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HEARING LOSS - Levels, Signs, Types and Reasons
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The severity of your hearing level and its equivalent real-life indicators
0-20dB : Normal hearing
No difficulties in perceiving sounds and speech
Hidden hearing loss
Normal hearing but with a difficulty in comprehending speech, particularly in noisy surroundings and etc
21-40dB : Mild hearing loss
Difficulty in hearing soft spoken and/or distant speech
Difficulty keeping up with conversations, especially in noisy surroundings
41-70dB : Moderate hearing loss
Require people to repeat themselves a lot during conversations either in person or in the telephone
71-90dB : Severe hearing loss
Normal conversations are not audible
Able to hear when speech is made up louder through shouting, turning up volume (TV, radio and phone)
and through conversation at a very close distance
90dB < : Profound hearing loss
Could not detect even the loudest sounds made
Rely mostly on lip-reading, and/or sign language
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The reason of your hearing problem based on its type
Conductive hearing loss :
There is a problem with the outer/middle ear that interferes the process of passing sound to the inner ear
Outer ear problems - earwax, outer ear infection, presence foreign body, deformed pinna and/or ear canal etc.
Middle ear problems - perforated eardrum, deformed ossicles, poor Eustachian tube function, a fluid/pus build up or a bony in the middle ear, etc.
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Sensorineural hearing loss :
There is damage to the cochlear's hair cells and/or the auditory nerve of the inner ear which interferes the process of passing sound to the brain
Inner ear damage - aging process, genetics, illnesses, drugs and medications that are toxic to the hearing, trauma to the head, exposure to very loud noise, structural malformation of the inner ear, etc
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Mixed hearing loss :
A combination of conductive and sensorinerural hearing loss
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(Central) Auditory Processing Disorder :
The problem does not lie in the outer, middle or inner ear but within the brain. The brain has problems in processing sounds in the normal way.
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Sign of hearing loss
There are lots of signs that can be observed to indicate a person of having hearing loss. Follow us on our Instagram to learn on each of the signs of hearing loss in a more fun ways.
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