Why People Avoid Treating Hearing Loss — and Why You Should Schedule a Hearing Test!

As busy as life can be, it can be easy, and even the norm, to push things back on your calendar. Some tasks are time sensitive so perhaps they take priority now and then. It is important to make time for family and loved ones, which can mean other to-dos get rescheduled. However, it is imperative to always take time to consider your health.

Hearing loss in the United States is the third most common chronic medics condition, affecting an estimated 48 million people according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. Many people wait between 5 and 15 years after the first signs of hearing decline to have their hearing checked and corrected.

Keeping a consistent schedule with your overall wellness in mind can help your doctor detect early signs of illness or impairment. This can be especially helpful with respect to your hearing health. There are symptoms to be aware of that indicate you may need to have a hearing examination. Some include: asking loved ones to repeat words or phrases often, listening to media at excessive volumes, frequent headaches or migraines, and others.

One reason people might put off a visit to their health care professional is to avoid possible bad news. True, hearing test results could be less-than favorable, but hearing loss can be treated and more options are available to you when it is detected early. You can even find an online hearing test from the comfort of your own home. It will give you an idea of how well you hear in each ear, but it is always best to get a thorough diagnosis from an audiologist or other hearing health care professional.

Treatments for Hearing Loss 

The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) tells us that there are three different types of hearing loss, and depending on the type there are different treatments for each.

• Conductive Hearing Loss is due to problems with the ear canal, ear drum, or middle ear and its little bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes)
• Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) is due to problems of the inner ear, also known as nerve-related hearing loss.
• Mixed Hearing Loss is caused by a combination of conductive damage in the outer or middle ear and sensorineural damage in the inner ear (cochlea) or auditory nerve.

Common causes for conductive hearing loss include fluid in the middle ear from colds, ear infection (which is common among children), and foreign objects in the ear. Other causes tend to be congenital (from birth): malformation of the outer, ear canal, or middle ear structure, and otosclerosis (a hereditary disorder in which a bony growth forms around a small bone in the middle ear, preventing it from vibrating when stimulated by sound).

Antibiotic or antifungal medications are often used to treat chronic ear infections or fluid in the ear, but amplification could be the solution in other cases. Whether it is a conventional or bone-conduction hearing aid, or a surgically implanted osseointegrated device, there are several ways to simplify sound depending on the status of the hearing nerve. Surgery has potential to correct congenital causes by correcting malformation or structural dysfunctions.

SNHL also has multiple causes. Exposure to loud noise, which is preventable and causes irreversible damage, head trauma, and aging are a few causes associated with this type of hearing loss. Others include heredity, tumors, viruses and diseases like Ménière’s disease, disease of which hearing loss is a comorbidity. Several treatments exist, ranging from corticosteroids to conventional hearing aids. In the case where hearing loss is secondary to a larger medical condition, often treatment of the condition can also aid your hearing health.

You Are One of Many

Many people have reservations about getting their hearing checked. The results could set into motion changes in your lifestyle you may not be ready to make, but they could ultimately be better for your hearing and overall health. Things like auditory rehabilitation support groups exist to help with the transition as your ears and brain re-learn how to process sound information. Regular communication with your audiologist or otolaryngologist (an ENT or ear, nose, and throat doctor)

Hearing loss is a normal part of aging, but the diagnosis does not mean you are getting old. This chronic medical condition affects millions of people indiscriminate of age. Approximately 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the U.S. are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears and one in eight people in the U.S. aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

Caring for your hearing should come naturally, not as an afterthought. Millions of people are living with different types of disabling hearing loss, and are treating it under the care of their hearing doctor. There are painless hearing tests available online and thorough examinations available by scheduling an appointment with an audiologist, ENT, or other hearing health care professional. Make an appointment today!