1. KEEPING YOUR HEARING HEALTHY
More than just your ears
Harriet B. Jacobster, Au.D.
Lyric Audiology
Bringing Words and Music to Your Ears

2. FACTS ABOUT HEARING LOSS
♪ Hearing loss affects more than 31.5 million Americans—
most of whom are below retirement age
♪ 3 in 10 people over age 60 have hearing loss
♪ Among Americans ages 41 to 59, about 15% already have
hearing problems—that’s 1 in 6 baby boomers !
♪ 7.4 percent—or 1 in 14—Generation Xers, ages 29 to 40,
suffer from hearing loss.
♪ At least 1.4 million children, 18 or younger, have hearing
problems.
♪ It’s estimated that 3 in 1,000 infants are born with serious to
profound hearing loss.
Better Hearing Institute

3. or
If a tree falls in the woods….

4. ♪ A sound or noise sends vibrations (sound waves) through the air
♪ The sound waves hit your eardrum, it vibrates
♪ These vibrations are sent to the three smallest bones in your body
♪ The bones pass these vibrations along a coiled tube in the inner ear
♪ Fluids in the inner ear are set into motion moving thousands of nerve endings
♪ In the inner ear, the physical vibrations are changed into neural impulses which are
sent to the brain along the auditory pathways
♪ The brain interprets these vibrations as sound

5. CAUSES OF HEARING LOSS
♪ Excessive noise
♪ Aging
♪ Diseases
♪ Infections
♪ Injury to the head or ear
♪ Birth defects or genetics
♪ Ototoxic reaction to drugs or cancer treatment

6. TYPES OF HEARING LOSS
There are four types of hearing loss:
conductive
sensorineural
mixed
central

7. CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS
It's all mechanical
♪ any condition or disease
that blocks or impedes
the conveyance of sound
through the middle ear
♪ Result is a loss of loudness
♪ Generally can be treated
medically or surgically

8. Examples of CONDUCTIVE LOSS
♪ External Ear
♪ congenital malformation
where pinna and ear canal
fail to form
♪ blockage in ear canal -
foreign body or
accumulated cerumen (ear
wax)
♪ Middle ear
♪ perforation in ear drum
♪ otitis media (ear infection)
♪ ossicular chain
discontinuity/fixation

9. SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS
Hair cell and/or nerve damage
♪ results from inner ear or auditory
nerve dysfunction
♪ reduces the intensity and/or clarity of
speech

10. Examples of SENSORINEURAL LOSS
Sensory (inner ear or cochlea)
♪ High Frequency
♪ Aging
♪ Noise exposure
♪ Head Trauma
♪ Genetics
♪ Disease
♪ Low Frequency
♪ Meniere’s Disease
♪ Genetic
♪ Any/all frequencies
♪ Disease
♪ Drugs
♪ Genetics
♪ Viral/bacterial infections
♪ Vascular disorders

11. Examples of SENSORINEURAL LOSS
Neural
♪ acoustic neuroma or other
tumor of or near the nerve of
hearing and balance
♪ Auditory neuropathy
♪ Injury

12. CENTRAL HEARING LOSS
damage to auditory centers of the brain
Examples of CENTRAL LOSS
♪ Stroke
♪ Traumatic brain injury
♪ Brainstem lesions
♪ Disruption in neural pathways

13. MIXED HEARING LOSS
♪ combination of
conductive and
sensorineural
♪ damage in the outer
or middle ear and in
the inner ear (cochlea)
or auditory nerve

14. SIGNS OF HEARING LOSS

15. You might have hearing loss if you . . .
Socially:
♪ require frequent repetition.
♪ have difficulty following conversations involving
more than 2 people.
♪ think that other people sound muffled or like
they're mumbling.
♪ have difficulty hearing in noisy situations, like
conferences, restaurants, malls, or crowded
meeting rooms.
♪ have trouble hearing children and women.
♪ have your TV or radio turned up to a high
volume.
♪ answer or respond inappropriately in
conversations.
♪ read lips or more intently watch people's faces
when they speak with you.

16. You might have hearing loss if you . . .
Emotionally:
♪ feel stressed out from straining to
hear what others are saying.
♪ feel annoyed at other people
because you can't hear or
understand them.
♪ feel embarrassed to meet new
people or from misunderstanding
what others are saying.
♪ feel nervous about trying to hear
and understand.
♪ withdraw from social situations that
you once enjoyed because of
difficulty hearing

17. You might have hearing loss if you . . .
Medically:
♪ have a family history of hearing
loss.
♪ take medications that can harm
the hearing system (ototoxic
drugs).
♪ have diabetes, heart, circulation
or thyroid problems.
♪ have been exposed to very loud
sounds over a long period or
single exposure to explosive noise

18. THE HEARING TEST

19. Raise your Hand when you hear the beep

20. DEGREE of hearing loss
♪ Degree of hearing loss refers to the severity of the loss.
♪ Hearing loss range (dB HL)
♪ Normal -10 to 15
♪ Slight 16 to 25
♪ Mild 26 to 40
♪ Moderate 41 to 55
♪ Moderately severe 56 to 70
♪ Severe 71 to 90
♪ Profound 91+
Source: Clark, J. G. (1981). Uses and abuses of hearing loss classification. Asha, 23, 493–500.

21. CONFIGURATION of hearing loss
♪ The shape of the hearing
loss
♪ Amount of hearing loss at
each frequency and the
overall picture of hearing
that is created
♪ High-frequency loss
♪ Low frequency
♪ Flat
♪ Cookie Bite
♪ Reverse slope

22. Other descriptors associated
with hearing loss
♪ Bilateral versus unilateral
♪ Symmetrical versus asymmetrical
♪ Progressive versus sudden hearing loss
♪ Fluctuating versus stable hearing loss

23. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO
PROTECT YOUR HEARING

24. ♪ Limit exposure time to noisy activities.
♪ Wear hearing protection, such as foam or silicone
plugs or muffs
♪ At home, turn down the volume on the television,
radio, stereos and walkmans.
♪ Buy quieter products (compare dB ratings – the
smaller the better).
♪ Reduce the number of noisy appliances running
at the same time in your personal environment.
♪ Avoid or limit medications that can be dangerous
to your hearing. Be sure to ask your physician
about possible effects on your hearing.
♪ Eat healthy and exercise
♪ Get regular check-ups

25. Get your hearing tested
regularly to monitor your
hearing ability

26. HEARING LOSS TREATMENT

27. Hearing loss treatment improves
♪ Earning power
♪ Communication in relationships
♪ Intimacy and warmth in family
relationships
♪ Ease in communication
♪ Emotional stability
♪ Sense of control over life events
♪ Perception of mental
functioning
♪ Physical health
♪ Group social participation

28. Hearing loss treatment reduces
♪ Discrimination toward the
person with the hearing loss
♪ Hearing loss compensation
behaviors (i.e. pretending you
hear)
♪ Anger and frustration in
relationships
♪ Depression and depressive
symptoms
♪ Feelings of paranoia
♪ Anxiety
♪ Social phobias
♪ Self-criticism

29. TREATMENT INCLUDES
♪ Hearing Aids
♪ Assistive Listening Devices
♪ Aural Rehabilitation
♪ Counseling

30. QUESTIONS?????

31. THANK YOU
Harriet B. Jacobster, Au.D.
Board Certified in Audiology
Lyric Audiology
Bringing Words and Music to Your Ears
Ph: (914) 621-2074
E-mail: hearingarts@aol.com