Hearing Loss Factoids

Before we get back to "me" I'd like to share some facts about hearing loss.

The deaf and hard-of-hearing account for the single largest group of disabled people in America. Of the more than 49 million disabled, at least 28 million have a significant hearing impairment that interferes with communication. 28 million adds up to more than all those suffering from heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, blindness, tuberculosis, venereal disease and kidney disease combined.

Of the 28 million, more than half (15 million) is under the age of 45.

60% of people with hearing loss are between the ages of 21 and 65.

The incidence of hearing problems among Americans increased by almost 54 percent between the early 1970s and the early 1990s.

Between 1990 and 2050, the number of people with hearing and speech impairments will increase at a faster rate than the total U.S. population as a direct result of the aging of the U.S. population and our love of power tools, loud music and motorized garden and recreation equipment.

People with hearing loss are often unable to follow the conversation of two or more people talking at the same time or if there is noise in the background.

People with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking help.
Only 9.7 % of people age 65 and older have normal hearing; only 78 % of people over 55 have normal hearing.

Hearing aids do not benefit everyone who has a hearing loss. Hearing loss cannot be restored by hearing aids in the same way that wearing corrective lenses restores eyesight. Hearing aids only made noise louder, they can not fix issues with clarity. Almost everyone with hearing loss will have some difficulty discriminating what is being said in certain environments - especially noisy environments. However, hearing aids can help tremendously. 75 percent of people who could benefit from hearing aids are not using them.

Hearing loss can be caused by a variety of factors: genetics, noise, illness (viruses or other conditions). 90% of persons with hearing loss have what is called sensoneural hearing loss (SNHL) - this is what I have. Inside the cochlear (snail shaped organ) of your inner ear there are tiny hair-like structures which take sound vibrations and carry them to your auditory nerve. If you have SNHL, those hair-like structures are either damaged or destroyed and thus you lose your ability to carry noise signals to your brain. This most often affects your ability to hear high frequencies (or pitches) initially. As hearing loss progresses you lose the ability to hear more and more frequencies.

Attached below is an example of an audiogram showing at which frequencies and volume different letters are heard. An audiogram is used to represent hearing ability (the volume (in decibel -db) at which each frequency (Hz) is heard is charted).


The louder a frequency must be for you to hear it, the more hearing loss you have. At some point, you will cease to hear the certain letter sounds - noted in the graph above. This graph shows how hard of hearing - or what level of "deafness" a person has. I'm considered profoundly deaf because I can not hear any frequencies other than the very lowest tested (250 Hz) until the volume is at 100 db. Even with my hearing aids (the strongest I can get) - I am still moderate to severely deaf.



**Note: This information was obtained from a variety of internet websites (and also reading several books). Some portions were presented verbatim - afterall why rephrase something when someone else already said it so perfectly!!