Hearing loss is about pitch as much as volume. If you find it hard to understand the speech of a woman or a child, but you can still, for the most part, understand the men in the room, you may have some degree of high-frequency hearing loss. You’re not alone…this is the most common kind of hearing loss.
Warning Signs of High-Frequency Hearing Loss
With high-frequency hearing loss, consonant sounds that make conversations understandable, get muddled even though you may still be able to register the volume of a woman or a child’s voice. Normally the hardest to pick up are consonant sounds like ch, th, t, soft s, c, sh, k, f, and h. So, it might sound like a woman or child is mumbling, even though they actually 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 distinguish these sounds. Isolation from family and friends, sadness, and frustration can be the result.
People with high-frequency hearing loss also don’t hear other sounds that are within the high-frequency range (2000 Hz and higher). This includes high musical notes, birds chirping, and squeaks or sirens. Low-frequency sounds such as bass musical notes, the rumble of thunder or a man’s voice might still be quite easy to discern, even if the volume isn’t that loud.
Causes of High-Frequency Hearing Loss
Usually imperceptible in the beginning, high-frequency hearing loss, the most prevalent kind of hearing loss, can creep up on you as you get older. high-frequency hearing loss can be triggered by other things besides aging such as particular medical issues like cardiovascular disease, too much noise exposure, and several medications.
The tiny hair-like sensors within the cochlea are harmed by all of these scenarios. Sound input is received by these little cells and sent to the brain for processing. The higher pitched sounds are often the first to be tough to understand because the high-frequency cells get damaged more easily than the lower pitched cells.
high-frequency Hearing Loss, How to Prevent it
Even though you can’t prevent your ears from getting older, there are many things you can do to prevent or at least slow down the progression of high-frequency hearing loss. Including these:
- Ask your doctor about medications you use. high-frequency hearing loss can be caused by at least 200 different kinds of medications. Your hearing can even be harmed by too much aspirin. Check with your doctor to see if there are choices less likely to harm your hearing. Stay in close contact with your hearing health care provider if you can’t abstain from using a certain medication. Additional hearing loss can be prevented by treatment.
- Putting in hearing protection in noisy spaces. If you have to yell to be heard in a loud setting, this is a sure sign the noise might hurt your hearing. Heavy traffic, engines revving, power tool sounds, the loud sound systems at movie theaters or rock concerts are all examples of instances when putting in the ear-protection is a good idea. Noise-canceling earphones are also a good solution in certain situations, but might not fit in your pocket as easily as ear-plugs.
- Getting quiet things. Look for noise ratings on appliances and pick the quietest products. If it’s tough to hear your dinner companions, don’t be afraid to ask the manager to turn down the music.
- Never utilizing a swab (or other small objects) to remove ear wax. This can push old ear wax into your ear canal and dull your capacity to hear. Carefully wash out excess earwax with a cloth after you shower, or ask your hearing professional about other ear irrigation techniques for removing earwax without injuring your hearing.
- Taking good care of your general health. Your hearing can be damaged by smoking. Your hearing can also be damaged from poor health caused by poor nutrition. Maintain your hearing by taking care of your general health.
high-frequency Hearing Loss Treatment
Hearing aids are presently the most effective strategy for treating high-frequency hearing loss. And there are various models to choose from because this is the most prevalent type of hearing loss. Hearing aids can augment high-pitched sounds so they are crisper to the listener. You can immediately manage your level and extent of hearing loss by having us fine-tune your hearing aid to improve your ability to hear sounds at the correct level. Many hearing aids can be controlled by your phone and include directional microphones for fine-tuning in situations such as business meetings, restaurant dinners, talking on the phone or listening to children.
Make an appointment for a hearing test if you suspect you might have high-frequency hearing loss. If you want to increase your ability to hear your grandchild’s priceless one-liner, chances are there are personally tailored answers for you.