Hearing Loss Overview

Hearing loss is one of the largest health concerns in the United States. Some 48 million Americans are living with hearing loss, with only about one out of five receiving treatment for it. Hearing aids are the most common treatment for hearing loss, and they are more effective and comfortable to wear than ever before.

Do I Have Hearing Loss?

Common signs of hearing loss include:

Difficulty keeping up with conversations, especially when background noise is present
Fatigue after a shorter time in social settings
It seems like everyone is mumbling
You prefer the television volume higher than others in the house
Avoiding social time

Usually, if someone tells you you might have hearing loss, you probably do. Others may hear things more easily and be surprised when you don’t notice certain sounds.

The only way to confirm hearing loss is to take a hearing test, which Heritage Hearing Service is proud to offer in our office in Goshen, Indiana, or via mobile hearing services throughout Michiana.

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Hearing Testing to Diagnose Hearing Loss

At Heritage Hearing Service, we use a special set of headphones to administer a hearing test. If you’ve had hearing tests before, you were probably asked to sit in a soundproof booth. New headphone technology means that we no longer need to use the booth, but can achieve the same accuracy of results.

This also makes it more feasible to offer mobile hearing services. We can come administer the hearing test at your house or place of business. We use the same equipment for this that we use at our office—there is no difference in the accuracy of results or quality of service!

With the headphones on, we’ll play a series of “pure tones” (sine waves) at different pitches and loudness levels, and ask you to respond to what you hear. This gives us a picture of how much you can hear at which frequencies, and allows us to create an “audiogram” of your hearing ability. The audiogram is a graph plotting your hearing ability in each ear and also showing a representation of “normal” hearing. This will allow you to see the state of your hearing ability, as well as allowing us to program a set of hearing aids should they prove necessary based on the results.

In addition to pure-tone testing, we may move forward with speech testing and speech-in-noise testing. These tests help us to get a better picture of how your hearing might work in the “real world,” whereas pure-tone testing simply gives us a baseline understanding of how your ears are working. These other tests have more to do with how the brain and ears are working together, which is an important aspect of treating hearing loss with hearing aids!

We may also administer tympanometry, which uses a small device to apply a little pressure in the ear canal and measure the movement of your eardrum. While this test may be slightly uncomfortable, it is completely painless.

Types of Hearing Loss

There are two main types of hearing loss: sensorineural and conductive. There is also a third type of hearing loss—”mixed”—which is simply having a combination of both main types.

Sensorineural hearing loss is the type we most often think about. It includes noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and age-related hearing loss (presbycusis). Sensorineural hearing loss is any hearing loss that is related to how the parts of the inner ear or the auditory nerves are working, and has to do with the way mechanical sound is transduced (converted) into the electrical signals that the brain interprets. Sensorineural hearing loss is typically permanent and incurable.

Conductive hearing loss has to do with the outer and middle parts of the ear, where mechanical sound is prepared to be presented to the inner ear. It includes any hearing loss that results from problems in the ear canal, eardrum, the tiny bones of the middle ear, or other anomalies related to the middle ear.

Conductive hearing loss can often be temporary, or may be cured with medication or surgery. For example, an impacted earwax blockage can cause conductive hearing loss, and removing the blockage can restore hearing. Not all forms of conductive hearing loss are curable, but many are.

Treating Hearing Loss

Those who treat their hearing loss—typically with hearing aids—tend to see benefits throughout their lives. Hearing aids help us improve our physical health, mental health, and emotional health. Of those who get hearing aids, 85% say they’re satisfied with them when asked after one year. Those with hearing aids also report higher levels of life satisfaction, including an increase in self-confidence, independence, and optimism. Hearing aids also help to improve our social relationships, and avoid pitfalls like depression, anxiety, social isolation, and cognitive decline.

If you think you might have hearing loss, schedule an appointment with Heritage Hearing Service today, either in our office in Goshen or via mobile hearing services!

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