What is Severe to Profound Hearing Loss?

Though hearing loss is the third most common condition in the United States, affecting 48 million Americans, there are many different configurations and degrees of hearing loss.

Most people who experience hearing loss treat it with the use of hearing aids. Approximately 30% of hearing aid wearers experience severe to profound levels of hearing loss.

When it comes to measuring hearing loss, hearing specialists utilize a scale of decibels, outlining the softest sounds we can hear Loss of sounds in different levels of this scale determine your degree of hearing loss.

For example, people with normal hearing are able to hear sounds as soft as 0 to 25 decibels (dB). Meanwhile, people with mild to moderate hearing loss (70% of hearing aid wearers) are able to hear sounds as soft as 25 to 60 dB.

For people with severe hearing loss, they are unable to hear anything below 60 dB, and experience difficulty hearing loud speech. It is possible to hear speech if it is amplified, with severe hearing loss. Profound hearing loss makes it difficult for people to hear and understand, even with amplification. Sounds below 80 dB are not registered by people who experience profound hearing loss.

With severe to profound hearing loss, people experience an added layer of difficulty than those who have milder degrees of hearing loss. Due to the extent of damage to inner ear hair cells, people with severe to profound hearing loss struggle to discern between different pitches in sound. While they may hear sounds, people with severe to profound hearing loss may not necessarily understand what they are hearing.

Treating Severe to Profound Hearing Loss

The degree of hearing loss experienced by a person is determined through a series of hearing evaluations.

Luckily, severe to profound hearing loss is possible to treat, with the use of high-powered hearing aids. Hearing specialists usually prescribe behind-the-ear hearing aids to treat severe to profound hearing loss, as they are more powerful than other styles.

For an extra boost, people with severe to profound hearing loss may use assistive listening devices that connect digitally to their hearing aids, providing more amplification.

Our Best Hearing Aids for Severe to Profound Hearing Loss

Oticon

Oticon offers three powerful hearing aids to treat severe to profound hearing loss: Dynamo, Sensei SP, and BTE Plus Power (available for Alta 2, Nera 2, and Ria 2). All three hearing aids run on the Inium Sense platform, which powers Oticon’s ground-breaking BrainHearing Technology. Oticon has supplied these three hearing aids with new power solutions to provide higher gain and output, improved feedback control, and a more personalized listening experience. These three high-powered Oticon hearing aids are designed to enhance speech intelligibility, as well as reduce feedback which may be common with higher levels of amplification. Additionally, BrainHearing Technology supports the brain’s process in receiving and analyzing sound, giving wearers a more comfortable listening experience.

ReSound

ReSound’s super power hearing solution is the ENZO2, which delivers SmartHearing technology to people with severe to profound hearing loss. As a smart hearing aid, ENZO2 connects wirelessly to your smartphone or personal electronic devices, which allows wearers to stream phone calls, music, and other media directly to their hearing aids. This also gives wearers discreet control over the ENZO2’s sophisticated features with a simple app on their smartphones and devices. With a line of ReSound’s Unite accessories, wearers receive an extra boost of amplified sound streamed directly to their hearing aids. The ENZO2 is designed for active lifestyles, with a nanotech coating to prevent moisture and dust and an extra-long battery life.

Phonak

The Naida V is Phonak’s super power hearing aid for people with severe to profound hearing loss. When coupled with the Phonak Roger wireless microphone, Naida V hearing aid wearers have been scientifically proven to understand more than ever before, no matter how challenging the listening situation. Combined with the DECT phone, Naida V hearing aid wearers are able to transmit landline calls to both hearing aids, improving accessibility. When it comes to high frequency sounds, the SoundRecover 2 feature for Naida V increases audibility for wearers, and when coupled with the Roger microphone, there is improved understanding in noise up to 62%. Naida V is especially focused on providing wearers to intelligibility in noise, group conversation with multiple speakers, and over distances.

Siemens/Signia

Siemens offers the Nitro BTE (behind-the-ear) hearing aid for people with severe to profound hearing loss. With outstanding speech intelligibility and listening enjoyment, Nitro depends on Siemens’ BestSound Technology for its successes. With low battery consumption and wireless connectivity, Nitro increases accessibility for wearers, especially those who are on-the-go. Nitro hearing aids offer a slim discreet design, directional microphones, feedback cancellation, tinnitus therapy, and many other features.

OC Physicians' Hearing Services

Locations in Mission Viejo, Irvine, San Clemente, Laguna Beach and Laguna Hills

Call us to schedule: 949- 364-4361