Key Points
• Hearing loss, often called deafness, is the partial or total inability to hear sounds in one or both ears.
• Experts say that early detection can prevent and improve most patients’ conditions.
• You can prepare for the effects of hearing loss by identifying its first signs, such as misunderstandings from “losing” or confusing words in a conversation.
• Other common signs are not being able to understand someone if you can’t see their face or expressions, or thinking that everyone else is murmuring.
Over 5% of the global population has hearing loss, oftentimes due to inherited factors.
However, experts say that early detection can prevent and improve most patients’ conditions. Keep reading to learn all about hearing loss and its early signs so that you won’t miss them.
Hypoacusis, also known as hearing loss and often called deafness, is the partial or total inability to hear sounds in one or both ears.
A person has hearing loss when they cannot hear as well as a person with a normal sense of hearing.
A hearing threshold in both ears greater than or equal to 25 decibels (dB) is considered normal. A decibel is a unit that is used to measure the intensity of sound.
For example, whispers are around 30 dB, conversations around 60 dB, motorcycles 95 dB, and ambulance sirens 120 dB.
Hearing loss can be mild, moderate, severe, or profound, and affect one or both ears.
Currently, over 466 million people have hearing loss worldwide, but this figure is expected to rise to 900 million in 2050—meaning that one in every 10 people will have hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Causes of hearing loss
The ear can be divided into three main parts: outer, middle, and inner. We can hear thanks to sound waves that pass through the outer ear and cause vibrations in the eardrum.
The eardrum and three small bones in the middle ear (ossicles) amplify the vibrations as they travel to the inner ear. There, the vibrations pass through the fluid in the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure.
In the neurons in the cochlea, thousands of small hairs help translate sound vibrations into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain, which finally converts them to sound.
Hearing loss is usually classified into three types:
• Conductive: When it involves the outer or middle ear.
• Sensorineural: When it involves the inner ear.
• Mixed: A combination of the two.
Hearing loss can be caused by many factors. Some of the main causes are:
• Buildup of earwax in the ear canal.
• Ruptured eardrum.
• Scarring in the eardrum due to repeated infections.
• Taking certain medications, such as the antibiotic gentamicin, sildenafil (Viagra), and other chemotherapy drugs.
• Damage to the ossicles or inability of the ossicles to conduct sound correctly.
• Eardrum not vibrating in response to sound.
• Aging.
• Constant exposure to loud noises.
• Hereditary factors.
• Presence of fluid in the ear after an ear infection.
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• Presence of a foreign object in the ear canal.
• Playing sports, especially contact sports.
Symptoms of hearing loss
People who have hearing loss usually have the following symptoms:
•Feeling like certain sounds are too loud in one or both ears.
• Having trouble following conversations when two or more people are talking.
• Having trouble differentiating high-pitched sounds.
• Feeling dizzy or unbalanced.
• Feeling pressure in one or both ears.
• Hearing noises or ringing.
Early signs of hearing loss
You can prepare for the effects of hearing loss by identifying its first signs early:
• You think that people around you are murmuring or not talking clearly.
• You don’t hear questions and usually ask people to repeat themselves.
• You can’t hear loud noises that other people around you can hear, such as doorbells, cellphones, TVs, and alarms.
• You need to see a speaker’s face, expressions, and lip movements to understand a conversation.
• You misunderstand things, mainly by “missing” or confusing words another person says.
• You have difficulty hearing when there is background noise, such as music or activity, but other people are able to hear.
When to talk to a doctor
More than half of cases of hearing loss in children and young adults are preventable.
Prevention and detection of this condition are not difficult, and early treatments are usually very effective.
Talk to your doctor if you have any of these signs:
• Hearing problems that not only don’t go away, but also get worse and interfere with your lifestyle.
• Worse hearing in one ear than another.
• Sudden severe hearing loss or ringing in the ears.
• Earache or headache, weakness, or numbness in any part of the body.
Sources: National Library of Medicine; Mayo Clinic; Harvard Medical School; World Health Organization.
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