What are the sounds that enrich our lives?  Is it whispers from a loved one?  Children laughing? Birds singing?  Our ability to hear sounds is vital to our quality of life.   Hearing loss can be devastating.

How We Hear

You can more clearly understand how hearing loss occurs, when you understand how we hear.  Sound waves are collected by the outer ear and channeled along the ear canal into the eardrum.  When the sound waves reach the eardrum, vibrations are created, and are transferred through a series of three tiny bones.

What Causes Hearing Loss?

Generally, hearing loss will develop gradually, and painlessly.  Hearing loss might develop from any of these causes:

Exposure to loud or constant noise
Inherited medical conditions
Illness
The natural aging process
Traumatic injury
Ototoxic medications
Tumors

House Ear Institute Urges Patients To Think Twice Before Choosing Not To Buy

Los Angeles — With the struggling economy, everyone is trying to save money. People are eating out less and staying home instead of taking vacations. Unfortunately, at times like this, there also is a tendency for people with hearing loss to forego physician-recommended treatments, such as hearing aids.

“Patients are coming in to have their hearing tested and even after the tests show a hearing loss significant enough that a hearing aid would help them, patients are deciding not to get hearing aids right now,” said Allen Senne, AuD. director of audiology and hearing aid dispensing at the House Clinic.

Hearing professionals at the House Ear Institute (HEI) and House Clinic are encouraging people experiencing a hearing loss to think twice before trying to save money by not getting hearing aids when recommended. The positive impact that today’s hearing aids can have on a hearing loss patient’s quality of life, including their career success, usually far outweighs the initial investment.

Many people are not aware of the advancements made in hearing aid technology over the last 10 years, which have led to major improvements in quality and choice.

Some digital hearing aids now have background noise reduction capability, directional microphones, the ability to have multiple memory settings for different environments and some have remote controls.

“Hearing aids today are not the same hearing aids that people remember their grandparents using,” said Senne. “The stigma surrounding using a hearing aid is decreasing and many hearing aids are designed so they are hardly noticeable which helps patients feel less self conscious.”

Hearing loss left untreated with hearing aids can negatively affect a person’s quality of life. Overtime, a person may find themselves not wanting to go out or be with friends because they find it difficult to participate in conversations.

A 2007 study by the Better Hearing Institute suggests untreated hearing loss negatively impacts household income by almost $23,000 per year. However, the study found a person using hearing aids can restore lost income by 50%.

“Unfortunately, untreated hearing loss can lead to a person feeling isolated from family and friends,” said Jose Fayad, MD, House Clinic neurotologist and HEI researcher. “We see patients after they have been fitted with a hearing aid and they are so much happier because they are doing better at work and able to participate in life again because they can hear.”

For more information, please visit the institute website at www.hei.org and the clinic site at www.houseearclinic.com.
SOURCE: House Ear Institute