The Different Types of Hearing Loss That Can Be Diagnosed via a Hearing Test
Some people find it hard to consciously realise they are losing their hearing because of a couple of presumptions. First, that it is only associated with congenital diseases in infants or seniors due to ageing. Second, they assume that their hearing abilities would disappear all at once if they were suffering from hearing loss. In truth, hearing loss can affect anybody. Moreover, it can be sudden or gradual depending on the type of hearing loss you have developed.
In some cases, you can salvage some of your hearing as long as it is caught in time. Whether you or a loved one may be going through this ordeal, here are just two examples of the different types of hearing loss that can be diagnosed via a hearing test.
1. Sensorineural hearing loss
Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when the nerve pathways and hair cells inside the inner ear are damaged. Since the damage does not occur overnight, neither does the hearing loss. One of the first symptoms that patients notice is a gradual inability to withstand certain noises, such as loud music, car horns and so on. With time, the degree of volume and clarity that the patient perceives gradually diminishes to a point where the hearing loss becomes discernible to them.
Since sensorineural hearing loss affects patients in a multitude of varying ways, it is always best to set an appointment for a hearing test the moment you are suspect something is off. For example, perhaps you may find that you can hear music from your headphones clearly in one hear yet it is muffled in the other. Alternatively, you may find that you can hear low-pitched noises clearly but cannot discern high-pitched ones.
2. Cookie-bite hearing loss
Medically referred to as mid-range frequency hearing loss, this type gets its cookie-bite name from the unambiguous pattern that it forms on the audiogram. When compared to other forms of hearing loss, this is one of the rarer conditions that one can develop. To begin with, it distinctly affects one's ability to perceive mid-range sounds, which is vastly different from its high and low-frequency hearing loss counterparts. Second, it largely affects the quality of one's day-to-day life, since midrange frequencies refer to most sounds that you would interact with more often. A few examples of mid-range frequency sounds include the TV at a normal volume, conversational tones and so on. Yet, the patient is capable of hearing extremely high-pitched sounds like alarms. A hearing test would be imperative to improve one's day-to-day experience.
Learn more about treating these issues by contacting local ENT specialists.