Audiology Services
What Are the Most Common Causes of Hearing Loss?
A number of factors can cause hearing loss. The most common include aging, noise exposure, ear infections, excessive earwax, ear or head trauma, genetics, birth defects, benign growths or tumors, otosclerosis, Meniere’s disease and reactions to drugs.
What Are the Symptoms of Hearing Loss?
Hearing loss isn’t always easy to detect. Symptoms often develop gradually and your brain learns to adapt, so you might not even notice there is anything wrong until your condition has advanced. Learning to recognize the signs early will improve your odds of successful treatment.
Here are 10 signs you might have hearing loss.
- People seem to mumble when they speak
- You often ask people to repeat themselves
- You experience tinnitus (ringing in your ears)
- Others complain that you are watching TV or listening to music too loudly
- You are unable to hear everyday household sounds (e.g., ringing doorbell)
- You have trouble following conversations in a large group setting, especially when background noise is present
- You have difficulty hearing when you are not facing the speaker
- You have trouble understanding every word in a conversation
- Telephone conversations are difficult for you to follow
- Others accuse you of speaking too loudly
How Is Hearing Loss Treated?
The most common treatment for hearing loss is a hearing aid. Your audiologist will work closely with you to take into account several factors – the type and severity of your hearing loss, your lifestyle, the size and shape of your outer ears and inner ear canals and your manual dexterity – in order to determine the best hearing device for you.
To schedule an appointment with an Audiologist, call one of the following numbers:
Fort Payne office
256-844-8144
Scottsboro office
256-574-6100