Are You Experiencing Mild Hearing Loss? Learn More About It.

Hearing Loss can range from being mild to profound. If you experience mild hearing loss, there’s a high chance that you haven’t sought help and have forced yourself to fake your ability to hear in many circumstances. 

Mild hearing loss can be serious, especially when it’s not treated early or at all. It can negatively impact the way you communicate with others - like your family members - to understand important information during a healthcare visit. The mild symptoms may be too subtle to immediately notice.    

Mild Hearing Loss Defined

Symptoms of mild hearing loss are characterized as the inability to hear noises that are under 25 decibels (dB) for adults and 15 dB for children. These noises include whispered conversations, water droplets, rustling leaves, and birds singing. Low and high-pitched sound frequencies may also be challenging to hear. Most people lose their ability to hear high-pitched sounds (children and some women’s voices) first.  

The degrees of hearing loss include normal, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe, and profound. These ranges will be identified during a hearing test in the form of an audiogram. For the average adult, a normal range of hearing is between 0-25 dB. The normal range of hearing for children is between 0-15 dB.  

Common Symptom of Mild Hearing Loss

You have the ability to hear but cannot comprehend conversations - especially when there’s too much background noise. 

Mild Hearing Loss and Communication

If you have mild hearing loss, you are probably most comfortable in quiet settings where the conversation is limited to you and one other person. A noisy environment, if a person is facing away from you, or if they are standing too far from you can also cause communication problems.
 
The primary complaint about many people with mild hearing loss is that they can hear, but cannot clearly understand conversations. 

Causes of Mild Hearing Loss

There are a number of possible causes for mild hearing loss. Some cases can be restored with prompt and proper treatment.

• Exposure to noise and aging are the top two common causes of mild hearing loss. 
• Excessive production of earwax. 
• Ear infections. 
• Abnormal bone growth in the middle ear. If the small bones in your middle ear are not functioning properly, your inner ear won’t receive signals that are needed to transmit sounds to the brain. This is what happens during otosclerosis. 
• Other conditions that can cause hearing loss include acoustic neuroma, head traumas, and Ménière's disease.

Treatment Options

If medications or surgery cannot treat mild hearing loss, you should get fitted for hearing aids.

Digital hearing aid technology has changed so much since the earliest styles and they perform better in just about any environment. A proper hearing aid fitting and proper hearing aid programming will help you hear as best as you can. 

Preventing Mild Hearing Loss

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the only preventable type of hearing loss. Use protective hearing equipment, such as:

• Foam earplugs
• Filtered earplugs
• Customized earplugs
• Safety earmuffs 

The only preventative measure that you can take is immediately seeking treatment. Whether it’s an ear infection or noise-induced, get help as soon as possible. 

If you wear hearing aids and have mild hearing loss, you’ll have more options available than someone whose hearing has worsened to severe or profound loss. You might also be able to select more discreet styles that go in the ear canal if that’s the style that you want.

The Importance of Getting Treatment

As mentioned in this blog, untreated hearing loss can increase the risk of cognitive decline This can lead to higher risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s, compared to people without hearing problems. Isolation, depression, difficulty with communication, and falls can also be symptoms of untreated hearing loss. 

Most people wait at least seven to 10 years before getting help. In the time frame, your hearing will worsen, and your brain will forget how to hear or will have difficulty identifying sounds. The ability to comprehend speech sounds also deteriorates over time.     

Mild hearing loss that is noticed and treated immediately can give you better hearing and a better overall quality of life. 

Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. Our providers will guide you toward better hearing health so that you can live your best life.  ​

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