Hearing Loss

Hear­ing loss does not dis­crim­i­nate by age or gen­der and can have a sig­nif­i­cant impact on an indi­vid­u­al’s life. For chil­dren, hear­ing loss can delay speech and lan­guage devel­op­ment or inter­fere with edu­ca­tion. It is impor­tant to rule out hear­ing prob­lems in order to pre­serve qual­i­ty of life. Adults who have hear­ing loss can be exclud­ed social­ly and even expe­ri­ence prob­lems in their careers.

There are three main types of hear­ing impair­ment, your audi­ol­o­gist will eval­u­ate your indi­vid­ual type and degree by con­duct­ing test­ing and will make rec­om­men­da­tions for the best hear­ing aid to help you hear bet­ter. Your symp­toms and med­ical his­to­ry will be a guide as to what hear­ing tests you may need.

Sen­sorineur­al Hear­ing Loss 

Sen­sorineur­al hear­ing loss results when part of your inner ear is dam­aged. This impair­ment may be caused by:

  • expo­sure to loud noise
  • aging
  • expo­sure to tox­ic drugs or medications

Con­duc­tive Hear­ing Loss

Con­duc­tive hear­ing loss is a con­di­tion that blocks the deliv­ery of sound through the mid­dle ear. Com­mon diag­noses for con­duc­tive hear­ing loss are:

  • Oti­tis media (flu­id behind the eardrum)
  • Per­fo­ra­tion of the eardrum
  • Oto­scle­ro­sis
  • Cholesteat­toma

Mixed Hear­ing Loss

Some patients will have a diag­no­sis of mixed hear­ing loss. This means that they have a com­bi­na­tion of dam­age caused by sen­sorineur­al hear­ing loss and con­duc­tive hear­ing loss.