Having hearing loss doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t be able to hear anything. For many people, hearing loss simply means that you won’t be able to hear as well as most people with normal abilities. In the medical field, hearing loss is defined as an inability to hear sounds when the volume is between -10 and 20 decibels. However, some people have more severe hearing loss than others. The different “levels” of hearing loss are as follows:
- Slight – Sounds cannot be heard until they reach a volume of 20 to 25 decibels.
- Mild – Sounds cannot be heard until they reach a volume of 26 to 40 decibels.
- Moderate – Sounds cannot be heard until they reach a volume of 41 to 55 decibels.
- Moderately Severe- Sounds cannot be heard until they reach a volume of 56 to 70 decibels.
- Severe – Sounds cannot be heard until they reach a volume of 71 to 90 decibels.
- Profound – Sounds cannot be heard until they reach a volume of 91 decibels or more.
When testing for hearing loss, doctors typically use sounds in the most-common speak frequencies, which fall between 250 Hertz and 8000 Hertz.
Each of the different levels of hearing loss will affect your life differently. For example, if you have only slight hearing loss, you may not experience as many problems in your day-to-day life as someone with profound hearing loss. You may find that speaking with others in quiet, intimate environments is not difficult, but your ability to hear diminishes when you try to listen to someone speaking to you in a noisy, crowded room. With profound hearing loss, on the other hand, even one-on-one conversations with people speaking above normal volume may be challenging.
The severity of your hearing loss will impact the type of treatment you need significantly. For example, while people with slight hearing loss may not require anything other than support from family and friends to deal with the condition, someone with profound hearing loss will need an assistive device in order to communicate. Keep in mind that the degree of hearing loss may not be the same in each ear. If this is the case, you will need different treatments for each of your ears.
If you think you might have hearing loss, don’t wait to address it. Your life will only get better when you stop denying your hearing loss and start correcting it. To schedule a free appointment to find out how to correct your hearing, [iphorm_popup id=”1″ name=”Schedule An Appointment Header”]click here[/iphorm_popup].