What Most People Don’t Know About Hearing Loss, Part 1

Everyone knows what a hearing loss is. It’s when you just can’t hear at the level we consider normal. The level for normal hearing was established by testing a lot of very young children at different frequencies that make up speech. The average decibel level these children heard is what we call normal hearing.

Hearing aids are not usually recommended until a hearing loss is detected below the 30 to 35 db levels. A person whose hearing is at this level usually is asking people to repeat or misunderstanding words in conversations.

So what is it that most people don’t know about hearing loss?

What they don’t know or realize is that if someone has an uncorrected hearing loss over a prolonged period of time, most experience a loss of their ability to comprehend or understand words correctly. This means that the processing of sounds into understandable words goes away. Almost everyone thinks that putting a hearing aid on and bringing back their hearing to normal levels will solve this problem. Sad to say most people who have put off getting help for years have lost some to a lot of their ability to understand or comprehend words.

We believe that sound deprivation due to the hearing loss is what causes this. So let me ask you, did you know this? I would say at least 98% of patients we see don’t realize or have any idea that this was happening to them. Sure they knew they couldn’t hear and of course they were always asking people to repeat but most didn’t realize the consequence of not getting amplification earlier. They are usually shocked that putting a hearing aid on and getting their hearing back to normal levels doesn’t always solve their word comprehension problem. (continued in part 2)

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