There are many signs that may suggest your hearing is not what it once was. If you constantly ask people to speak a little louder, have trouble understanding conversations in a group setting because the sounds all mesh together or you have people asking you to please lower the volume on your music or television you may have a loss of hearing. One of the first symptoms of hearing loss is tinnitus. Tinnitus may start out as occasional and then become steady and it can be present in one ear or both ears. Most people with the condition have a constant ringing in the ear as a sort of background noise. There are other noises too that people experience such as hissing, chirping, buzzing, roaring and even the sound of static. People can develop tinnitus due to a loss of hearing caused by old age or ear wax buildup, certain types of medications, a neck or a head injury or in rare cases, a disorder in the circulatory system.
Treatment Options
While there is no cure for your hearing loss there are ways to correct it on some level. If your hearing loss stems from damage to the hair cells contained within the cochlea the high-pitch sounds you once enjoyed cannot be restored. Unfortunately, those sounds are gone. When this happens even corrective devices such as a hearing aid cannot give you the results you desire. However, if your hearing loss is due to old age and the hair cells are intact, wearing a hearing aid can benefit you immensely. If you live with a severe case of tinnitus, you know all too well the impact it can have on your life. It can interfere with socializing, watching television and talking on the phone. It can also make it difficult if not impossible to sleep or focus on your work. Luckily, there are tinnitus relief options available. Learning to live with it through therapy, counseling and a device similar to a hearing aid worn over the ear are just a few ways to take back your life.
How Do You Lose Your Hearing?
There are many environments that can expose you to higher decibels than your body can absorb: a range of 85 and above. This exposure happens at construction sites, pressrooms, factories and nightclubs. When you work in these places day after day without some sort of protective gear, such as ear plugs or ear muffs, you slowly wear the surrounding tissue and cells located in the inner ear. Unfortunately, damage to this area is permanent.
Hearing loss doesn’t have to happen due to the workplace. You can inflict damage from music in a headset played at a very high volume or doing something like mowing your lawn or taking target practice at the range.
According to statistics, about 15 percent of people live with some level of hearing and for seniors the number increase to one in three. Hearing loss ranks up there with arthritis and heart disease, as number three in amongst common medical conditions. If you suspect your hearing is not within the normal range, contact your doctor to have testing done.
