High Frequency Hearing Loss is Common Among Older People

Do people in your life talk about sounds you just can’t hear? Do you miss the alarm to wake up or when something is in the oven? Many alarms and alerts operate on higher frequency sound and it is quite common for older adults to have high-frequency hearing loss. The two most common kinds of hearing loss is hearing loss caused by exposure to noise and hearing loss caused by changes to the ear as we age. Both types of loss both seem to produce a loss in the higher frequencies.

What is High-Frequency Hearing Loss?

High-frequency hearing loss means you struggle to hear high-pitched sounds. You may be relieved to miss the sound of a tiny dog which won’t stop barking but there are obvious downsides to high frequency hearing loss. It also means it’s harder to hear your grandchildren speak as children tend to have higher speaking ranges and missing a doorbell or phone call starts to become more common. With high frequency hearing loss also comes the loss of consonants such as “f”,”h” and “s” making following just about any conversation a little tricky.

The Effect of High Frequency Hearing Loss

Do you ever hear someone speak and while you feel you can hear every word, the sounds just don’t make sense? When consonants go missing in words your brain is forced to struggle to constantly fill in the blanks. This makes any conversation more mentally exhausting than before and forces your brain to do a lot more work. As cognitive resources are stretched thin, you have less focus to put towards other things. Multitasking becomes a challenge and cognitive decline is likely to occur. In fact, Studies show that even a mild hearing loss can increase the risk of dementia by 50%. As the degree of hearing loss increases, so does the risk of dementia. A moderate loss triples the risk while a severe case increases the risk five-fold.

Symptoms of High-Frequency Hearing Loss

It’s important to address a potential high frequency hearing loss before it can progress into issues following conversation and contributes to cognitive decline. However, because of it’s subtlety, it’s easy to miss. It’s often those around you who speak about sounds you just can’t hear, which can tip you off.

Common sounds which are easy to miss when you have high frequency hearing loss include: an alarm clock, a doorbell, a telephone ringing, a microwave’s beep, the voices of children or the chirping of birds.

In addition to high pitched sounds, high-frequency hearing loss poses a risk when listening in background noise. It becomes hard to pull out the subtle sounds from competing conversations and ambient sound in crowded and noisy environments.

What Causes High-Frequency Hearing Loss?

Most of us when we are born have exquisite hearing, but due to factors as we age our hearing can decline. This can be due to a slew of causes such as noise exposure, impact to the head, certain medications, and chronic infections. All of these can affect the tiny hair-like cells of the inner ear, called stereocilia. While our outer ear collects sound, it is funneled down our ear canal, through the eardrum to the cochlea, a tiny snail shaped, fluid filled organ which also houses stereocilia. As audio vibrations move the fluid within the cochlea, the stereocilia are stimulated and transform the sound waves into electrical impulses which are sent to the brain for processing. While amazing and delicate, stereocilia are the sole method of sound transfer to the brain, meaning that if they sustain damage, they can leave individuals with lifelong hearing loss.

Treating Hearing Loss

While there is no cure for high-frequency hearing loss, it can be treated effectively using hearing aids or cochlear implants, depending on the severity of the impairment. Hearing aids can be digitally programed to only amplify the high frequency sounds you struggle with. Usually worn near or in the ear canal, hearing aids are a great option for living your life with hearing aids. They make it easier to connect to the people in your life and be more aware of the world around you. These amazing devices can boost high-frequency sounds, reduce background noise, and enhance speech in almost any setting.

If you suspect you have high-frequency hearing loss, it’s a good idea to schedule a hearing exam today and deal with it before it becomes a more serious condition.