Hearing Health

My family has a long history of hearing loss which brings me to my topic today on hearing health.

When researching, I found that there are different types of hearing loss. In an online article found on Evergreen Speech and Hearing Clinic’s website, they list four different types.

·         Conductive hearing loss affect the outer or middle ear. A person’s ability to conduct sound to the inner ear is affected with this type of loss.

·         Sensorineural hearing loss, also known as nerve hearing loss, is the most common and results from damage to the inner ear.

·         Mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing losses.

·         Tinnitus is the perception of sound when an external source of sound is absent. It can creates a ringing noise for the individual to hear.

To read more about the different hearing losses click here.

My grandmother and aunt, who wear hearing aids, travel to the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic at USM to have their hearing aids evaluated. Troubleshooting of their devices is also done at the clinic. Click on their website to learn more about what the clinic does.

So how does a person prevent hearing loss in this noisy world? WebMd provides eight ways to do this. One that stood out to me was to not smoke. It says, “Tobacco can raise your risk for hearing loss, too, research shows.” The site also warns people to check medications for hearing risks and that about 200 medications can damage hearing. Click here to read the rest of the article.