Hearing loss
What it is, how it shows up day-to-day, and what an audiology assessment can answer.
Types
Hearing loss is broadly categorised as conductive (something blocking sound from reaching the inner ear — wax, fluid, ear-drum or middle-ear problems), sensorineural (damage to the cochlea or hearing nerve), or mixed.
Common symptoms
- · Asking people to repeat themselves more often
- · Trouble following conversation in restaurants or meetings
- · Turning the TV up louder than others prefer
- · Ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears (tinnitus)
- · Feeling tired after a day of socialising — listening fatigue
What an assessment can tell you
An audiogram maps the softest sounds you can hear across the speech frequencies. Combined with speech testing and middle-ear measurements, it answers three questions: how much hearing has changed, where the problem sits in the hearing pathway, and what — if anything — to do about it.