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Do you have a hearing problem?
• Do I feel people mumble a lot and do not speak clearly?
• Do I have trouble understanding some voices?
• Do I frequently ask people to speak up or repeat themselves?
• Do I find it difficult to follow a conversation in a crowded room?
• Do I turn the TV up louder than others need to?
• Do family and friends comments on my inability to hear?
A 'yes' answer to one or more of these questions may mean that you have a hearing problem and should have a hearing check.
There are a number of different reasons for hearing loss. At Otarion, we can help you deal with these problems and help you live a normal life. If you or anyone you love has a hearing problem, arrange for them to have a hearing test at Otarion. The sooner a hearing problem is detected the sooner a solution can be found.
 How Your Ear Works
The ear is composed of 3 parts: the outer, the middle, and the inner ear. From the Pinna, or outer ear, sound enters the ear canal, which helps protect the ear drum and increases the loudness of certain pitches that are important for understanding speech. Separating the outer ear from the middle ear is the eardrum, and connecting the eardrum to the inner ear are the three tiny bones (ossicles): best known as the hammer (malleus), the anvil (incus), and the stirrup (stapes). The ossicles serve to pass the vibrations from the eardrum to the footplate of the stirrup at the cochiea, or snail, and at the same time amplifying and intensifying the movement. The middle ear also has a connection to the nose and throat via the eustachian tube.
The Causes of Hearing Loss
Conductive Hearing Loss
When sound cannot be transmitted normally through the ear canal and/or middle ear to the cochlea, it is referred to as a conductive hearing loss. Wax build-up and perforated eardrums are 2 typical causes of this. Another could be damaged or defective ossicles. Voices and sounds may seem faint, distorted, or both. Approximately 20 percent of people with hearing loss suffer from this type of loss.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Also known as nerve-type hearing loss, this type of gradually diminished hearing is commonly associated with the aging process. The inner ear is very fragile, so many things can go wrong. Exposure to loud sounds can cause damage, as can disease, viruses, and infections. The inner ear or auditory nerve cannot deliver signals to the brain correctly, due to damage or improper function. This will cause sounds to be distorted. Patients may complain that people seem to mumble, or that they can hear but do not understand. Approximately 80% of adult s with complaints of hearing loss , suffer from this type of loss. Most sensorineural losses can be helped by the fitting of hearing aids.
The Prevalence of Hearing Loss in Cape Breton
• Approximately 40% of the Hearing Impaired are under the age of 65.
• The older one becomes, the greater the incidence of hearing loss.
• Hearing loss is the third leading chronic disability, following arthritis and hypertension.
• 15% of college graduates have a level of hearing loss equal to or greater than their parents.
• 60% of hearing loss is genetic.
• 1 in 31 are a carrier of the deficit gene for hearing loss .
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