• Difficulty hearing on the telephone
• Trouble hearing birds, wind, alarms/bells, women, and children
• Turning the TV volume too high for others
• Frequently asking people to repeat themselves
• Trouble hearing words or music when there is background noise
• Difficulty following conversations in groups
• Feeling that many people mumble
• Misunderstanding words and responding inappropriately, or nodding/smiling when you haven’t really understood what was said
• Frequent ringing, roaring, or hissing in the ears

• Face the person and talk clearly.
• Stand where there is good lighting and low background noise.
• Speak clearly and at a reasonable speed.
• Do not hide your mouth, eat or chew gum.
• Use facial expressions or gestures to give useful clues.
• Reword your statement if needed.
• Be patient, stay positive and relaxed.
• Ask how you may help the listener.
• Set up meetings so that all speakers can be seen or can use a microphone.

Include the hearing-impaired person in all discussions about him or her to prevent feelings of isolation until we can fit him or her with the most appropriate hearing aids.

• Exposure to loud or constant noise
• Genetics/Heredity
• Some chemotherapy and radiation treatments
• Some heavy-duty antibiotics
• Head trauma
• Wax build-up
• Viral infections
• Diseases and disorders of the ear
• Ear infections
• The natural aging process
• Traumatic injury
• Ototoxic medications
• Eighth nerve tumors or insults

You may have hearing loss if…

• You hear people speaking but you have to strain to understand their words.
• You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.
• You don’t laugh at jokes because you miss too much of the story or the punch line.
• You frequently complain that people mumble.
• You need to ask others about the details of a meeting you just attended.
• You play the TV or radio louder than your friends, spouse and relatives.
• You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone.
• You find that looking at people when they speak to you makes it easier to understand.

If you have any of these symptoms, you should see a hearing care professional to get an “audiometric evaluation.” An audiometric evaluation (AE) is the term used to describe a diagnostic hearing test, performed by a licensed hearing care professional. An AE is not just pressing the button when you hear a “beep.” Rather, an audiometric evaluation allows the hearing care professional to determine the type and degree of your hearing loss, and it tells the professional how well or how poorly you understand speech. After all, speech is the single most important sound, and the ability to understand speech is extremely important. The AE also includes a thorough case history (interview) as well as visual inspection of the ear canals and eardrum. The results of the AE are useful to the physician should the hearing aid consultant conclude that your hearing problem may be treated with medical or surgical alternatives.

When the problem is in the inner ear, a sensorineural hearing loss occurs. Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common type of hearing loss. More than 90 percent of all hearing aid wearers have sensorineural hearing loss. The most common causes of sensorineural hearing loss are; age related changes, noise exposure, inner ear blood circulation, inner ear fluid disturbances and problems with the hearing nerve.

Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is not conducted efficiently through the ear canal, eardrum or the tiny bones of the middle ear, resulting in a reduction of loudness of sound. Conductive loss may result from earwax blocking the ear canal, fluid in the middle ear, middle ear infection, obstructions in the ear canal, perforations (hole) in the eardrum or disease of any of the three middle ear bones.

People with conductive hearing loss may notice their ears seem to be full or plugged. This person may speak softly because they hear their own voice loudly. Crunchy foods, such as celery or carrots, seem very loud to the person with a conductive hearing loss and this person may have to stop chewing to hear what is being said. All conductive hearing losses should be evaluated by an audiologist and a physician to explore medical and surgical options.

To demonstrate a conductive hearing loss, gently and safely close your ears with your fingers. This will give you the feeling of a conductive hearing lossyoull feel plugged-up, and youll feel a little hearing impaired. Interestingly, some people may tell you they dont need hearing aids because they ONLY have a 30 decibel hearing loss. However, assuming you have normal hearing, when you plug your ears with your fingers, youll experience approximately a 25 decibel hearing loss and youll quickly realize that even a VERY MILD hearing loss is quite irritating!