Aging and its Impact on Hearing
If you are suffering from hearing loss, don’t dismiss it as “part of getting older”. Even mild hearing loss left untreated can result in auditory deprivation – meaning your brain doesn’t receive all of the sounds required for proper function.
Your hearing may deteriorate due to changes that take place within your ears, including changes within the inner ear and nerves that send signals between it and the brain. These changes could be the result of wear-and-tear wear or heredity or long-term exposure to loud noises; long-term medical conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes could also impede its functionality and affect hearing.
Your hearing may become harder to understand or you might hear high-frequency sounds like consonants that you used to. Also, you might experience persistent ringing, buzzing, hissing or other noises in one or both ears (tinnitus).
Your ability to understand what others are saying may be compromised, with words often repeated over and over. Your sense of balance may also be impaired, increasing the chance that you fall and injure yourself. Therefore it’s essential that family and friends understand you’re having difficulty hearing so they can help by speaking more clearly or moving closer when speaking. In addition, TV should be turned down or off when engaging in conversation; background music may make hearing voices easier for both of you.