Types & Levels of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss affects people of all ages and can be caused by many different factors. The three basic categories of hearing loss are sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss and mixed hearing loss. Here is what patients should know about each type.
Types of Hearing Loss
The type of hearing loss each person has depends on what part of his/her hearing is damaged. Here are the four types of hearing loss: The ear is made up of three parts which are the outer, the middle, and the inner ear.
1. Conductive Hearing Loss: A conductive hearing loss happens when sounds cannot get through the outer and middle ear. In this case, it may be hard to hear soft sounds, and louder sounds may be muffled.
2. Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL, happens after inner ear damage. SNHL may happen due to problems with the nerve pathways from your inner ear to your brain. Soft sounds may be hard to hear. Even louder sounds may be unclear or may sound muffled.
This is the most common type of permanent hearing loss. Most of the time, medicine or surgery cannot fix SNHL. However, hearing aids may help the person hear.
Mixed Hearing Loss: It’s possible sometimes for a conductive hearing loss to happen simultaneously with a sensorineural hearing loss. In other words, there may be damage in the outer or middle ear and in the inner ear or nerve pathway to the brain.
4. Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD): This is a hearing disorder which is a subtype of Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) in which the inner ear successfully detects sound, but has a problem with sending sound from the ear to the brain. This problem occurs due to a tumor or any other kind of damage in a person’s hearing system.
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Different Levels of Hearing Loss
An audiologist can determine the severity of your hearing loss by conducting one of the five level of hearing tests.
Slight Hearing Loss
The inability to hear sounds between 16 to 25 decibels is classified as slight hearing loss. Slight hearing loss means a difficulty in hearing very soft sounds, such as the rustling or falling of leaves, a whisper or the dropping of a pin.
Mild Hearing Loss
The inability to hear sounds between 26 to 40 decibels is classified as mild hearing loss. They are often able to hear the loud or more intense vowel sounds, but may miss some of the softer consonant sounds. They may have to ask people to speak up or repeat themselves on occasion.
Moderate Hearing Loss
The inability to hear sounds between 41 to 55 decibels is classified as moderate hearing loss. People with a moderate hearing loss often comment that without hearing aids they hear, but can’t always understand.
Moderately Severe Hearing Loss
The inability to hear sounds between 56 to 70 decibels is classified as moderately severe hearing loss. Without hearing aids or cochlear implants, speech is inaudible. With moderate hearing loss, there is difficulty in understanding normal speech and comprehending speech becomes more burdensome in the presence of background noise. Without hearing aids, speech is inaudible. Even with hearing aids, speech may be difficult to understand. Increasing the amplification doesn’t always make it clearer.
Severe Hearing Loss
The inability to hear sounds between 71 to 90 decibels is classified as severe hearing loss. Without hearing aids or cochlear implants, speech is inaudible.
Profound Hearing Loss
The inability to hear sounds at 91 decibels and above is classified as profound hearing loss. Such sounds include the sound when riding a motorcycle, music at a loud concert, aircraft landing at a distance, the noise in a train and the sound levels in a sports stadium. Without hearing aids, may be unable to hear very loud sounds like airplane engines, traffic, or fire alarms.
Baseline Hearing Test
Most adults received their last hearing test when they were in grade school. It is a good idea to have your hearing checked when you are an adult at least once during your annual physical. This test becomes your baseline test, so that later, if you do suffer hearing loss, your audiologist can compare your current hearing to your baseline to assess the severity of your hearing loss so you can be treated appropriately. No matter which type of hearing loss you have, Shruti Hearing Loss Clinic emphasizes the importance of treating your hearing loss because untreated hearing loss can have a negative impact on your health. For more information about Shruti hearing care center, visit www.hearwithshruti.com