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Text infographic stating that dementia risk increases up to 5 times with untreated hearing loss.
Text stating that people with hearing loss have a three times higher risk of falling.
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A graphic with a speech bubble stating that hearing loss is the third most common health problem in the US.

Hearing loss means that a person can’t hear or discern sounds as well as most people can. It can happen in one or both ears, and can be mild or more serious. Some people are born with hearing loss, and others get it later in life from things like loud noise, ear infections, or aging. Some hearing loss can be medically cured, such as loss due to wax or middle-ear fluid, while other types of hearing loss can’t be cured, but can be treated with hearing aids, cochlear implants, or other assisted listening devices.

What is hearing loss?

Diagram of the human ear showing outer, middle, and inner ear sections with labeled parts including the pinna, ear canal, tympanic bone, ear drum, malleus, incus, stapes, semicircular canals, vestibular nerve, cochlea, auditory nerve, eustachian tube, and other structures.

When you have a hearing test completed by an audiologist, they will tell you the type and severity of your loss, as well as how well you can discriminate sounds from one another. The type of hearing loss will typically be sensorineural loss or conductive loss. In the rare occasion, a person may have both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss, called mixed hearing loss.

What type of hearing loss do I have?

Sensorineural loss is the most common type of hearing loss and is usually irreversible. It is caused by damage to the inner ear or to the nerve that sends the sound signals to the brain. The damage to these hearing structures is usually due to aging, genetics, or ototoxic medications. Hearing aids for this type of loss typically focus on speech clarity and noise reduction, as sensorineural loss usually affects the ability of the brain to pull important speech signals from competing noise (like in a crowd or restaurant)

Conductive hearing loss is the most common type of loss in children due to their ear anatomy. Conductive hearing loss occurs when something is physically blocking the sound from getting through the outer or middle ear such as wax or middle ear fluid. Conductive hearing loss can also be caused by otosclerosis, a disease similar to arthritis in the middle ear. Otosclerosis is most commonly found in women in their 40s, but can happen to people of all genders and ages. Most conductive losses can be cured by medication or surgery, but some cases may require hearing aids for better sound quality.