Levels of Hearing Impairment

Posted by admin on January 28th, 2010


Hearing impairment is a disability which involves the incapacity of a certain person to hear any sound or partly losing the sense of hearing. This case can be very common to older persons which are medically derived as presbycusis.

Taking care of our ears is a must; we have to do this to lessen the possibility of losing our sense of hearing at a young age. Sometimes we can’t afford not to hear loud sounds especially if we are working on places prone in loud sounds like machines, vehicles, airplanes, etc.

We can make ourselves ready for this situation by knowing the different levels of hearing impairment.

0 – No impairment- a loss of 25 dB where people with this degree of hearing ability can be able to hear whispers.

1 – Slight impairment- a loss of 26 – 40 dB at this level a person can still hear some words spoken in a normal voice at 1 meter.

2 – Moderate impairment – a loss of 41 – 60 dB at this level person can hear and repeat words spoken in a raised voice at 1 meter, normally hearing aids are needed.

3 – Severe impairment – a loss of 61 – 80 dB at this level a person can hear some words when shouted into the ear. Hearing aids are mostly needed.

4 – Profound impairment – a loss of 81 dB or greater where at this level a person is unable to hear and understand a shouted voice. Hearing aids may help understanding words in some cases. Teaching lip reading and sign language is a must.

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Causes of Hearing Loss for Adults

Posted by admin on January 27th, 2010

There are several reasons for hearing loss, though all of us have the tendency to experience hearing loss, there are still reasons or causes that could result to hearing loss, like diseases, accidents and exposing your ears to loud sounds for longer time.

Hearing loss can be common to adults especially when they reach older ages. When we grow old, each and every one of us has the tendency to loss the sense of hearing.  Those who are not taking good care of their ears or those who are engaged in mechanical jobs that get them exposed to loud sounds have more possibilities to loss their hearing sense in an early age, worst is losing it completely.

Presbycusis is the medical term for age-related hearing loss, which is considered to have cumulative effects of aging on the ears. Hearing loss mostly begins after age 60 according to medical studies and more likely occur to most of the men than women. Condition in which it harder to hear high-pitched tones than low-pitched ones. As we grow old, it takes time for us to notice that we are having a difficulty in hearing because it doesn’t immediately occur.

It is important to take care of our ears especially when we are still at a young age to lessen the possibility of acquiring it too soon. There are a lot of ways to take care of our ears like minimizing the exposure of our ears to loud sounds, using ear plugs or ear muffs can also be a safety measure.

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Children and Hearing Loss

Posted by admin on January 26th, 2010


Losing the sense to hear for children is a very serious condition, giving them burden at a young age. As a solution for this condition, it is advisable for parents to understand the condition that their child is going through and help them by supporting the things they need to live a normal life at least. Love and care by the parents to their child can be an intrinsic motivation to push them to be happy.

Thanks to our latest technology, we can now ensure our child’s safety through the two different types of hearing screening tests used today to screen hearing in newborns and infants. By this way we would be able to know if a child has a tendency to loss the sense to hear as well as making us aware about the possibilities that could happen along the way of the child’s growth. It can help the parents to know the things that they can do to help their child and the things they needed to prevent the condition from getting worst.

Hearing aids plays an important role in the life of a hearing impaired person and this is exactly what children with hearing loss needs, a hearing device that can let them everything around them. People who are having hearing deficiency suffer from social deprivation because they don’t have enough courage to engage in social activities so it is important to have a hearing device helping you to hear a conversation. But the most important thing is acceptance and understanding.

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The Basic Types of Hearing Tests

Posted by admin on January 25th, 2010


For cases like hearing loss, we wanted to make sure that we are not into getting ourselves loss our sense to hear. It is very important to know your condition as early as possible in order to prevent a certain condition from getting worst. This is the reason why children who are in a very young age already have series of test to see and make sure their hearing condition. It is an advantage for parents because they would be able to get their selves prepared for the measures that they are going to take in order to prevent the condition of their child’s health.

Technology had helped us in a big way because of the devices that hearing impaired person’s are using to at least experience living a normal life, of course it is not almost the same but it can give them the opportunity to hear as if they don’t suffer hearing loss.

