Statistics
- About 20 percent of Americans, 48 million, report some degree of hearing loss.
- At age 65, one out of three people has a hearing loss.
- 60 percent of the people with hearing loss are either in the workforce or in educational settings.
- While people in the workplace with the mildest hearing loss show little or no drop in income compared to their normal hearing peers, as the hearing loss increases, so does the reduction in compensation.
- About 2-3 of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable hearing loss in one or both ears.
- Almost 15% of school-age children (ages 6-19) have some degree of hearing loss.
Things to Know about Hearing Loss
- Hearing loss is a major public health issue that is the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease.
- Gradual hearing loss can affect people of all ages -- varying from mild to profound. Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. Depending on the cause, it can be mild or severe, temporary or permanent.
- Degrees of hearing loss: mild, moderate, severe, profound.
- Congenital hearing loss means you are born without hearing, while gradual hearing loss happens over time.
- Hearing loss is an invisible condition; we cannot see hearing loss, only its effects. Because the presence of hearing loss is not visible, these effects may be attributed to aloofness, confusion, or personality changes.
- In adults, the most common causes of hearing loss are noise and aging. There is a strong relationship between age and reported hearing loss.
- In age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, changes in the inner ear that happen as you get older cause a slow but steady hearing loss. The loss may be mild or severe, and it is always permanent.
- In older people, hearing loss is often confused with or complicates, such conditions as dementia.
- Noise-induced hearing loss may happen slowly over time or suddenly. Being exposed to everyday noises, such as listening to very loud music, being in a noisy work environment, or using a lawn mower, can lead to hearing loss over many years.
- Sudden, noise-induced hearing loss from gunfire and explosions is the number one disability caused by combat in current wars.
- More often than not severe tinnitus (or ringing in the ears) will accompany the hearing loss and may be just as debilitating as the hearing loss itself.
- Other causes of hearing loss include earwax buildup, an object in the ear, injury to the ear or head, ear infection, a ruptured eardrum, and other conditions that affect the middle or inner ear.
What is a Hearing Loop?
A hearing loop is a wire that circles a room and is connected to a sound system. The loop transmits the sound electromagnetically. The electromagnetic signal is then picked up by the telecoil in the hearing aid or cochlear implant.
To use a hearing loop, you flip on the t-switch on the hearing aid or cochlear implant to activate the telecoil. Usually, no additional receiver or equipment is needed. Using a telecoil and hearing loop together is seamless, cost-effective, and unobtrusive, and you don't have to seek additional equipment. Hearing loops are also called audio-induction loops or loops. If your hearing aid doesn't have a telecoil, you will need a headset plugged into a loop receiver to achieve the same effect.
What is a Telecoil?
A telecoil in a hearing aid functions as a wireless antenna that links to the sound system and delivers customized sound to the listener. A telecoil is a small copper coil that is an option in most hearing aids and is built into cochlear implant processors. Telecoils also known as t-coils were originally used to boost the magnetic signals from the telephone handset. The telecoil is activated by a t-switch. All landlines and some cell phones are designed by law to be used with a telecoil.
The telecoil can make a noticeable difference in your life when combined with hearing-assistive technology such as the hearing loop. This pairing of technology bridges the space between you and the sound source. The hearing loop connects the listener directly to the sound source while most of the background noise is eliminated.
If you are buying a hearing aid for the first time, be sure to ask that a telecoil be included. With a telecoil, you can expand the functionality of your hearing aid or cochlear implant.
