How can hearing loss due to age be supported?

Answer 1

Half of all people over 50 or 60 will suffer some form of hearing loss.

There are many organisations which will help the aged through hearing loss.

First of all it's a good idea to see your doctor.

The doctor will take a look inside the patients ears to make sure there are no blockages preventing sound entering properly.

If a blockage is found, the doctor will prescribe or recommend a dosage of ear drops to dissolve the blockage.

If a blockage is not the case, the doctor should refer you to an audiologist, where a simple, painless hearing test will be performed.

Mostly these tests consist of sitting in an air-tight room with headphones. Random sounds will be sent through the headphones at various volumes by a computer, the patient has to press a button every time they hear a sound. This is a basic test to assess the level of hearing loss to determine what kind of treatment the patient needs.

Sometimes an x-ray of the ear bones may be necessary to determine if either of the three fragile bones (Incus, Malleus and Stapes bones) are damaged. A simple head injury can damage any of these three fragile bones in our ears.

Damaged ear bones are also the main cause of military veterans losing their hearing from undetected damage that may have occurred during military service.

The audiologist will examine the results of the test and, if necessary, the x-rays, which will help determine the best course of action.

Most of the time, the patient is given a hearing aid for one or both of the ears. A hearing aid works by a very tiny, complex computer which captures vibrations in the air, converts them into sound and sends the sound into the ear passage. Basically replacing the functions of the ear to provide a normal-level of hearing again.

There are many types of hearing aids available. The most common are the types which "hook" over the ear.

There are also "hidden" varieties which do not hook over the earlobe and there is an implant procedure available.

There are also other equipment available such as specialist phones, vibrating alarm clocks, flashing light attached to doorbells and so on. You can find more information about these in the related links below.

You may have noticed in some places like banks and cinemas, there is a poster of a yellow or blue ear with the letter "T" next to it.

The T stands for "Telecoil System". Basically, it allows hearing aid users to be able to hear the person talking or screen in front of them clearly despite background noise behind them.

In the rare case that the hearing cannot be recovered by using hearing aids, it's not the end of the world. Many deaf people with 100% loss use sign language to communicate.

Many of those also have a specially trained dog which helps them by informing their owners when someone is at the door and when a car is coming down a road. Usually these dogs are smaller breeds such as Spaniels, due to their brilliant hearing, but there are other breeds trained for this purpose, such as Labradors.

Many people with hearing difficulty also develop the ability to read lips and identify sounds by "feeling" a vibration. The fast rate of which deaf people adapt to their surroundings after losing their hearing astonishes and baffles scientists even today.

Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing impaired people are protected by law in many countries. They probably have the most protection in the United Kingdom, under three laws, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and Disability and the Equality Act 2010.

In summary, see a doctor. If you are referred to an audiologist, see them too. A simple 20 minute test will be performed to determine the level of hearing loss and therefore the level of support and equipment needed.

If you are a resident of the United Kingdom, hearing aids and hearing aid maintenance is free of charge on the National Health Service (NHS).

See the related links below for further information.