Hearing Loss At Any Age

By Kathryn Stover, AuD

Virginia Head & Neck Surgeons, PC

More Hearing Health Articles

Hearing Loss At Any Age

Hearing loss does not just occur with old age, as many people believe. It can come about in any stage of life, including infancy and childhood.

Some individuals are born with hearing loss or lose hearing temporarily through infection or diseases of the ear. People can also lose their hearing permanently from high fever, head trauma, toxic medications, etc. And, as most know, hearing sensitivity can decline with the natural aging process.

Surprisingly, many people are unaware that excessive noise exposure is one of the most common causes of hearing loss in adults as well as children and, with proper ear protection, is easily preventable.

Research has confirmed there are considerable negative social, cognitive and overall health effects of untreated hearing loss in adults. Ineffective communication can seriously impact one's professional and personal life.

According to Sergei Kochkin, PHD of the Better Hearing Institute, studies have linked untreated hearing loss to

• Irritability, negativism and anger
• Fatigue, tension, stress and depression
• Avoidance or withdrawal from social situations
• Social rejection and loneliness
• Reduced alertness and increased risk to personal safety
• Impaired memory and ability to learn new tasks
• Reduced job performance and earning power
• Diminished psychological and overall health

In children, even an undetected mild degree of hearing impairment can impact speech and/or language development, success in school, behavior, and a child's self-esteem. Common warning signs for childhood hearing loss include

• Teacher or family member concern with hearing sensitivity, delay in speech or language development, attention or behavioral difficulties and/or academic performance.
• Improper, delayed, or lack of response to soft to moderate-level sounds when distractions are minimal.
• Difficulty understanding speech with background noise.
• Sitting close to the television when the volume is adequate for others.
• Difficulty with voices on the telephone or switching ears when using the phone.
• Not startled by what others perceive as intense sounds.
• Unable to locate the source of a sound.

Education on hearing loss prevention, and the successful treatment of permanent hearing loss with digital hearing aids are very important topics that will be covered in our future articles.

It should be noted that untreated hearing loss is far more obvious than using today's hearing aids, which are tiny and invisibly hidden in the ear canal or tucked discreetly behind the ear.