Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is a largely misunderstood phenomenon. Even though 20% of Americans report some degree of hearing loss, not many people know its causes, symptoms and treatments. Whether you are a patient or not, you are surely surrounded by triggers that lead to hearing loss. In order to prevent further damage to your hearing, you need to know and understand the disease. Here are the 10 most important facts about hearing loss that might help you understand it better:

1. Hearing loss is considered to be the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease. It is also a major public health issue, since nearly 60% of hearing loss patients are either in the workforce or in educational settings.
2. Referred to as an “invisible condition,” hearing loss has symptoms that cannot be seen. You can only notice its effects, which are often confused with aloofness, confusion or personality changes.
3. Hearing loss may be sudden, gradual or congenital. Sudden hearing loss is often noise-induced and can occur due to exposure to an excessively hazardous level of noise. For example, sudden noise-induced hearing from gunfire and explosions is the number one disability caused by combat in current wars.
4. Congenital (from birth) hearing loss that occurs in some children has a genetic cause. There are 400 known causes of genetic hearing loss, out of which most occur without any other symptoms apart from hearing loss.
5. Gradual hearing loss may be experienced due to prolonged exposure to harmful levels of noise, such as listening to very loud music, being in a noisy work environment, or using a lawn mower. These activities can lead to hearing loss over many years.
6. In adults, hearing loss increases with age and is often confused with, or complicates, such conditions as dementia. Age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, is characterized by changes in the inner ear that happen as you get older and cause a slow but steady hearing loss. The loss may be mild or severe, but it is always permanent.
7. Ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, is a common companion of hearing loss. It is often considered to be just as debilitating as hearing loss itself, as patients seek medical assistance to deal with this irksome condition.
8. Studies show that patients of hearing loss experience a reduction in productivity at work and lose about $30,000 in income every year. Such patients also have trouble socializing and become detached and isolated, often getting trapped in a vicious cycle of depression and frustration.
9. Hearing loss can occur at any age: about 3 out of every 1,000 children are hard of hearing or deaf, and it is estimated that 30 school children per 1,000 have a hearing loss problem. WHO believes that 1.1 billion teenagers around the world are at the risk of hearing loss due to exposure to damaging levels of sound at noisy entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars and sporting events and the excessive use of personal audio devices, including smartphones and MP3 players.
10. If left untreated, hearing loss can lead to cognitive decline. One of the best ways to prevent this is by using hearing aids.  These small instruments can be worn outside or inside the ear (almost invisible to the outside world) and help patients hear accurately and combat symptoms like tinnitus.