Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is prevalent with millions of people in America. This pamphlet is designed to tell you why a hearing loss occurs and what can be done about it.

Because of many reasons, a deficiency can arise in one or both of the inner ears’ hearing systems. A hearing loss can come on gradually or suddenly, depending on the suspected cause or other extraneous variables. Most commonly, it is due from aging, loud noise exposure, genetic inheritance, or medical problems. Sometimes, there is no good reason why it occurs.

Hearing aids can help the individual to get back into life by assisting with communication. Let’s explore this further.

How The Hearing System Works:

There are three parts to the ear: the outer ear (what you can see), the middle ear (where those tiny bones are), and the inner ear (where the main organ of hearing lies). There is also a nerve that sends the sound on to the brain for processing.
The organ of hearing is called the cochlea, and it lies within the inner ear. What actually sends the sound to your brain (from your ear) are tiny, little hair cells in the cochlea. These hair cells generate an electrical impulse when a signal arrives from the middle ear (where those tiny bones are).
So, in sum, a sound/word in the environment goes into the outer ear, and is transmitted through the middle ear to the inner ear and cochlea. The hair cells convert the sound into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain for processing.
All this occurs within an extremely short amount of time in a very small space. It is truly amazing!
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The most common form of hearing loss is a sensorineural hearing loss, in which those inner hair cells are damaged… thus are no longer able to properly transmit the proper sounds to the brain. Another type of loss is conductive, affecting the middle ear.

Hearing Loss Determination:

To determine if a hearing loss exists, a series of diagnostic tests must be performed. An Audiogram determines your current hearing level thresholds- the softest sound you can hear. Speech testing confirms those results and evaluates your ability to understand speech. Otoactoustic Emissions (OAE) Testing shows the extent of the hair cell damage. Tympanometry shows how well the middle ear is functioning. All this testing is performed by our licensed Audiologist.

Hearing Loss Determination:

You or your family members/friends also may have an indication of a hearing loss. The symptoms look something like this: having to repeat often, saying “What?” often, misunderstanding what has been said, feeling left out of the conversation, missing the endings of words in sentences, and having more trouble following conversations in noisy environments (like restaurants, malls, crowds, etc.).

What Can Help?

Hearing assistance devices (hearing aids) help to approximate normal hearing. The purpose of them is to restore as much hearing as possible to the areas that have been damages. They do not restore normal hearing completely. That being said, they sure can help a whole lot.

How Hearing Aids Work:

A hearing aid contains a number of components. First, there is a microphone that initially detects sound. Last, there is a receiver that delivers the modified sound to your ear directly. What happens in between is determined by the type of hearing aid under consideration.
A conventional hearing aid amplifies all the sounds uniformly through its amplifier, regardless of the hearing configuration (the limitation of conventional aids). They generally also have a compression system in them so loud sounds are not uncomfortably loud.
A programmable hearing aid amplifies the sound where it is needed, as determined by the hearing configuration. The amplifiers are programmed by the Audiologists to give the right amount of help to the damaged hair cells.
A digital hearing aid is programmed to amplify the problem areas also, but it also has some perks: a filter that reduces whistling/feedback, a filter that reduces steady state background noises, and a clearer signal enhancer.
Directional microphones are the best feature that helps reduce noise, and they can be put on any type of hearing aid.

Hearing Aid Prices

Conventional........................................................................................................$700-1,500 each
Programmable...................................................................................................$1,600-2,100 each
Basic Digital......................................................................................................$1,700-2,200 each
Midline Digital...................................................................................................$2,000-2,600 each
Best Digital........................................................................................................$2,300-3,000 each

*These prices include directional microphones and a 1 or 2-year warranty (depending on the make).
*There’s a $200 discount for 2 aids.