October 2, 2017
Have you ever had a misunderstanding when communicating with someone else? Everyone has; misunderstandings in communication are a common occurrence. You may misunderstand what someone else is saying for a variety of reasons, from background noise to just not paying attention.
People with high-frequency hearing loss, however, have greater difficulty hearing or understanding anything within the 2,000 to 8,000 Hertz range. Female voices often fall in this range, so sometimes it becomes more difficult for people with high-frequency hearing loss to understand female communication. They may also have trouble hearing high-pitched noises like beeping machinery or birds singing.
High-frequency hearing loss is the result of damage of the sensory hearing cells in the inner ear or cochlea. Tiny hair cells in the cochlea serve to render sound from the outside world into electrical impulses that our brains can then recognize as understandable sounds. When a person suffers from hearing loss, they typically have trouble with higher frequencies before lower frequencies.
What Causes High-Frequency Hearing Loss?
Many things can cause high-frequency hearing loss, and people of all ages can be affected. When children suffer from high-frequency hearing loss, it can disturb learning by hindering communication and speech development, and hamper learning in school.
Is high-frequency hearing loss curable?
High-frequency hearing loss is permanent, but it is often preventable. It is critical to protect your ears when there is exposure to dangerous levels of noise—especially if it is louder than 85 decibels. Live concerts, working around machinery, riding loud motorcycles or snowmobiles, or going to the shooting range can expose you to noise louder than 85 decibels.. Even listening to music too loud can eventually result in high frequency hearing loss! Noise-cancelling headphones as well as ear plugs can be helpful in mitigating this noise and damage to your hearing.
What are my treatment options?
Though high-frequency hearing loss is not reversible, it can be corrected in many cases with hearing aids. If you think you may have some level of hearing loss, schedule a hearing screening with an audiologist right away to prevent further damage.
Here at California Hearing Center we are committed to your hearing health. Call us today to set up an appointment for a hearing screening