Warning Signs Of Hearing Loss in Adults

If you believe you or your loved one is suffering from hearing loss, the first thing you need to do is get your ears checked. An audiologist would be the best person to do this by conducting different kinds of hearing tests in Bulleen. In fact, this is the simplest way that you can do to learn about hearing and what is to be done to treat it. 

The tests are basically painless and do not take a lot of time. It takes less than fifteen minutes and identifies whether a hearing loss really exists and if yes the degree to which the hearing loss may affect your daily life. Ace Audiology in Bulleen offers free hearing screening check-up for adults. So, if you think, you are having difficulty in hearing properly, contact Ace Audiology. 

But before you visit the audiologist for an assessment, it is important for you to check for these warning signs. Only if you find you are facing the following things, then only make an appointment with Dr. Yazdaneh Galt of Ace Audiology. Here are the warning signs: 

• You are able to hear but is unable to understand 
• You are having difficulty in understanding people until and unless they're facing you 
• You are finding it harder to hear in a noisy situation especially when there are groups of people surrounding you
• You think that people are mumbling 
• You turn the television a lot more loudly than you should or than other people 
• You don't hear your phone ringing or your doorbell quite often

Hearing loss basically means that some of the sounds cannot be heard. The other effects of this problem, which may interfere with communication and listening include the loud sounds that often cause discomfort, particular type of speech sounds that are inaudible and difficulty in hearing when there is a background noise. It can even be hard to tell where these sounds are actually coming from. 

However, if you are really facing these warning signs don't think that you are amongst the few who is suffering from this kind of problem in Bulleen. In Australia, one out of every six person suffer from hearing loss. So, this problem is quite common in the country. 

Remember--your hearing problem may affect your ability to enjoy your life fully. It can result in loss of confidence or cause social embarrassment to you because of difficulties with conversation. It may even leave you at a risk of missing crucial warning sounds like traffic and smoke alarms. So, if you think you are experiencing these warning signs, get in touch with Dr.  Galt of Ace Audiology as soon as possible and get a hearing assessment done in Bulleen to learn whether you really have hearing loss. 

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Paediatric Hearing Assessment

Hearing loss does not always mean you cannot hear at all or that the sounds are not loud enough. You may see that your child does not answer from a distance or that the words do not seem quite clear. Delays in language and speech development and educational progress may also be indications of hearing loss.

The effect of a hearing loss on a child is very much different from the impacts of hearing loss, which takes place in adulthood. Children basically use their hearing for learing about everything that is happening around them and develop the communication skills.

If you are concerned about the hearing ability of your child, then first call your general physician to check for ear infection or any other medical condition. When that is been ruled out, a paediatric hearing test shall be in order. There is no need for you to panic. But it is always better to have the hearing of your child assessed quickly so that they can get any support, which they need early on.

How is paediatric hearing test conducted?

The audiologist chooses the tests, which best suits your child’s ability, age and overall circumstances. But that usually involves a combination of physiological and behavioral tests. For example, with older children, audiologists generally conduct a hearing test and check the function of the middle ear to see whether ears are congested. The test is also done to see how clearly the child can understand the speech by listening to the words that comes through headphones. The audiologist always confirms the result when the test shows there is a hearing impairment. Retest is done by most of the audiologists to ensure that the results were consistent before dicing the course of action.

The common hearing tests for younger children include:

·         Behavioral observation audiometry (BOA)

·         Visual reinforcement orientation audiometry (VROA)

·         Play audiometry

·         Oto-acoustic emission testing (OAE)

·         Brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA)

·         Electro-cochleography (ECochG or EcoG)

·         Tympanometry and acoustic reflex

How Big Is the Problem of Hearing Loss in Australia?

One among six Australians experience impaired hearing nowadays. Hearing losses affect people of all age groups but particularly there are a lot more baby boomers aged forty-five to sixty-four with this kind of loss than there are people of age over sixty-five years.

As the baby boomers reach their mid-age, there comes a time when hearing loss becomes a lot more noticeable. These people face concerns regarding what to do about the hearing loss. Boomers can have a lot more hearing problems at early age than the previous generations. The noisy-lifestyle with more exposure to the loud stereos, rock concerts, lawn mowers, power tools and city traffic can take its toll on their ears.

The hearing aid specialists in Bulleen confirm that they are observing more young people looking for help with a hearing loss. There are about millions of Australians who are exposed to excessively noisy environments. Among those millions of people with such defects, there are about many people who are partially attributable to the damage from exposure to the loud sounds.

