Age Related Hearing Loss

Overview

Age-related hearing loss is the gradual loss of hearing and is associated with ageing. It is a common problem in adults over the age of 65, as the hearing organ gradually degenerate. In these individuals, the ability to hear high-pitched sound is affected. They also have difficulty distinguishing high-pitched syllables like "s” and "th” or understanding conversations, especially in a noisy background. Otherwise, they may hear well in quiet surrounding. Some may find some sounds are too loud or intolerable and complain that people always mumbling. They hear better with men's low pitched voice. One may even complain of ringing in the ear and this complaint can be very troublesome in their daily lives. There are some causes of age-related hearing loss such as degenerative changes of the hearing organ with increasing age, prolonged exposure to loud noise, hereditary factors, side effects of certain medications such as aminoglycoside class of antibiotics, and certain health conditions such as diabetes mellitus. Reduction of smoking and caffeinated drinks intake are said to help in improving the ringing in the ear. Treatment options are available such as using different types of hearing aid or learn speech reading through visual cues by own selves or lessons.