Hearing loss due to aging

In addition to the aging process, there are actually several factors that contribute to hearing loss due to aging. In order to find an effective treatment, first of all you need to determine the underlying age-related hearing loss causes.

The tiny hairs inside your ear help your hearing, as they pick up sound waves and change them into the nerve signals the brain intercepts as sound. The loss of hearing occurs when these tiny hairs inside the ear are damaged or die. Because the hair cells do not regrow, most hearing loss is permanent.

There is no known single cause for hearing loss due to aging. It is generally caused by changes in the inner ear that occur as you age.

Your genes, however, as well as loud noises such as those from headphones or concerts may play a large role also. The following factors can have a big contribution to hearing loss due to aging:

• family history – hearing loss due to aging tends to run in the family
• repeated exposure to loud noises – listening to loud music in your headphones, for instance contribute to the loss of hearing
• smoking – it has been shown that smokers are more likely to suffer from hearing loss due to aging than nonsmokers

In addition, there are certain medical conditions and medications that also contribute to hearing loss due to aging. About half of all people over age 75 have some amount of age-related hearing problems, and the process occurs slowly over time.

As we grow older, it becomes difficult to hear high-frequency sounds, such as someone talking. As hearing gets worse, it may also become difficult to hear sounds at lower pitches. Due to recent researches on aging, symptoms of hearing loss due to aging generally include:

• the impression that certain sounds are overly loud
• difficult hearing things in noisy areas
• high-pitched sounds such as “s” or “th” become hard to distinguish from one another
• men’s voices become easier to hear than women’s
• other people’s voices seem mumbled or slurred
• ringing in the ears

It is recommended that you consult your health care provider if you have any of these symptoms, especially since the symptoms of presbycusis may resemble other conditions or medical problems. In order to rule out medical conditions that can cause hearing loss due to aging, a complete physical exam is performed. The health care provider will use an instrument called an otoscope to look in your ears. In some cases, wax can block the ear canals and cause hearing loss. Your health care provider may also choose to send you to an ear, nose and throat doctor and a hearing specialist (audiologist). Unfortunately, there is no known cure for hearing loss due to aging. The National Institute of Aging is also exploring solutions for this matter. Consequently, the treatment is focused simply on improving your everyday function. The following have been proved helpful for various hearing impairments:

• hearing aids
• telephone amplifies or other such assitive devices
• sign language, for those with severe hearing loss
• speech reading such as lip reading and using visual cues to aid communication

For certain people with very severe hearing problems a cochlear implant may be recommended. This implant is placed through surgery, and it makes sounds seem louder, but foes not restore normal hearing. Hearing loss due to aging is progressive, which means it gradually gets worse, and it is permanent. There are various complications that may arise, including physical (not hearing a fire alarm) and psychological (social isolation) problems. In order to rule out potentially reversible causes such as medication side effects or excessive wax in the ears, hearing situation should be evaluated as soon as possible. Having a baselines hearing test may also be helpful, as it will allow your doctor to note any changes that may occur. If you have a sudden change in your hearing or experience hearing problem along with other symptoms such as vision changes, headache or dizziness, contact your health care provider immediately.

It is normal for our sense of hearing to deteriorate as we grow older. On the other hand, health care experts note that hearing loss due to aging occurs in such a way that it is hardly noticeable. The process of hearing loss due to aging is called presbycusis, and starts from very high frequencies to low speech frequencies as time goes by. The remarkable thing about this process is that some people still have an excellent sense of hearing even at a very old age. For this reason, scientists believe that age is not the only contributing factor in the loss of hearing. As previously mentioned, aside from hearing loss due to aging, stress, loud noise and medication are considered when trying to determine the cause of hearing problems, as all these factors can affect the performance of our ears. A noisy environment can be very detrimental to your hearing, and simple things like music, vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers and so on are slowly affecting our sense. Each time we hear a blast of loud sounds, the tiny hair cells inside the ear are damaged or worse, die. It takes several years before the cells cease to function properly, and it is highly advised to protect our ears from loud noises as much as possible.

Stress, tension and emotional problems can also contribute to hearing loss due to aging. Personal and family issues, financial worries, professional challenges etc. are all part of life, but stress is actually damaging your overall health condition. This factor is also associated to hearing loss due to aging because as we grow older, we experience and accumulate more stress. The more stress we experience, the worse our hearing gets. Medication is another factor that can cause serious damage to our hearing. The medications administered during the recovery period following an accident or physical injury might have an effect on the capacity of your ears to function properly. Ototoxic drugs are believed to destroy a person’s ability to hear clearly. The effect occurs slowly, so it is almost impossible for the patient to notice the difference in his hearing performance.