Types of Hearing Loss

The types of hearing loss include sensorineural, conductive, and sometimes a combination of these. A hearing test at Vernon Hearing Clinic can detect the type and degree of hearing loss you may have been experiencing. A hearing loss of only 16-25 dB is considered to be minimal and is similar to gently plugging each ear with your fingers. The next level is moderate hearing loss (26-40dB) which can lead to difficulty in hearing the ends of some words, and sometimes not hearing certain shorter words at all. It may be challenging to separate speech from background sounds with this condition, and hearing devices are often recommended for this level of hearing loss. Moderate hearing loss (41-55 dB) can make talking on the phone a challenge and also cause as much as a 50% reduction in the understanding of speech from outside a 5-foot radius. This degree of hearing loss can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from others. If your symptoms are more serious than than these, you could have what is referred to as a severe or even profound degree of hearing loss. Either of these are likely to cause serious quality of life issues. Additionally, some individuals can suffer from high-frequency hearing loss (in the range of 1500Hz-8000Hz). With this condition, while speech and most other sounds will seem loud enough, speech will be unclear. With high-frequency hearing loss, background noises will make the problem worse. The more recent types of listening devices, such as open fit and receiver-in-the-canal, are effective for this condition. These designs allow low-frequency sounds to get into the ear as they normally would, while amplifying and enhancing the higher frequency sounds to improve speech clarity.