This document provides information about hearing loss and hearing health. It discusses that hearing loss affects over 31 million Americans, including many below retirement age. It describes the different types of hearing loss, such as conductive, sensorineural, mixed, and central, and common causes like noise exposure, aging, and diseases. Signs of hearing loss and the components of a hearing test are outlined. The document emphasizes the importance of protecting hearing and lists ways to do so, such as limiting loud noise and using hearing protection. Treatment options for hearing loss like hearing aids and assistive devices are mentioned.

1. KEEPING YOUR HEARING HEALTHY
More than just your ears
Harriet B. Jacobster, Au.D.
Audiologist

2. FACTS ABOUT HEARING LOSS
♪ Hearing loss affects more than 31.5 million Americans—
most of whom are below retirement age
♪ 3 in 10 people over age 60 have hearing loss
♪ Among Americans ages 41 to 59, about 15% already have
hearing problems—that’s 1 in 6 baby boomers!
♪ 7.4 percent—or 1 in 14—Generation Xers, ages 29 to 40,
suffer from hearing loss
♪ At least 1.4 million children, 18 or younger, have hearing
problems
♪ It’s estimated that 3 in 1,000 infants are born with serious to
profound hearing loss
Better Hearing Institute

3. HOW WE HEAR
or
If a tree falls in the woods….

4. ♪ A sound or noise sends vibrations (sound waves) through the air
♪ The sound waves hit your eardrum, it vibrates
♪ These vibrations are sent to the three smallest bones in your body
♪ The bones pass these vibrations along a coiled tube in the inner ear
♪ Fluids in the inner ear are set into motion moving thousands of nerve endings
♪ In the inner ear, the physical vibrations are changed into neural impulses which
are sent to the brain along the auditory pathways
♪ The brain interprets these vibrations as sound

5. CAUSES OF HEARING LOSS
♪ Excessive noise
♪ Aging
♪ Diseases
♪ Infections
♪ Injury to the head or ear
♪ Birth defects or genetics
♪ Ototoxic reaction to drugs or cancer treatment

6. TYPES OF HEARING LOSS
There are four types of hearing loss:
conductive
sensorineural
mixed
central

7. CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS
It's all mechanical
♪ any condition or disease
that blocks or impedes the
conveyance of sound
through the middle ear
♪ Result is a loss of loudness
♪ Generally can be treated
medically or surgically

8. Examples of CONDUCTIVE LOSS
♪ External Ear
♪ congenital malformation
where pinna and ear canal
fail to form
♪ blockage in ear canal -
foreign body or
accumulated cerumen (ear
wax)
♪ Middle ear
♪ perforation in ear drum
♪ otitis media (ear infection)
♪ ossicular chain
discontinuity/fixation

9. SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS
Hair cell and/or nerve damage
♪ results from inner ear or auditory
nerve dysfunction
♪ reduces the intensity and/or clarity of speech

10. Examples of SENSORINEURAL LOSS
Sensory (inner ear or cochlea)
♪ High Frequency
♪ Aging
♪ Noise exposure
♪ Head Trauma
♪ Genetics
♪ Disease
♪ Low Frequency
♪ Meniere’s Disease
♪ Genetic
♪ Any/all frequencies
♪ Disease
♪ Drugs
♪ Genetics
♪ Viral/bacterial infections
♪ Vascular disorders

11. Examples of SENSORINEURAL LOSS
Neural
♪ Acoustic neuroma or other
tumor of or near the nerve of
hearing and balance
♪ Auditory neuropathy
♪ Injury

12. CENTRAL HEARING LOSS
damage to auditory centers of the brain
Examples of CENTRAL LOSS
♪ Stroke
♪ Traumatic brain injury
♪ Brainstem lesions
♪ Disruption in neural pathways

13. MIXED HEARING LOSS
♪ combination of conductive
and sensorineural
♪ damage in the outer or
middle ear and in the inner
ear (cochlea) or auditory
nerve

14. SIGNS OF HEARING LOSS

15. You might have hearing loss if you . . .
Socially:
♪ require frequent repetition.
♪ have difficulty following conversations involving
more than 2 people.
♪ think that other people sound muffled or like
they're mumbling.
♪ have difficulty hearing in noisy situations, like
conferences, restaurants, malls, or crowded
meeting rooms.
♪ have trouble hearing children and women.
♪ have your TV or radio turned up to a high
volume.
♪ answer or respond inappropriately in
conversations.
♪ read lips or more intently watch people's faces
when they speak with you.

