278 million people with moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears. Low- and middle – income countries are the home to about 80% of those individuals. Not surprisingly, longer life expectancies contribute to a growth in the numbers of those who are hearing impaired.    Read the rest of this entry »


Hearing Loss Types: Sensorineural, Conductive, Central and Mixed

February 22nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Hearing Loss Types: Sensorineural, Conductive, CentralOlder Americans are the third most prevalent sufferers of chronic hearing loss, and it is believed that 25% to 40% of people aged 60 and above suffer from hearing loss. To be exact, there are three types of hearing loss that are most often encountered in clinical practice, and these are sensorineural, conductive as well as central hearing loss.

There may also be a mixed or fourth type of hearing loss that is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common type of hearing loss and accounts for approximately 90% of all hearing loss.    Read the rest of this entry »