Hearing FAQ
- About 20 percent of adults in the United States, 48 million, report some degree of hearing loss.
- At age 65, one out of three people has a hearing loss.
- 60 percent of the people with hearing loss are either in the work force or in educational settings.
- While people in the workplace with the mildest hearing losses show little or no drop in income compared to their normal hearing peers, as the hearing loss increases, so does the reduction in income.
- About 2-3 of every 1,000 children are hard of hearing or deaf.
- Estimated that 30 school children per 1,000 have a hearing loss. Hearing loss is a major public health issue that is the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease.
- Gradual hearing loss can affect people of all ages — varying from mild to profound. Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. Depending on the cause, it can be mild or severe, temporary or permanent.
- Degrees of hearing loss: mild, moderate, severe, profound.
- Congenital hearing loss means you are born with hearing loss, while gradual hearing loss happens over time.
- Hearing loss is an invisible condition; we cannot see hearing loss, only its effects. Because the presence of a hearing loss is not visible, these effects may be attributed to aloofness, confusion, or personality changes.
- In adults, the most common causes of hearing loss are noise and aging. There is a strong relationship between age and reported hearing loss.
- In age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, changes in the inner ear that happen as you get older cause a slow but steady hearing loss. The loss may be mild or severe, and it is always permanent.
- In older people, a hearing loss is often confused with, or complicates, such conditions as dementia.
- Noise-induced hearing loss may happen slowly over time or suddenly. Being exposed to everyday noises, such as listening to very loud music, being in a noisy work environment, or using a lawn mower, can lead to hearing loss over many years.
- Sudden, noise-induced hearing loss from gunfire and explosions is the number one disability caused by combat in current wars.
- More often than not severe tinnitus (or ringing in the ears) will accompany the hearing loss and may be just as debilitating as the hearing loss itself.
- Other causes of hearing loss include earwax buildup, an object in the ear, injury to the ear or head, ear infection, a ruptured eardrum, and other conditions that affect the middle or inner ear.
- For more questions and answers read An Overview of Hearing Loss – Its Signs, Implications and Solutions.
It would seem that hearing is a second-rate sense when compared to vision in our visually oriented modern society. People with hearing loss delay a decision to get hearing help because they are unaware of the fact that receiving early treatment for hearing loss has the potential to literally transform their lives. Research by the National Council on the Aging on more than 2,000 people with hearing loss as well as their significant others demonstrated that hearing aids are clearly associated with impressive improvements in the social, emotional, psychological, and physical well-being of people with hearing loss in all hearing loss categories from mild to severe.
Hearing loss treatment has shown to improve:
- Earning power
- Communication in relationships
- Intimacy and warmth in family relationships
- Ease in communication
- Emotional stability
- Sense of control over life events
- Perception of mental functioning
- Physical health
- Group social participation
If you are one of those people with a mild, moderate or severe hearing loss, who is sitting on the fence, consider all the benefits of hearing aids. Hearing aids hold such great potential to positively change so many lives. Contact us today to schedule your initial evaluation or call (503) 257-3204.
- 3 in 10 people over age 60 have hearing loss;
- 1 in 6 baby boomers (ages 41-59), or 14.6%, have a hearing problem;
- 1 in 14 Generation Xers (ages 29-40), or 7.4%, already have hearing loss;
- At least 1.4 million children (18 or younger) have hearing problems;
- It is estimated that 3 in 1,000 infants are born with serious to profound hearing loss.
Call Mt. Hood ENT & Allergy at (503) 257-3204 for more information or to schedule an appointment.