Hearing loss is when your ability to hear is reduced. A hearing loss makes it more difficult for you to hear speech and other sounds. The most common causes of this are noise and aging. In most cases, it cannot be cured. A hearing problem or hearing impairment happens when there is a problem with one or more parts of the ear or ears, the nerves coming from the ears, or the part of the brain that controls hearing.  According to WHO (2018) data, the prevalence of hearing impairment (HI) in India is around 6.3% (63 million people suffering from significant auditory deficit). The estimated prevalence of adult-onset deafness in India is 7.6% and childhood- onset deafness is 2%.

Hearing loss occurs to most people as they age. It can be due to the aging process, exposure to loud noise, certain medications, infections, head or ear trauma, congenital (birth or prenatal) or hereditary factors, diseases, as well as a number of other causes.

The problem of hearing loss, if not since birth, is often a like a process than an occurrence. Other than due to accidental reasons, when the loss can be instantaneous, normally it is caused over a prolonged period of time. In the beginning, it can be deceptive; however, with time, it goes profound and start interfering with your ability to react to a sound and thus becomes prominent during conversational speech.

 

How Do I Know I have hearing loss?

Do you have trouble in hearing what others say?

Do you feel that people around you have started mumbling?

Do you steer up the TV volume to a level others start complaining?

Do you feel blame your concentration as you hear less when it is bit noisy?

Do your friends or family members complain about your hearing inability?

Do people tell you that, off late, you have been talking loudly?

You hear people speaking but you have to strain to understand their words.

You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.

You don’t laugh at jokes because you miss too much of the story or the punch line.

You frequently complain that people mumble.

You need to ask others about the details of a meeting you just attended.

You play the TV or radio louder than your friends, spouse and relatives.

You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone.

You find that looking at people when they speak to you makes it easier to understand.

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