Here are basic types of hearing tests:

Tympanometry -using sound and pressure from a device that is placed in one ear, this measures the tightness of the eardrum. A loud noise is heard from the device, causing the eardrum to vibrate. There is no discomfort associated with this test. The other ear will be tested in the same fashion.

Speech Audiometry – using an earphones, you will hear a technician recite words at varying volume levels. You will then be asked to repeat what you heard, though there is a glass panel through which you can see one another, you won’t be able to read the technicians lips. The words are heard through ear pieces a mixed with background sounds, seems like talking to someone in a crowd.

Tone Recognition – series of tones will be played on the headphones, – As you hear the tones, you will either press a button device or raise your hand indicating that you heard the tone, then continues with tones of varying pitch and volume. When the technician plays a sound that you do not indicate hearing, the sound will be played again slightly louder to determine the absolute lowest or highest pitch or volume that you can hear.

Pure Tone Bone Conduction Hearing - a single ear piece is placed in one ear, then a second device like a headband with round pads at each end is placed over the head. One pad is placed in the hair near the temple on the side of the head with the ear piece, one on the opposite ear. A series of tones are played and you respond when you hear the tone, a test is to stimulate the auditory nerve through vibration of bones in the skull.

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Go Digital or Analog?

Posted by admin on January 22nd, 2010

Hearing aids are special devices that help the hearing impaired persons to hear sounds and experience the goodness of a normal hearing sense. Though not totally like us, how we hear sounds, a hearing aid is a big advantage for them to be able to understand a word, a sound, and everything which is happening in their surroundings.

There are big improvements when it comes to hearing aids, in which they are already more compatible and more comfortable to wear compared to those which are designed at its first discovery. Over years there are already several types of hearings aids that are designed to further enhance its capacity of giving aid to those who have hearing loss.

Thanks to technology, making a breakthrough in optimizing the functions and ability of the device to translate sounds into a better one for those who are hearing impaired. One of these devices is considered as digital hearing aids.

Digital hearing aid is a device that detects sound waves, processing it into digital format, and amplifying the sound for the user to hear it better. Users of this device have the advantage because digital hearing aid has the capacity of translating sounds more accurately compared to analog hearing devices.

On the other hand, analog hearing aids are devices which we already known since then. It has only the capacity of transmitting a sound as it is and makes them sound louder. But there are also some cases that analog hearing devices are required, depending on the patient’s condition.

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3 Types of Hearing Loss and How to Prevent It

Posted by admin on January 21st, 2010


Hearing loss can be common to elderly, but there is threat of hearing loss to youngsters as well. Due to the nature of a job that requires years of exposing your ears to loud sounds of machines, vehicles, airplanes, etc.

There are 3 different types of hearing loss, these three types of hearing loss have their own characteristics that we have to familiarize to get ourselves aware and informed in order to know how to get these illness prevented.

Conductive hearing loss- this happens when sounds are not properly conducted through the ear, general reduction in sound level usually caused by blockage in the ears like ear wax or infection that may affect the sound from travelling properly in the ears.

Sensorineural hearing loss- this happens when the middle ear or the nerve pathways of the ear have damage. Some of the factors that contribute to this type of hearing loss can be long exposure to loud sounds.

Mixed hearing loss- a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing losses, happening when the inner and outer areas of the ears have damage.

These are some ways to prevent hearing loss. Safe level of volume when listening to TV or radio, using over-the-ears ears headphones have noise cancellation which is safe compared to ear buds, protect your ears from noise by using ear plugs or ear muffs as safety measures to protect your ears from damage, and minimize long time of exposing your ears to loud sounds.

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Five Tips in Buying a Hearing Aid

