Hearing Problems in Younger People Increasing
It’s a common misconception that hearing problems affect older people only. On the contrary, around 28 million Americans experience serious hearing loss. What’s more alarming is that it increasingly affects mostly the younger people.
Generally, people experience hearing problems upon reaching ages 73 to 84. Here, hearing impairment is age-related and accounted for by accompanying diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems and diabetes, among others.
Moreover, several reports stated that younger people are likely to suffer from hearing problems twice as frequently as 25 years ago. Likely culprits may include loud music (especially those blaring through earphones) and a very noisy environment.
Hearing loss may be conductive or sensorineural.
When hearing impediments are caused by certain abnormalities in our middle or outer ear, it is called conductive hearing loss. This can be easily remedied by removing the ear wax blocking the ear canal. Another solution would be using a hearing aid. On the other hand, sensorineural hearing loss usually involves problems within the inner ear, its nerve endings or a portion of the brain itself.
So how can you tell if you are experiencing hearing problems? The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders offers this checklist to determine if you have hearing problems.
- Are you having difficulty hearing over the phone?
- Are you having trouble following talking simultaneously in a conversation?
- Do you turn the TV volume too high?
- Are you having problems deciphering people’s words?
- Do you respond incorrectly or have problems understanding other people’s speech?
If you answered “Yes” to most of these questions, you probably have some form of hearing impediment. It is best to have your ears checked by a medical professional to avoid further complications.
