How many do you know about mild hearing loss?

Do you think that mild hearing loss just can’t hear whispers, and does it affect daily communication?

Do you think that hearing loss is not required for mild hearing loss?

Do you think there is no way to prevent mild hearing loss in advance?

…

How much do you really know about the causes, effects, treatment, and prevention of mild hearing loss?

What is mild hearing loss?

Mild hearing loss refers not hear the sound of less than 25dB, these voices include whispered conversation (whisper), the rustle of leaves, small birds, such as the sound of water droplets .

We know that according to WHO’s classification of hearing loss in 1997, it can be divided into normal, mild, moderate, severe, and extremely severe hearing loss.

The mild hearing loss manifests as the average hearing threshold of the four frequencies of 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz, and 4000Hz in the range of 26 ~ 40dB .

What causes mild hearing loss?

The most common causes of mild hearing loss are noise exposure and aging .

In addition, there are many other reasons that may cause mild hearing loss, some of which may restore hearing after timely treatment .

For example, embolism, ear infections (such as otitis media) , so when you find that the ears are bloated, painful, and secretions, it is recommended to seek medical treatment in time to avoid unnecessary or even irreversible hearing loss .

What are the effects of mild hearing loss?

1. Impact on daily communication

For people with mild hearing loss, they often don’t find that they have a hearing loss , because they tend to talk face-to-face with each other better in daily life, listen well in quiet environments, and almost as normal no difference.

However, when the environment changes slightly, the negative effects of mild hearing loss follow .

E.g:

If you talk farther away , if it is more than 2 meters, listening to the voice of normal volume may be a bit laborious;

E.g:

In a noisy environment, or when multiple people are talking , the situation may become audible but not clear to the conversation.

2. Impact on cognitive function of the brain

In recent years, more and more studies have shown that there are various associations between hearing loss and cognitive impairment .

Among them, one of the most noticeable research reports is that the elderly with hearing loss are more likely to suffer from dementia, and the prevalence is increasing with the increase of hearing loss.

The research data is the most intuitive, even mild hearing loss in the elderly, the probability of suffering from senile dementia is normal hearing of 2 times .

In addition, recent studies have shown that even young people with mild, near-normal hearing loss can affect brain activity during speech recognition, and may increase the risk of diseases such as cognitive impairment and dementia. risk.

Does mild hearing loss require intervention?

Looking at the effects of the above-mentioned mild hearing loss on daily communication and cognitive function, I believe the answer to this question is already obvious.

In addition, if you do not intervene in mild hearing loss and allow it to develop, over time, plus environmental, age and other factors, mild hearing loss may develop into moderate, severe … more serious Hearing loss, and speech discrimination will become worse and worse , and then seek intervention methods, the effect is also unsatisfactory.

Can hearing aids be worn for mild hearing loss?

According to the description of the WHO official website for mild hearing loss, for children, even with mild hearing loss, intervention is required, and hearing aids are recommended; for adults, professional consultation is required, and according to needs (such as business people in meetings) , Lecturer) may need a hearing aid .

Today, hearing aid technology has come a long way. Currently, the mainstream hearing aids on the market are both beautiful and fashionable, natural in sound quality, and comfortable in noise reduction .

For mild hearing loss, we can purposely amplify small and medium sounds, less or not amplify larger sounds, suppress various noises in noisy environments, and improve speech intelligibility and listening comfort of hearing aid users.

Therefore, for people with mild hearing loss, if there is a listening requirement, it is recommended that they can choose a hearing aid suitable for them through the guidance of a professional fitter .

How to prevent mild hearing loss?

We mentioned earlier that one of the main causes of mild hearing loss is noise exposure, which is also the most likely and easiest to prevent .

The main point of prevention is to reduce the exposure to high-intensity noise . For example, when using headphones for daily listening, adhere to the “60-60” principle , that is, the volume should not exceed 60% of the playback device and the listening time should not exceed 60 minutes.

If you need to be exposed to high-intensity noise, it is recommended to wear hearing protection devices such as noise-proof earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones.

If you love to listen to Hi Songs with headphones in noisy environments such as subways and buses, it is better to choose a pair of high-quality noise-cancelling headphones as much as possible.

So, before hearing loss finds you, you can’t emphasize the importance of protecting your ears or hearing .

Pay attention, pay attention, and pay more attention. Don’t wait until your hearing loss is irreversible.

If you notice hearing loss , even if you are young , even if you have a mild hearing loss, please diagnose, intervene and recover early .