A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding Hearing Loss Diagnosis

Hearing loss can occur suddenly if you are exposed to a loud sound or a bang. It can also happen gradually over time, as is often the case with age-related hearing loss. The ability to understand hearing loss is an important first step toward taking action.

What is hearing loss?

Hearing loss means that you are no longer able to hear specific sounds. Perhaps you can't hear high-pitched inflections, such as women's or children's voices. If there is a lot of background noise, you might not distinguish a single voice. Hearing loss can be temporary, such as ringing in the ears after a big party. Most of the time, it is irreversible due to damage to the mechanisms that aid in hearing.

Levels of hearing loss

Hearing loss is classified into four categories based on its severity: mild, moderate, severe, and profound.

• Mild: You will struggle to hear and understand soft speech, speech from a distance, or speech against a noisy backdrop.
• Moderate: Even at close range, you will have difficulty hearing regular speech.
• Severe: Only very loud speech or deafening sounds in the environment, such as a fire truck siren or a door slamming, may be heard. The majority of ordinary conversation is not heard.
• Profound: Loud sounds may only be perceived as vibrations by you.

An audiogram

When your audiologist describes your hearing loss, they will always mention the magnitude of the loss as well as its "configuration," which refers to the pitches or frequencies you will be unable to hear.

These tones will be plotted on an audiogram, which is a graph.

An audiogram indicates which frequencies you can hear and at what volume. The audiogram provides your audiologist with a good idea of the severity of your hearing loss and assists them in determining the best treatment options for you.

The different types of hearing loss

• Conductive hearing loss: Conductive hearing loss occurs when your outer or middle ear does not transfer sound to your inner ear. This type of hearing loss can be either temporary or permanent. Often, it can be treated by removing an ear blockage.
• Sensorineural hearing loss: Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when hearing loss occurs in the inner ear or in the nerve that transmits sound to the brain. This type of hearing loss is more likely to be permanent, but treatment options are excellent.
• Mixed hearing loss: Mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Hearing aids

Hearing aids are the most common form of treatment or management for hearing loss. There are different hearing aids available, each with advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to talk to your audiologist about the best one for you and your hearing needs. The main types of hearing aid are: in the ear (ITE) hearing aids, behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids, and ITC (in the canal) hearing aids. There are other ones, but generally, these are the most commonly offered ones.