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How Do I Know If I Have A Hearing
Loss?
Hearing loss occurs to most people as they age. Hearing loss
can be due to the aging process, exposure to loud noise, certain
medications, infections, head or ear trauma, congenital (birth
or prenatal) or hereditary factors, diseases, as well as a
number of other causes. In the year 2001, there are some 28
million people in the USA with hearing loss. Hearing loss
is the single most common birth "defect" in America.
Hearing loss in adults, particularly in seniors, is common.
You may have hearing loss if...
You hear people speaking but you have to strain to understand
their words.
You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.
You don't laugh at jokes because you miss too much of the
story or the punch line.
You frequently complain that people mumble.
You need to ask others about the details of a meeting you
just attended.
You play the TV or radio louder than your friends, spouse
and relatives.
You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone.
You find that looking at people when they speak to you makes
it easier to understand.
If you have any of these symptoms, you should see an audiologist
to get an "audiometric evaluation." An audiometric
evaluation (AE) is the term used to describe a diagnostic
hearing evaluation, performed by a licensed
audiologist. An AE is not just pressing the button when
you hear a "beep." Rather, an audiometric evaluation
allows the audiologist to determine the type and degree of
your hearing loss, and it tells the audiologist how well or
how poorly you understand speech. After all, speech is the
single most important sound, and the ability to understand
speech is extremely important. The AE also includes a thorough
case history (interview) as well as visual inspection of the
ear canals and eardrum. The results of the AE are useful to
the physician should the audiologist conclude that your hearing
problem may be treated with medical or surgical alternatives.
Written hearing evaluations, "dial a hearing evaluation" and
other online hearing evaluations are not particularly accurate and
are certainly not diagnostic tests, but may be utilized as
screening tools. These screenings are usually free and can
be scored within a few seconds. Written hearing screenings
may point the patient (or consumer) in a particular direction
and may help validate that a hearing problem may indeed exist.
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