These days hearing loss problems are not something uncommon among people, as around 15% of American Adults that are aged 18 or over suffer from some sort of hearing loss. So, based on the reports of NIDCD, around 38 million American adults are suffering from hearing loss problems, which is concerning. Hearing is one of our most important senses, and if we lose it to some degree, it can deeply affect our way of life. Hearing loss can affect one’s abilities to communicate with others, socialize, and everything else that requires your ability to listen to sounds.
As hearing loss problems are this much common among people, you might want to know what actually causes this problem? Does it occur to one during birth? Or does it develop over time? Well, there are different types of hearing loss problems, which means they get caused by different reasons too. You might want to know the reasons so that you can be cautious at least about some of these. So, let’s have a look at the factors that cause hearing loss problems in a person.
Hearing Loss Due to Old Age
Age-related hearing loss is one of the most common and widely recognized hearing loss problems. It is also known as presbycusis. This hearing loss develops over a long period of time, as it grows in a person as they grow older. Our body goes through various changes as we get older, and one of those changes occurs in the hearing cells that are inside our inner ear. The hearing cells inside our cochlea keep getting damaged with time, and by the time they get damaged enough, a person starts to face problems regarding their hearing.
There are certain hair-like cells that are in charge of making you listen to high-frequency sounds, and when the hearing cell starts getting damaged, these hair-like cells get damaged first. That’s why you’ll see many old people that can’t detect high-frequency sounds, such as voices of women and children, some parts of speeches that contain certain consonants, birds chirping, etc.
It doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will lose hearing to some degree when they get old. People can have sharp hearing even after they get old. However, if someone’s hearing gets damaged with time, they face problems in communicating with other people, and their lifestyle gets heavily impacted. And presbycusis is a type of sensorineural hearing loss, which is permanent. You can’t cure it, so you’ll have to go for measures such as using hearing aids so that you can listen better.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
If someone gets exposed to loud noises, it can damage the hearing cells inside their inner ear. Steady and repeated exposure to loud noise can take place due to working in noisy environments, traffic noises, listening to loud music, etc. And if exposure to these takes place over a long period of time, noise-induced hearing loss can occur.
Noise-induced hearing loss is also sensorineural, as the hearing cells get damaged in this case too. So, this hearing loss is permanent. And this hearing loss also keeps developing over a long period of time, but sometimes if a person suddenly gets exposed to very loud and frisky noise, it can cause very high damage to their hearing instantly. So, you should be cautious about getting exposed to loud noises, and keep yourself far from places that can be threatening for your hearing.
Hearing Loss due to Genetic Problems
Hearing loss can often be caused by hereditary reasons. These hearing loss problems can show up right after birth, or get developed at a young age. These hearing losses occur due to some specific dormant features in a person’s genes that they got from their parents. Not necessarily their parents would also have hearing loss, it can come from anyone from the bloodline. In fact, the hearing of most members can have perfect hearing abilities.
These hearing loss problems can also be caused by genetic mutations. There are some specific hereditary or genetic conditions that can cause hearing loss problems in a person, such as Otosclerosis, Pendred Syndrome, Usher’s Syndrome, etc. These problems are mostly permanent, so it is important to start using hearing aids from reputed hearing aid manufacturers like Nano Hearing Aids from an early age, just after detecting the problem. It will help little children with hearing loss with their communication skills too.
Disease-Related Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can also take place due to various diseases. Whenever a person suffers from one of those specific diseases, they can fall victim to hearing loss too. Some of these diseases are Meniere’s Sickness, Center Ear Contaminations, Otosclerosis, etc. Meniere’s disease can cause temporary hearing loss, tinnitus, etc. problems. And Otosclerosis occurs whenever there’s any problem in the bones of the middle ear, which are really important in the hearing process. However, disease-related hearing loss problems are mostly temporary. They go away after treating the diseases.
Final Words
Other than these reasons, hearing loss can also occur due to head trauma, injury to the ear or head, or other explicit reasons. No matter the reason, you’ll need to get diagnosed and then take proper measures based on the type of hearing loss. For instance, if you are suffering from a permanent type, using hearing aids will help you to listen better and take care of your hearing health. The sooner you will start taking measures, the better it will be for your hearing health.