Hearing loss

What is hearing loss?

Hearing loss often occurs gradually; many people are not aware that they have a problem with their hearing even if they realise certain sounds or people are difficult to hear. It may be certain situations like a crowded supermarket, in the car or on the phone that seem difficult to understand what is going on, yet in other situations, such as one on one environments there is no real great difficulty hearing.
Hearing loss is very prevalent as we get older; approximately one in every ten people have a hearing loss and by the time people are 65 years old at least a third of people have got some degree of hearing loss.

Degree of hearing loss

The amount of hearing loss a person has is measured in decibels (dB) and the range is divided into four levels.

A person with a mild hearing loss (26-45dB) will probably have difficulty understanding someone speaking at a distance or who has a soft voice. Quiet conditions or one to one conversations may present no problems, but noisy conditions are hard to cope with. High pitched sounds like bird song are often hard to hear.

A person with a moderate hearing loss (46-65dB) will have difficulty in the same situations as mild losses but also have difficulty hearing others even in quiet situations.

When the hearing loss is rated as severe (66-90dB), no matter the situation or how close you are to the signal, it will be difficult to hear.

Those with a profound hearing loss (greater than 90dB) will find it almost impossible to hear loud speech or environmental sounds.

The degree of hearing loss handicap can also be effected when we can no longer hear frequencies that we used to hear. Usually the more hearing loss we have in the higher frequencies, the harder it is to hear speech. This is because the consonants are high frequency in nature and therefore provide the clarity and ability to discriminate human speech.

Seeing your audiologist

Many people come and see an audiologist (a university trained hearing specialist) because they feel they have a hearing problem; however, many also come because a friend, family member or other health professional has recommended it. It is important to take someone with you to your appointment so that you don’t miss out on what is explained and it’s also very helpful to the audiologist if someone else can confirm the difficulties you are having with everyday communication.
The audiologist will talk to you about your hearing problem, your family history, whether you have worked in noisy situations over a period of time or any other health or relevant issues that might affect your hearing. He or she will then conduct a hearing test. The hearing test measures the softest level you can hear different pitches (frequencies) of sounds. You will usually also be tested to see how well you can hear speech.
After the hearing test is finished the audiologist will explain the results and what he or she recommends that you do next. Below is a special audiogram called a ‘speech banana’ audiogram, showing common sounds in the environment compared to your hearing loss.