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Decreased hearing is one of the most common physical disabilities. More than 10% of all of people suffer from this condition. Although hearing loss affects people of all ages, it is most common in older patient populations. Indeed, over one third of individuals over the age of 65 have some degree of hearing loss.
Causes
- Conductive hearing loss – ear canal
- Cerumen
- Swimmers ear or otitis externa
- Absence of ear canal
- Conductive Hearing Loss - middle ear
- Eardrum perforations
- Scarring of the eardrum
- Infection
- Cholesteatoma
- Otosclerosis
- Retracted eardrum
- Sensorineural or Nerve Hearing Loss
- Congenital or Pediatric
- Age related hearing loss or presbycusis
- Trauma
- Tumors
- Infections
- Noise
Symptoms
- Be unable to hear well when there is background noise, such as at a party or a restaurant
- Complain that people are mumbling
- Continually have to ask people to repeat themselves
- Need to have the television, radio, or other devices louder than others may appreciate.
- Have trouble hearing at the movies or theater or church.
- Find that they sometimes will have difficulty understanding what people are saying, especially if they cannot see their faces, to help read their lips.
- Become impatient and frustrated, irritable, or withdrawn.
- Sometimes feign agreement, or appear to be hearing when, in fact, they are not, in order to give the illusion that they are fitting in.
- Experience problems with tinnitus, which can take the form of multiple different types of noise. For some, this noise can be debilitating and for others it is just a mild annoyance.
- Become depressed
- Cause the patient to stop socializing
- Lead to other medical problems, such as overeating, overweight, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension.
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