16. You might have hearing loss if you . . .
Emotionally:
♪ feel stressed out from straining to
hear what others are saying.
♪ feel annoyed at other people
because you can't hear or
understand them.
♪ feel embarrassed to meet new
people or from misunderstanding
what others are saying.
♪ feel nervous about trying to hear
and understand.
♪ withdraw from social situations that
you once enjoyed because of
difficulty hearing

17. You might have hearing loss if you . . .
Medically:
♪ have a family history of hearing
loss.
♪ take medications that can harm
the hearing system (ototoxic
drugs).
♪ have diabetes, heart, circulation
or thyroid problems.
♪ have been exposed to very loud
sounds over a long period or
single exposure to explosive noise

18. THE HEARING TEST

19. Raise your Hand when you hear the beep

20. DEGREE of hearing loss
♪ Degree of hearing loss refers to the severity of the
loss.
♪ Hearing loss range (dB HL)
♪ Normal -10 to 15
♪ Slight 16 to 25
♪ Mild 26 to 40
♪ Moderate 41 to 55
♪ Moderately severe 56 to 70
♪ Severe 71 to 90
♪ Profound 91+
Source: Clark, J. G. (1981). Uses and abuses of hearing loss classification. Asha, 23, 493–500.

21. CONFIGURATION of hearing loss
♪ The shape of the hearing
loss
♪ Amount of hearing loss at
each frequency and the
overall picture of hearing
that is created
♪ High-frequency loss
♪ Low frequency
♪ Flat
♪ Cookie Bite
♪ Reverse slope

22. Other descriptors associated
with hearing loss
♪ Bilateral versus unilateral
♪ Symmetrical versus asymmetrical
♪ Progressive versus sudden hearing loss
♪ Fluctuating versus stable hearing loss

23. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO
PROTECT YOUR HEARING

24. ♪ Limit exposure time to noisy activities.
♪ Wear hearing protection, such as foam or silicone
plugs or muffs
♪ At home, turn down the volume on the television,
radio, stereos and walkmans.
♪ Buy quieter products (compare dB ratings – the
smaller the better).
♪ Reduce the number of noisy appliances running
at the same time in your personal environment.
♪ Avoid or limit medications that can be dangerous
to your hearing. Be sure to ask your physician
about possible effects on your hearing.
♪ Eat healthy and exercise
♪ Get regular check-ups

25. Get your hearing tested
regularly to monitor your
hearing ability

26. HEARING LOSS TREATMENT

27. Hearing loss treatment improves
♪ Earning power
♪ Communication in relationships
♪ Intimacy and warmth in family
relationships
♪ Ease in communication
♪ Emotional stability
♪ Sense of control over life
events
♪ Perception of mental
functioning
♪ Physical health
♪ Group social participation

28. Hearing loss treatment reduces
♪ Discrimination toward the
person with the hearing loss
♪ Hearing loss compensation
behaviors (i.e. pretending
you hear)
♪ Anger and frustration in
relationships
♪ Depression and depressive
symptoms
♪ Feelings of paranoia
♪ Anxiety
♪ Social phobias
♪ Self-criticism

29. TREATMENT INCLUDES
♪ Hearing Aids
♪ Assistive Listening Devices
♪ Aural Rehabilitation
♪ Counseling

30. QUESTIONS?????

31. THANK YOU
Harriet B. Jacobster, Au.D.
ASHA Certified in Audiology
371 State Route 17M
Monroe, NY 10950
Ph: (845) 395-0300
E-mail: sonusmonroe@aol.com