Hearing Loss
Q: What causes hearing loss?
A: There are two categories of hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is the result of damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve and is usually permanent. Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound waves are unable to reach the inner ear. It’s typically able to be resolved by surgery or medical treatment.
In general, hearing loss can be from birth or caused by damage to the inner ear from aging or loud noises, ear infections, abnormal bone growths or tumors, earwax buildup or a ruptured eardrum.
Q: What is the first sign of hearing loss?
A: Early signs of hearing loss include difficulty understanding conversations in crowded places or over the phone, struggling to hear consonant sounds, feeling tired after conversations and ringing in your child’s ears, also known as tinnitus.
Q: Can hearing loss be restored?
A: Though hearing loss is only able to be fully restored in limited cases, hearing aids and other treatments can allow your child to hear the sounds of their world again. If your child has conductive hearing loss, which is the result of sound waves being blocked from the inner ear, it may be able to be resolved by surgery or medical treatment.
Sensorineural hearing loss, which causes hair cells in the ear that detect sound to be permanently damaged, is not able to be resolved. However, hearing aids can allow your child to connect with sounds again.
Q: How can hearing loss be prevented?
A: There are a variety of steps your child can take to prevent hearing loss. Your child can avoid noise-induced hearing loss by wearing earplugs or other hearing protection in loud environments. Also, consider turning down the volume on your child’s television or music. Other types of hearing loss can be prevented by avoiding putting cotton swabs in your child’s ears, managing their blood pressure, keeping diabetes under control and avoiding ototoxic drugs when possible.
Tinnitus
Q: What causes tinnitus?
A: There are many health conditions that can lead to tinnitus, and often, an exact cause is never found. Common causes of tinnitus include:
- Hearing loss, because the hair cells in the ear that pass sound to the brain can leak electrical impulses to the brain when they are broken
- Ear infections or ear canal blockage, which change the pressure within the ear
- Head or neck injuries, which can impact the inner ear, hearing nerves or brain function related to hearing
Other factors include Meniere’s disease, problems with the Eustachian tubes, tumors in the head and neck, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders and certain medications.
Q: Does tinnitus cause hearing loss?
A: Tinnitus may interfere with your child’s hearing, but it does not cause hearing loss.
Q: Can people with tinnitus have hearing loss?
A: Because tinnitus is a symptom of a variety of inner ear disorders, many people with tinnitus also experience hearing loss.
Hearing Tests
Q: When should you get your child’s hearing checked?
A: You should visit an audiologist for an exam if your child is struggling to hear, someone else has noticed a change in your child’s hearing, they’re experiencing ear drainage or pain or hearing loss runs in your family.
Q: How often should you get your child’s hearing checked?
A: According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), anyone under 40 who is not experiencing any hearing loss should have their hearing tested every three to five years.
Q: Which hearing aid is best for my child’s kind of hearing loss?
A: Your audiologist will help you choose the hearing aids that will work best for your child. Factors they will consider include your child’s degree of hearing loss, the shape of your child’s outer ear and ear canal and any additional features your child may benefit from.
Q: Is it OK to just wear one hearing aid?
A: If your child has been diagnosed with hearing loss in only one ear and normal hearing in the other, your child only needs one hearing aid.
But if your child has hearing loss in both ears, using two hearing aids will help your child hear in noisy environments and determine which direction sounds are coming from. Even if your child has less hearing loss in one ear than the other, using two hearing aids will be beneficial.
Q: What is it like to hear through a hearing aid?
A: Hearing aids can reconnect your child to sounds you’ve been missing and help your child better understand speech, but they don’t restore the ear’s natural functions. They may find the new sounds a bit overwhelming at first since your child’s brain needs time to become reaccustomed to processing information entering the ears. Sounds also may seem unusually loud, but they’ll become used to them with time.
You’ll have several follow-up visits with your child’s audiologist to ensure that your child’s device is working for them. During these visits, your child’s provider will help you with any questions or concerns about adjusting to your child’s hearing aids.
Q: What are the side effects of a hearing aid?
A: Like most significant lifestyle changes, hearing aids may take some getting used to. Along with many benefits, there may be some uncomfortable side effects initially, but your child’s audiologist will help you find solutions to any issues that arise.
Side effects may include:
- Headaches. This is a result of your child’s ears getting used to new sounds and usually disappears within a few months.
- Irritated or itchy ears. Their ears may feel uncomfortable if your child’s hearing aids do not fit properly. An audiologist can help adjust your child’s device to reduce this feeling. If your child’s ears itch, remove your child’s hearing aids to clean them and prevent wax buildup.
- Issues with feedback. If your child hears a whistling or buzzing sound, it may be the result of hearing aids misdirecting sound. Though this does not occur as often with the digital processors offered by modern hearing aids, your child’s audiologist can help if they’re experiencing this issue.
OTC Hearing Aids
Q: Can my child get a hearing aid without an audiologist?
A: Prescription hearing aids, which are customized for your child’s needs and appropriate for all levels of hearing loss, are only available after receiving a hearing exam from an audiologist.
Audiologist
Q: What does an audiologist do?
A: Audiologists are healthcare professionals that provide care for issues stemming from the auditory and vestibular areas of the ear, such as hearing and balance disorders. Most frequently, they diagnose hearing impairments and provide treatment for them. They do not perform surgery or prescribe medication.
Q: Is an audiologist a doctor?
A: Audiologists are healthcare professionals who have earned at least a master’s degree and most hold a Doctorate of Audiology degree; however, they are not physicians.
Q: What is the difference between an ear doctor and an audiologist?
A: An ENT, or otolaryngologist, is a doctor that treats issues related to the ears, nose and throat. They focus on diseases, tumors, nerve issues and other abnormalities in these areas of the body.
An audiologist is a hearing healthcare professional that specializes in hearing disorders. They specialize in the technology used to manage conditions like hearing loss.