hearing loss

Some Frequently Asked Questions About Hearing Loss

Many people don’t notice their hearing loss until too late. They may assume that it’s a temporary problem. Is it any sign of hearing loss?

 

Here lists some frequently asked hearing questions:

  • Is it any sign of hearing loss?

Some of the most common ways that you can know you have a hearing loss include:

  • Asking people to repeat themselves often
  • Difficulty following conversations that involve more than two persons
  • Thinking that others are mumbling or speaking quietly
  • Difficulty hearing speech in noisy situations
  • People compliant about how loud your Television is
  • Inappropriate responses during conversation
  • Stress from straining to hear what others are saying
  • Withdrawing from enjoyable social situations more often
  • Family history of hearing loss
  • Taking medications that can harm the hearing system
  • Diabetes, heart, circulation, or thyroid problems
  • History of exposure to loud sounds at work or leisure

 

  • Is it possible to improve my hearing?

Many forms of hearing loss are permanent and no cure. An amplified hearing device, namely hearing aid fitted by a hearing professional, will help improve your experience with various difficulties of hearing loss. This treatment method can help most people to improve their hearing and quality of life.

 

  • At what age do people get hearing loss?

As hearing loss is cumulative, hearing loss begins as an infant and continues throughout life. Most individuals don’t begin to experience symptoms until their late 20s or early 30s, and by age 45 a yearly hearing check becomes of greater importance. One-third of people beyond the age of 65 have some degree of hearing loss, however mild or severe, and that share of the elderly population increases as they age.

 

  • Is hearing loss hereditary?

It is difficult to say what genetic factors predispose individuals to hearing loss but there seems to be a connection. Some genetic disorders present at birth cause a hearing loss, but in the absence of a disease, hearing loss can still have a basis in your genetics.

 

  • Are there any health downsides to not treating hearing loss?

Research has established a relationship between hearing loss and dementia. There is strong evidence that hearing loss accelerates brain-tissue atrophy, particularly in areas of the brain that auditory nerves would stimulate but can’t because they aren’t receiving a signal (due to a hearing loss). These areas of the brain are also related to memory and speech. Individuals with a mild hearing loss are three times as likely to fall down than those without, and the likelihood of falls increases as degree of hearing loss increases. Hearing loss has also been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sickle-cell anemia, and other circulatory conditions.

 

If you think you may suffer from hearing loss, don’t ignore the signs. Please make an appointment for the hearing aid prescription.

 

Source:

HK Hearing & Speech Centre

Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,

and Hearing Aid Prescription

https://www.hkhearingspeech.com

Brain Atrophy Caused by Untreated Hearing Loss

A Scientific Study

After laying down the groundwork, the best approach to conduct, the test subject qualifications, and the budget for the whole undertaking, a scientific study was conducted in 1994. It had the needed support from, at least five, big health organizations and one foundation.

 

The study had a time frame of ten consecutive years, a whole decade. It progressed smoothly through the years without any significant glitch. In its conclusion, the study confirmed that untreated hearing loss directly affects the brain in that progressive cerebral tissue loss occurred.

 

The study distinctly measured the quantity of loss yearly in the amount of an additional one cubic centimeter. This is staggering as it is frightening for all people with hearing impairment. The physical loss of brain tissues also leads to other serious health issues with the brain at the core.

 

The location of the loss of tissue are all at the temporal gyri, at superior, middle and inferior parts. These locations in the brain is where the functions for sound and speech processing is done. Two of those three parts in the temporal gyri are involved in Alzheimer’s and cognitive impairment.

 

Inactivity in these parts of the brain leads to elimination of the useless parts. Disabled as it is, disregard for treatment of hearing loss is like a bowling ball that strikes not just one, but many: memory loss, dementia, unrecognizable sound and others that affect your person.

 

Simple Solution

Hearing loss is not an instant decline for most people; it is gradual in its nature. There are exceptions, of course, like an active duty soldier in proximity to a massive explosion. Whatever the situation or cause, treatment must be sought out in the soonest time.

 

Even an old, analog type hearing aid will help you not lose those irreplaceable cerebral tissues. Once the loss of tissues start, your brain will not anymore understand the sound it receives. So, at the moment when you do not hear the wind when it is howling in fact, you know now what to do.

 

Regret will always be and ever does stay at the rear end.

 

For more details of our hearing test & assessment, and hearing aid prescription, please contact HK Hearing & Speech Centre.

 

 

Source:

HK Hearing & Speech Centre

Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,

and Hearing Aid Prescription

https://www.hkhearingspeech.com

Early Signs Your Child Has Hearing Problems

Babies, a day or two after birth, undergo a test called newborn screening. The infant may be fit as a fiddle after the screening, but it is possible to develop hearing loss the weeks or month after.

 

Needless to say, attention must be given in the observance of these symptoms of hearing loss in babies, toddlers and young children.

 

From infancy to second year symptoms of hearing loss

The bracketing of these signs and symptoms reflects the stages of development of a child. The list signals the onset of hearing loss in a child.

 

Birth to fourth month:

  • does not startle at loud sounds which may indicate, at least, moderate hearing loss;
  • does not waken, or even stir, at a booming sound; immediate consultation is needed;
  • unresponsive to voice.

 

The next five months:

  • does no prattling sounds;
  • never smiles when given attention;
  • does not turn at a previously familiar sound;
  • never attracted to toys that emit sound;
  • does not comprehend motions of the hands by parent.

