Do You Need a Hearing Aid for Mild Hearing Loss?
It is quite common to experience occasional trouble hearing, for example if you are in a noisy environment or if you are conversing with a soft-spoken person. However, if you constantly have trouble hearing, you may have hearing loss. Having a hearing impairment does not necessarily mean that you need a hearing aid, though. But do you really need a hearing aid for mild hearing loss? Probably, yes!
Hearing aids are electronic devices designed to amplify sound for individuals with hearing loss. Hearing aids capture sound waves through a microphone, which converts the sound into electrical signals that are processed and amplified before being sent to the ear through a speaker. Hearing aids are recommended for people with mild-to-severe hearing loss to improve their ability to connect and engage with the world around them.
To begin with, it helps to have a basic understanding of the degrees of hearing loss.
- While a person with normal hearing will be able to hear sounds in the 0 to 15 dB range (using the dB HL scale, 0 dB does not indicate the absence of sound, but rather the quietest sound that a person with normal hearing can detect) a person with slight hearing loss will have difficulty with sounds in the 16 to 25 dB range. This range includes things like whispers, sounds of breathing, and light footsteps. While some people are bothered by even a slight degree of hearing loss, most are not - and may not even notice it!
- A person with mild loss may have difficulty with sounds in the 26 to 40 decibel range. This level can include things like quiet speech, library sounds, and people speaking from another room. This is the level at which most people begin to notice that they are missing certain sounds and that their ability to communicate has declined.
- At this level, sounds of 41 to 65 dB may be missed.
- A person with severe loss will have trouble with sounds at or below the 66 to 90 dB range, which includes not only virtually all human speech, but also things like alarm clocks, doorbells, ringing telephones, and even sirens, public announcement systems, and other forms of emergency communication.
- In a profound hearing loss, even sounds louder than 91 dB can be difficult to hear. To put that into perspective, sounds in this range include subway trains, power tools, and aircraft engines, so of course a person with profound hearing loss is going to have tremendous difficulty with communication.
Levels of Hearing Loss
Those with mild hearing loss will greatly benefit from hearing aids - even when the hearing loss is minor. It may not be restorative, but it’s something that you can use as a tool to support your hearing in the best possible way. Hearing aids can allow you to hear the quieter sounds that your mild hearing loss may be blocking out. If you’re missing the sounds of birds chirping or music without guessing what the noise is, then hearing aids would be an excellent option for you.
Why would someone with a hearing loss resist help? Some of the most common reasons for resisting help for hearing loss are “Hearing aids are for old people.” “I don’t have trouble hearing, my family is just mumbling” and “Hearing aids are for people with a great deal of hearing loss.
Let's address these concerns:
"Hearing aids are for old people"
“Hearing aids are for old people”…no! Audiologists hear this one a lot! In reality, there’s a little bit of truth to this! Audiologists fit hearing aids to persons of any age, from very young babies to adults. With the onset of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, we are now able to identify hearing loss earlier than ever before and fit hearing aids on babies as young as a few weeks to a few months old. Hearing loss can occur at any age.
Hearing aid manufacturers realize that today’s hearing aid wearers often have very active lifestyles and have provided very small, discreet looking aids that look great and perform great. The technology available in today’s hearing aids provides such advanced features as the ability to wirelessly connect a Bluetooth device to the hearing aid (for instance, a Bluetooth cell phone or iPod can be heard through the hearing aids by the press of a button - without holding the phone to the ear or wearing a headset with the iPod!).
Modern Hearing Aids
"I don’t have trouble hearing, my family is just mumbling"
“I don’t have trouble hearing, my family is just mumbling.” Hearing loss will often cause a person to misunderstand what has been said. Most of us are moving about in our busy lives and often don’t always use the best communication techniques - especially at home with family members. Turning your head, chewing food or walking away from a person while speaking are things we all do but also things that can make hearing a conversation very difficult. So has a family member all of a sudden started mumbling? Probably not.
When we have normal hearing we may miss out on a word here or there in a conversation, but will get the jist of what is being said. When we have a hearing loss we will often miss more than just a word here or there…especially if there’s background noise (like a T.V. on or water running). We can often figure out what was said if only a word or two is missed but with hearing loss often several words, or even whole sentences, are missed or misunderstood. This can cause miscommunication and often hurt feelings among family members.
"Hearing aids are for people with a great deal of hearing loss"
“Hearing aids are for people with a great deal of hearing loss. I just have a mild hearing loss, I don’t need hearing aids.” Even people with a mild degree of hearing loss may find that they are having trouble hearing what they should. Today’s digital hearing aids give audiologists the capability of programming the aids to fit a wide range of hearing losses. There are many options available to help people with any degree of hearing loss - from mild to profound. You don’t need to have a lot of hearing loss to find that a hearing loss can cause you a lot of frustration.
Persons with a mild hearing loss may find that they have difficulty hearing quiet speech, or hearing someone speaking from a distance. If a hearing loss is negatively affecting your life it’s time to schedule an appointment with an audiologist to find out what amplification options could benefit you. It’s a common misconception that mild hearing loss won’t benefit from hearing tests but this is something you should consider carefully. Some people are not aware that they have hearing problems until they are left to deal with very loud televisions and the sudden realization that they cannot hear their friends in a crowd!
Mild hearing loss can be quite deceptive; you don’t think anything is necessarily wrong but your audiologist tells you something different. Most people with a mild hearing issue may hear a conversation one on one quite well, but in a noisier and more crowded environment, that can become very difficult. There are so many things that can trigger a mild hearing loss, and those include things like ageing and exposure to louder noise. There are also some medical conditions that can be the cause of mild hearing loss, even head injuries or Meniere’s Disease could be the cause. Some people who are dealing with a mild hearing loss do so because they have infections or issues in their inner ear.
Hearing loss can lead to social isolation because when you cannot hear your friends, you cannot join the conversation. Instead of retreating into yourself, you have to look at all of the ways in which you can use hearing aids to keep you out there with friends and family. If vanity is a worry for you when dealing with mild hearing loss - and you wouldn’t be alone in that worry - it’s a good idea to consider the benefits of using them. You might forget how to listen to some sounds, as this is what happens to the brain. Instead of worrying about that, consider that you can better adapt to your environment when you have hearing aids to support you.
Untreated hearing loss can lead to social isolation, depression and cognitive decline. Hearing loss is associated with social isolation but you can avoid that by seeking help.
So how do you know if you actually have hearing loss and, if so, to what degree? Set up an appointment with our experienced audiologist, Dr. Chris Hoffmann. Our hearing health professional will conduct a series of tests to diagnose any hearing loss, and which sounds or frequencies you may have difficulty hearing. Hearing loss is a treatable condition! Those who are dealing with mild hearing loss will often think they have ignored all of their symptoms. The reality is that mild hearing loss is often not caught up with for years; and that’s because it can be difficult to spot without professional testing!
With experience and discretion our audiologists will work with you to bring your hearing back to its best as quickly as possible. Call our team today at the Hearing Wellness Centre on this phone number: (844) 663-9433.