Hearing loss is often a natural part of aging

My wife says I never listen to her, At least I think that’s what she said.—Anonymous

About a third of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have hearing problems. Nearly half the people who are 75 and older have hearing loss. Whether a hearing loss is small (missing certain sounds) or large (being profoundly deaf), it is a serious concern. If left untreated, problems can get worse.
Hearing loss can affect your life in many ways. You may miss out on talks with friends and family. On the telephone, you may find it hard to hear what the caller is saying. At the doctor’s office, you may not catch the doctor’s words.
Sometimes hearing problems can make you feel embarrassed, upset and lonely. It’s easy to withdraw when you can’t follow a conversation at the dinner table or in a restaurant. It’s also easy for friends and family to think you are confused, uncaring or difficult, when the problem may be that you just can’t hear well.
If you have trouble hearing, there is help. Start by seeing your doctor. Depending on the type and extent of your hearing loss, there are many treatment choices that may help. Hearing loss does not have to get in the way of your ability to enjoy life.
There is a nearly universal tendency to deny hearing loss and to refuse to get help for it. To be fair, sometimes the losses occur so slowly over time that people do not realize how much they are actually missing. See your doctor if you have trouble hearing over the telephone or if you find it hard to follow conversations when two or more people are talking. Do you need to turn up the TV volume so loud that others complain? Do you have a problem hearing if there are background noises? Do you feel that others always seem to mumble, or perhaps you can’t understand when women or children speak to you?
If you answered yes to any of the questions in the previous paragraph, please see your doctor for a hearing test or referral to a specialist. Sometimes the diagnosis and treatment can take place in the doctor’s office. Or your doctor may refer you to an otolaryngologist, a doctor who specializes in the ear, nose and throat. This doctor will take your medical history, ask if other family members have hearing problems, do a thorough exam, and suggest any needed tests. You may be referred to an audiologist who is a health care professional trained to measure hearing. The audiologist will use an audiometer to test your ability to hear sounds of different pitch and loudness. These tests are painless. Audiologists can help if you need a hearing aid. They can help select the best hearing aid for you and help you learn to get the most from it.
If we personally are dealing with difficulty hearing, or if someone in our family is having this problem, we often wonder what actually causes hearing loss. It can have many different causes, including the aging process itself, ear wax buildup, exposure to very loud noises over a long period of time, viral or bacterial infections, heart conditions or stroke, head injuries, tumors, certain medicines and of course, heredity.
Age-related hearing loss is called Presbycusis. It becomes more common in people as they get older. People with this kind of hearing loss may have a hard time hearing what others are saying or may be unable to stand loud sounds. The decline is slow. Just as hair turns gray at different rates, Presbycusis often develops at different rates. Presbycusis may be caused by aging, loud noise, heredity, head injury, infection, illness, certain prescription drugs, and circulation problems such as high blood pressure.
Another type of hearing loss is caused sensorineural. This type of hearing loss results from damage to parts of the inner ear, the auditory nerve, or hearing pathways in the brain. The degree of hearing loss varies from person to person. Also, a person can have a different amount of hearing loss in each ear.
Tinnitus accompanies many forms of hearing loss, including those that sometimes come with aging. People with tinnitus may hear a ringing, roaring, or some other noise inside their ears. Tinnitus may be caused by loud noise, hearing loss, certain medicines, and other health problems such as allergies and problems in the heart and blood vessels. Often it is unclear why the ringing happens. Tinnitus can come and go, it can stop completely, or it can stay to torment you. Some medicines may help ease the problems.
Wearing a hearing aid makes it easier for some people with Tinnitus to hear the sounds they need to hear because the aid makes sounds louder. Maskers, small devices that use sound to make tinnitus less noticeable, help other people. Music also can be soothing and can sometimes mask the sounds caused by the condition. It also helps to avoid things that might make tinnitus worse, like smoking, alcohol and loud noises.
There are many things you can do about hearing loss. The first step is to check with your doctor. Additionally, more information is available from The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, www.nided.nih.gov. Senior Moments is grateful to the National Institute on Aging for much of the information in today’s column.
Thank you for reading. Stay well. See you next week.