Hearing Loss

Hearing loss today is a very common problem.  It’s estimated that 10% of the population today has some form of a hearing loss.  Although people of all ages can be affected, those over the age of 60 are at greatest risk.  Roughly 30% of people over the age of 60 have a significant hearing loss.  Hearing loss usually develops later in life, comes on slowly, is permanent and often gets gradually worse.

A lot of people are unaware of the problem because hearing loss can occur so gradually.  Hearing loss can occur over a period of 20-25 years.  Most people are aware of a hearing loss for 9 years before they seek help.

Hearing losses can prevent you from having the quality of life you have hoped for and deter you from interacting with others.  Hearing loss can also prevent you from hearing important information, cause misunderstandings and cause unnecessary stress and fatigue.

There are many causes of hearing loss

Age – Know as Presbycusis or nerve damage.  It occurs very gradually sometimes unnoticable and it usually occurs in the higher frequency range.

Noise Damage- Hearing loss can result from a single incident or prolonged exposure to military and sport fire arms, industrial and home machinery, or music.

Diseases/trauma-  Menieres Disease, otoscleroris, outer ear or ear drum injuries, tumors, birth injury, skull fractures, viral infections.

Medication- Large doses of aspirin , some forms of antibiotics, diuretics, and chemotherapy can cause hearing loss.

Earwax- A build up of earwax in your ear canal can cause hearing loss until it is removed.

Now for some good news

Some hearing losses can be corrected medically.  About 90% of losses that can’t be corrected medically can be helped with a hearing aid.  As the name suggests hearing aids don’t fix the loss but they aid you in hearing better.  With a simple hearing test done at Quality Hearing Centre we can tell you whether or not you’re a candidate for a hearing aid and whether or not you must see your doctor first.

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