 

The following six months after:

  • does not answer at the call by name;
  • does not imitate back any simple sound;
  • does not make varied babbling noises;
  • never uses its voice to get attention;
  • does not respond to basic requests by the parent or sibling.

 

The subsequent nine months afterwards:

  • never uses any words at all;
  • cannot utter any names of whatsoever objects or playthings at all;
  • indifferent to stories, songs, rhymes and music;
  • does not point to body parts when asked;
  • does not follow or execute simple commands;
  • does not point to familiar or known objects a parent names.

 

Toddler to preschooler child symptoms of hearing loss

A child at this stage in life may have the possibility of hearing loss whether drastic or gradual. Here are signs and symptoms to check:

  • speaks differently than other children of same age;
  • unresponsive to a call of his name;
  • unable to process what others say;
  • misunderstands questions;
  • academic decline;
  • sits close to TV or makes abnormally high-volume increase of TV;
  • speech delay or articulation problem;
  • ear pain or earache;
  • intently observe a speaker’s face for lip reading.

 

These signs and symptoms of hearing loss should never be taken lightly by any parent. It is the physical, mental and psychological well-being and the cultivation of a character and personality in a child’s life is what weighs heaviest.

 

If your children suffers a hearing loss, it is necessary to take a hearing test to determine the extent of damage and the severity of hearing loss. For more details of our hearing aid prescription and hearing aid services, please contact HK Hearing & Speech Centre.

 

 

Source:

HK Hearing & Speech Centre

Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,

and Hearing Aid Prescription

https://www.hkhearingspeech.com

Hearing Loss – What Happens When You Leave It Untreated?

Neglect in the treatment of hearing loss will result in serious health issues along the way. Not to mention the immediate effects of hearing loss, there could also be long-term effects that compound your wellness, mental health, and psychological well-being.

 

Untreated Hearing Loss in Children

Children with hearing loss will most likely suffer difficulties in learning at school, language comprehension, speech impairment, social interaction, and behavioral complications. These difficulties are directly proportional to the severity of loss of hearing.

 

Pre-school children with this condition will not know the sound of words which leads to speech derailment. When at school, that same child will have lesser academic performance, peer isolation, loneliness that becomes depression which may lead to erratic behavior.

 

Untreated Hearing Loss and Serious Illnesses

A study in 1994 done by a group of physicians and health and hearing care professionals sought to compare brain changes over a set period of time of ten years. The study participants were all adults where one group is with hearing loss and the other group with normal hearing.

 

During and after the ten-year study, it was apparent to the researchers that hearing loss had a big influence on the brain. Normally, the brain does shrink as we age, but hearing loss is a catalyst, or makes the shrinkage even faster.

 

Brain atrophy, as the study had shown, was persistent in all the years of the study and the researchers had come up with a measure of the loss at a cubic centimeter, additionally annually.

 

They had also pinpointed the location of the brain loss at the place where processing of sound and speech would normally occur. This region of the brain loss has three parts. Two of these three parts are believed to be involved in another serious illnesses.

 

Alzheimer

This is the most common form of dementia and affects more women than men. The loss of memory in Alzheimer’s Disease may be characterized by symptoms of depression, sleep disorder, anxiety and agitation.

 

Treatment for this disease may not be that far in the future since in 2017 researchers had found an alternative route to reconnect brain synapses that may even prevent memory loss.

 

 

If your children suffers a hearing loss, it is necessary to take a hearing test to determine the extent of damage and the severity of hearing loss. For more details of our hearing aid prescription and hearing aid services, please contact HK Hearing & Speech Centre.

 

 

Source:

HK Hearing & Speech Centre

Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,

and Hearing Aid Prescription

https://www.hkhearingspeech.com

Hearing Loss Among Millennials

Those born during the years 1981 to 1996 are often referred to as the millennials, or members of the Generation Y. They may either be children of Generation X (born 1965-80), or the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) or grandchildren thereof. Their most defining descriptions, however, are that they were the young adults at the turn of the millennium and that they were the first children to have the digital world introduced to them at birth. Thus, they are also otherwise known as the “digital natives”.

 

Although researches on hearing loss have not been age-disaggregated well, studies in 2014 reported that approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing. In 2016, a study reported that among adults aged 20-69, the overall annual prevalence of hearing loss dropped slightly from 16 percent (28.0 million) in the 1999-2004 period to 14 percent (27.7 million) in the 2011–2012 period .

In 2011, millennials were aged 20 to 30 years old.

 

Stress is another common cause of feeling like one or both ears have experienced hearing loss . “When your body responds to stress, the overproduction of adrenaline reduces blood flow to the ears, affecting hearing.”  The millennials have rated their stress level higher than other age group cohorts, also reporting being less able to manage stress than any other generation.

 

While about 50% of hearing disability can be traced to genetic factors, the other 50 % can be traced to stress due to work issues, including life-work balance, and lifestyle choices although some lifestyles and habits can affect hearing in a positive way, while others can be harmful to hearing and lead to hearing loss . About 71% of young adults with hearing loss without other related conditions (such as intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or vision loss) were employed  showing the effect of work stress on this population.

 

Lifestyle choices like attending noisy concerts have been reported to cause hearing loss among millennials, too.

 

If you think your family or you need a hearing aid, make sure to get a hearing aid prescription. For more details of our hearing test & assessment, and hearing aid services, please contact HK Hearing & Speech Centre.

 

 

Source:

HK Hearing & Speech Centre

Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,

and Hearing Aid Prescription

https://www.hkhearingspeech.com

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