Posted by admin on January 20th, 2010

There are countless individuals suffering from hearing loss. In the United States alone about twenty-eight million people are estimated to be suffering in some form of hearing loss. Hearing loss has many causes and one of the factors associated with hearing loss is familial in nature. This means that its hereditary and may also be present in your genes. A regular visit to a specialist might help in early detection of this condition. In some cases medical intervention and surgery might help but if your hearing loss is not augmented by these then a hearing aid is needed. In purchasing a hearing aid you must remember five important tips. On top of the list is that you must seek medical attention for the evaluation of your hearing loss. This is very important since it is one of the guidelines that is based on regulations of the state and the federal government. Next, is that you must remember that their are many different types, designs, and brands of hearing aids and most of them are good and brags about how good their products. These products vary in so many ways but for your benefit seek the help of a specialist to help you pick out the hearing aid suited for your type of hearing loss. Third, chose the style of the hearing aid where you are best comfortable with. You can choose from a behind-the-ear which is usually the cheapest, the completely in the canal which is a bit more expensive and the smallest hearing aid available in the market right now, and in the ear aids which sits in the outer portion of the patient’s ear. Fourth, today hearing aids have all types of options so chose the best that suits your lifestyle. Lastly, computer circuitry, digital processing, microchips and the like makes todays hearing aids amazing. It is so sophisticated that finding a hearing aid that will suit your lifestyle is so likely to happen.

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Causes and Signs of Hearing Loss

Posted by admin on January 19th, 2010


When we get older, most of us are experiencing a little bit of difficulty in hearing. Due to exposing our ears to sounds, hurting the cells in our ears over time. This can be the reason for us to lose our hearing sense, a medical term called presbycusis.

As an individual that is required to be employed for living, some jobs like construction, machineries, etc. exposes us to loud sounds making us prone as well as adding the risk of deafness as you get older. Buildup of earwax can also be a factor for hearing loss for this build up ca blocks the ear canals blocking the airwaves from entering to our ears resulting to the hearing loss. Though not common and this only seldom to happen, ear infections or irregular bone growths can also cause loss.

The signs of hearing loss can be easily identified, being unable to understand a certain word even if it was already said a couple of times, turning up the volume of the TV or radio even if it is already a bit loud or not like the usual way of listening. This situation can really affect a person’s life so much that they begin to worry about it.

It is important to immediately visit a doctor or ear specialist for you to be examined as well as to avoid the situation to get worst. Prevention is also important make sure to take care of your ears and keep it clean regularly.

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Five Tips in Dealing with Hearing Impaired Kids

Posted by admin on January 18th, 2010

Losing your hearing sense is one of the hardest things that could happen in your life. Being deprived of hearing a sweet beautiful music, the amazing sounds of nature, and worst is not to be able to communicate properly. You don’t want this to happen for sure or you would rather lose your job than losing this important sense from you.

How much more having this thing happened to a child, your child, you wouldn’t be able to bare the pain seeing them in this condition. I’m sure that you will do everything just to have this thing prevented from happening. But most of all understanding and love would be the best thing that you can give for them, couple it with care. Here are some tips on how to properly deal with hearing impaired kids.
1. Have a solution as early as possible so to avoid the situation getting worst. Learning sign language is important and it’s much easy when they are still young.
2. Upon knowing that your kid has problems hearing, immediately have them checked by a specialist for remedy.
3. The Federal government helps, the IDEA or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. They can help your kids through programs that can help them to be better.
4. While growing, make sure that your child is updated when it comes to the maintenance and enhancement for their device.
5. The insurance company can be a great help for your child. They can shoulder some expenses for the hearing device as well as IDEA, they can also offer support.

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Is Hearing Loss Associated with Schwannomas of the Ears?

Posted by admin on January 16th, 2010


Tumors whether benign or malignant will always have some negative impact on our daily activities. It is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells and this is according to definition. Schwannomas on the other hand is a tumor which is benign in nature. It begins in the Schwann cells; these cells produce myelin that helps protect the acoustic nerve. This particular nerve is known to be the nerve for hearing. That was just a little background information for you to have a clearer picture of the possible situation at hand. Hearing loss has many causes and old age is just one of them. Hearing loss may also be caused by genetic and environmental factors. Although schwannomas are benign in nature there are also rare cases recorded that they are malignant. This is more common in women than in men as studies have shown that the occurrence is twice in women than in men. The end result of Schwannomas is indeed hearing loss for the most affected nerve is the acoustic nerve which is vital in our hearing and if not treated early will ultimately block the auditory canal. The key in detecting hearing loss associated with Schwannomas is early detection like in most tumors. So if you feel like you are experiencing hearing loss seeks medical attention as soon as possible. Most cases associated with this type of hearing loss are undetectable by the naked eye so MRI is used to know the exact location of the tumor and its size.

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