Hearing Loss can affect anyone at any age, from our newborn babies to our elderly family members. If you suspect you have hearing loss, it is important to immediately seek the advice of a qualified hearing health care professional.

What is hearing loss?

•Simply, a decreased ability to hear well.

What are the symptoms?

•Difficulty understanding conversation

•Having to turn up the TV or radio

•Asking others to repeat what was said

•A feeling of being able to hear, but it was not clear

•Avoiding social situations as speech around you sounds muffled

•Tinnitus/or ringing or buzzing sounds in the ear

Types of hearing loss?

•Sensorineural hearing loss

Conductive hearing loss

Mixed hearing loss.

Contact your local hearing specialist for more information.

Causes of hearing loss?

•Aging and genetic factors

•Certain medications, sometimes called “ototoxic” drugs

•Ear infections, too much wax, trauma or injury to the head

•Prolonged exposure to excessively loud noise

•Certain illnesses, such as Mumps, Meniere’s, Otosclerosis or Autoimmune disease

•A tumour on the acoustic nerve or acoustic neuroma

Tests for hearing loss?

• Most hearing tests involve a sound-treated room or booth and headphones and a visual exam of your ear canals and eardrum, using a lighted instrument called an otoscope. Your result should be graphed or tabulated and is termed an audiogram.

Hearing loss treatment?

• Some types of hearing loss, especially conductive types, can be medically or surgically corrected, but others cannot. The most common treatment for sensorineural hearing loss is properly fitted hearing aids by a hearing health care professional. Digital hearing aids are available in a range of styles, colours, sizes and technology levels.

Prevention of hearing loss?  

The good news is that some types of hearing loss are preventable. With just a few small changes in habit and increased awareness, the effort to preserve your hearing can have a big payoff in the future.

•Avoid damaging noises – reduce the volume in your headphones and ear buds; avoid positioning yourself in front of loud speakers at events whether at choir practice, instrument practice, carnival  or club functions or simply travelling in our public transport, known for excessive levels of music.

How to safely clean your ears?

• Use a warm soapy wash cloth as you shower to clean your ear.

DO NOT use a cotton swab, hairpin or any sharp instrument to attempt to remove wax yourself. Doing this can push the wax deeper into the ear canal & you could even puncture your eardrum.

DO NOT try ear candling. Besides having no proven benefits, ear candling can cause burns, wax blockage, punctured eardrums and serious injury.

(Contributed by Shannon Durrant-Samuel, Certified Audiometrist, CARIBBEAN MEDICAL IMAGING CENTER; 457 0317/533 0541)