Most of the hearing loss may be helped but they cannot be cured by using hearing aids. Still, most of the people suffering from such a kind of problem do not take advantage of this device. Actually, according to a survey, most of the people having a hearing loss can hear better with a hearing aid but only a few people who need one wears one. 

Hearing loss is basically reduced hearing. It can be caused by different factors. It is different from deafness. It may affect a person’s work as well as personal life.  There are mainly two types of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is caused due to malfunctions or obstructions in the mid or outer ear. Sensorineural hearing loss is basically caused by damage to hair cells in inner ear.

Talking to a person who is suffering from hearing loss is not that easy in Australia. The person may not be able to understand what you are saying. For that, you first need to seek the attention of the person and stand close to him or her while talking. You should never cover your mouth while speaking and should talk more slowly than you do normally. Sometimes, you may need to raise your voice and use body and hand movements to make the person understand what you are trying to say actually.  

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People Suffering Diabetes Are Likely To Experience Hearing Loss

If you or your loved one is suffering from diabetic and find out that phrases like ‘what did you say?’, ‘speak up’ etc  are often uttered, it might be because of the hearing loss. Researchers have come up with a study, which says that people suffering diabetes are twice as likely to experience hearing loss in comparison to people who are without diabetes. So, if you or your loved one is a diabetic patient make sure you consult one of the best hearing aid specialists in Bulleen.

Diabetic care includes regular monitoring of health. People suffering from this disease often check their blood glucose or do an annual eye exam. Most of them overlook the hearing tests, which is important.

Patients may not have an idea on what tests to do; so it must be the physicians who should refer the patients to go to an audiologist. I often see people who are of 85-90 years of age and they never even had a hearing screen. It is very essential to have a baseline.

There is probably a relation between hearing problems and diabetes, according to experts. Circulatory problems like those see in kidney disease, heart disease and diabetes may affect blood vessels in ears. It is a very fine area having fine blood vessels and it is said that as diabetes gets in the way with circulation, it gets in the way with hearing as well.

There are a few theories about how diabetes affects hearing. People suffering from diabetes are more likely to have hearing loss in comparison to those who are not affected with diabetes. Those having prediabetes have 30% more chance of having hearing impairment compared with people having normal blood glucose.

Hearing loss may be a problem that is caused due to poorly managed diabetes or diabetes for a long period of time much like diabetic retinopathy or diabetic kidney disease. Like kidneys, structure of inner ear is vascularized highly. Thus, hearing loss may be the result of changes to small blood vessels of inner ear.

According to another theory, diabetes may cause changes to auditory nerve’s fibers or sensory neurons. This condition causes damage to peripheral nerve in hands and feet of people with uncontrolled diabetes. Moreover, because noise is the factor for hearing loss, it is possible that people having diabetes are specifically susceptible to negative effects of the sustained loud noise.

Checklist to Monitor the Hearing Development of a Child

Newborn babies as well as children are checked routinely for problems with their hearing for identifying problems early on in their stage of development. Although severe hearing problems during infancy stage are rare, early testing makes certain that any problem are picked up and managed as soon as possible.

It’s essential that hearing problems are identified early because any problem may affect language and speech development, education development and social skills.

Read more about Importance of Conducting Hearing Tests in Newborns

Routine hearing tests

Shortly after the baby is born, they have their hearing tested. The screening is carried out before the mother leaves the maternity unit. However, in some areas it is carried out at home. If the baby doesn’t pass through the hearing screen, he/she is referred to a reputed audiologist for more tests. If there isn’t any reason to get bothered about after the paediatric hearing test has been conducted, the parents will be given a checklist to monitor the hearing development of their child. The checklist usually outlines the sounds, which babies make and the sounds, which they must respond to as they become older. 

A baby’s hearing must develop in the following way over the 1st year of life:

• Right from birth-should jump hearing loud noises
• One month of age-must start noticing sudden as well as prolonged sounds 
• Four months old-must show excitement at sounds and smile in response to the sound of a known voice 
• Seven to nine months-should babble, gurgle and coo and turn to a known voice across the room or to quiet noises made on each of the sides
• One year old-should respond to a few words like their name 

When the child is between 2 and 21/2 years old, parents usually take their child to a doctor again for reviewing their general health and development. The review includes checking the child’s hearing as well as speech development in this stage.

Most of the children also have another routine paediatric hearing test when they start school at around 4-5 years old.

However, if your baby’s hearing hasn’t been tested after he or she was born, arrange for an appointment with a reputed audiologist in your area now!