Hearing Loss

 

Uncle Joe says everyone is mumbling. He says he was never told about something and wonders why people are keeping things from him? You think he's just not listening. Or...could it be that he just doesn't hear as well as he once did?

 

This scenario is a common one. After all, one out of every ten Americans has some sort of hearing loss. That is approximately 28 million people. Many of these individuals and their family members have no idea anything is wrong.

 

In the 1970s hearing problems among people ages 45 to 64 rose quite significantly. The reason for this increase is a simple one - we're not as young as we used to be. Americans are living longer and the problems associated with aging are becoming more prevalent.

 

The causes for hearing loss are varied: wax buildup in the ear canal, infections, tumors, medicines, injuries, and noise. Our world is a noisy one. Jet planes, music, traffic, lawn mowers and many other culprits impact our hearing. Our ears were meant to hear quiet noises in the forests and plains, not the loud noises of the cities in which we congregate.

 

As loud noises enter into our ears, the sensory cells inside the ear begin to vibrate. If they vibrate too much, for too long they fall apart. Once the cell is gone, it is never replaced. The more cells you lose, the less you hear.

 

These cells are arranged in your ear like the strings on a piano from low to high frequencies. The first of these cells to disappear are most commonly the high frequency cells. Once this happens, the loss is noticed in conversations. Specific sounds are lost: consonant sounds like f, s or t become muffled. Women's voices and high musical notes are distorted.

 

In general, men's hearing heads downhill faster than women's. Hearing changes, particularly in the higher frequencies, begin in men as early as age 30 and in women around age 50. Studies have also shown differences in how men and women process sound. Men tend to process sound best in their  20's. By the time men reach their mid-30's, communication between the left and right hemispheres of their brains has begun to decline and they have increasing difficulty hearing more than one sound at a time.

 

For women, this change doesn't occur until after menopause--and it accompanies another change as well: Women begin to have trouble reading voice cues like humor or sarcasm. They have a more difficult time knowing what people are meaning.

 

Want to learn how to protect your hearing? Learn more here: Hearing Protection

Do you need hearing aids? Learn more here: Hearing Aids