- Hearing loss is considered to be the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease. It is also a major public health issue, since nearly 60{754741679431ceb09efae6e94320565469f785b1bbff1b66db1121ae80245ef8} of hearing loss patients are either in the workforce or in educational settings.
- Hearing loss may be sudden, gradual or congenital. Sudden hearing loss is often noise-induced and can occur due to exposure to an excessively hazardous level of noise. For example, sudden noise-induced hearing from gunfire and explosions is the number one disability caused by?combat in current wars.
- Congenital (from birth) hearing loss that occurs in some children has a genetic cause. There are 400 known causes of genetic hearing loss, out of which most occur without any other symptoms apart from hearing loss.
- Referred to as an ?invisible condition,? hearing loss has symptoms that cannot be seen. You can only notice its effects, which are often confused with aloofness, confusion or personality changes.
- In adults, hearing loss increases with age and is often confused with, or complicates, such conditions as dementia. Age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, is characterized by changes in the inner ear that happen as you get older and cause a slow but steady hearing loss. The loss may be mild or severe, but it is always permanent.
- Ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, is a common companion of hearing loss. It is often considered to be just as debilitating as hearing loss itself, as patients seek medical assistance to deal with this irksome condition.
- If left untreated, hearing loss can lead to cognitive decline. One of the best ways to prevent this is by using hearing aids.? These small instruments can be worn outside or inside the ear (almost invisible to the outside world) and help patients hear accurately and combat symptoms like tinnitus.