Hearing loss affects about 10% of the population and possibly as many as 50% of people aged over 65 years. For most people it is a very slow process that creeps up on them. At first they think that other people mumble, that children speak too quickly, and that television is not clear, or that background noise in social group situations drowns out the words. Gradually people realise that it is not others who are not speaking properly but their own hearing that is at fault.
FACTS ABOUT HEARING LOSS
Hearing loss is related to your age, generally the older you get, the more of a hearing loss you have. It can go unnoticed because it is such a gradual process.
Over 465,000 New Zealanders have a hearing problem of some kind. Only 10% do something about it.
You can sustain any further hearing loss if preventative measures are in place at the time the hearing damage was detected.
FACTS ABOUT HEARING LOSS
Hearing loss is related to your age, generally the older you get, the more of a hearing loss you have. It can go unnoticed because it is such a gradual process.
Over 465,000 New Zealanders have a hearing problem of some kind. Only 10% do something about it.
You can sustain any further hearing loss if preventative measures are in place at the time the hearing damage was detected.
HOW THE EAR WORKS
The ear has three main parts: the outer, middle, and inner ear. The outer ear (the part you can see) opens into the ear canal. The eardrum separates the ear canal from the middle ear. Small bones in the middle ear help transfer sound to the inner ear. The inner ear contains the auditory (hearing) nerve, which leads to the brain.
Any source of sound sends vibrations or sound waves into the air. These funnel through the ear opening, down the ear canal, and strike your eardrum, causing it to vibrate. The vibrations are passed to the small bones of the middle ear, which transmit them to the hearing nerve in the inner ear. Here tiny nerve endings in the cochlea, called hair cells, transform the vibrations into electro-chemical impulses. These impulses travel directly to the brain, which interprets the impulses as sound (music, voice, a car horn, etc…).