Hearing loss isn’t just about volume, it’s about pitch. If it’s hard to comprehend the speech of a woman or a child, but you can still, for the most part, understand the men in the room, you could have some level of high-frequency hearing loss. You’re not alone…this is the most common type of hearing loss.
Symptoms of High-Frequency Hearing Loss
With high-frequency hearing loss, you might still be able to register the volume of a woman’s voice or a child’s voice, but consonant sounds that make conversations easy to understand, get muddled. Usually, consonant sounds such as t, th, ch, soft c, s, sh, f, k, and h are the hardest to pick out. So, it may sound like a woman or child is mumbling, even though they aren’t. Comprehending a child’s joke or a family member’s question about dinner plans becomes very difficult because you have lost the ability to differentiate these sounds. This can lead to frustration, sadness and social isolation from your circle of family and friends.
Other sounds within the high-frequency hearing loss range (2000 Hz) are missed by people who have this problem. This includes birds chirping, high musical notes, sirens or squeaks. Low-frequency sounds like bass musical notes, the rumble of thunder or a man’s voice may still be fairly easy to detect, even if the volume isn’t very loud.
Causes of High-Frequency Hearing Loss
Usually imperceptible in the beginning, high-frequency hearing loss, the most prevalent type of hearing loss, can creep up on you as you get older. In addition to growing older, too much noise exposure, particular medications and numerous medical issues including cardiovascular disease can result in high-frequency hearing loss.
The little hair-like sensors in the cochlea are damaged by all of these situations. It’s these little cells that pick up sound input and deliver it to the brain for processing. The high-frequency sensory cells are more sensitive to damage than the low-frequency sensory cells, which is why the higher-pitched sounds are frequently the first to be difficult to comprehend.
high-frequency Hearing Loss, How to Avoid it
Although you can’t prevent your ears from getting older, there are several things you can do to stop or at least slow down the progression of high-frequency hearing loss. Some of these include:
- Putting in hearing protection in noisy locations.A definite indication that your ears might be getting injured is if you need to yell to be heard in a noisy environment. Heavy traffic, engines revving, power tool sounds, the loud sound systems at movie theaters or rock concerts are all good examples of times when putting in the ear-plugs is a smart idea. Noise canceling headphone might not fit inside your pocket, but they can be the best solution in certain situations.
- Quieter things are better. Look for noise ratings on appliances and choose the quietest models. If it’s hard to hear your dinner companions, don’t be afraid to ask the manager to turn down the music.
- Your health is important so take care of it. Smoking can injury your hearing. Poor health, poor nutrition, or lack of exercise can also injure your hearing. Protect your hearing by taking care of your overall health.
- If you take any medication, ask your doctor if it has any impact on hearing. high-frequency hearing loss can be triggered by at least 200 different kinds of medications. Even too much aspirin can injure your hearing. To find out if there are possibilities less likely to damage your hearing, consult your doctor. Stay in close touch with your hearing health care provider if you can’t avoid taking a certain medication. Dealing with hearing loss early can help avoid further loss.
- When removing earwax, never utilize a swab or any other small object. Your capacity to hear is blunted when you jam old earwax against your eardrum. Carefully clean out excessive earwax with a cloth when you’re done showering, or ask your hearing professional about different ear irrigation techniques for removing earwax without damaging your hearing.
high-frequency Hearing Loss Treatment
Hearing aids are currently the most efficient method for dealing with high-frequency hearing loss. And there are various designs to pick from because this is the most prevalent kind of hearing loss. So that they are clearer to the user, hearing aids can augment high pitched sounds. You can directly address your level and extent of hearing loss by having your hearing care expert fine-tune your hearing aid to increase your ability to hear sounds at the right level. For circumstances like talking on the phone, listening to children, having dinner at a restaurant, or business meetings many hearing aids can be controlled by your phone and have directional microphones for fine-tuning.
If you suspect that you may be dealing with high-frequency hearing loss, make an appointment for a hearing examination. Odds are, there are individually-tailored solutions that can enhance your ability to catch your grandchild’s precious one-liners.