Free Article: High-Frequency Hearing Loss

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High-Frequency Hearing Loss: May Not Be Able To Hear Consonants Well
By M. A. Fulmar

Depending on what part of the auditory system becomes damaged, doctors can categorize hearing loss into three distinct categories which include conductive hearing loss, sensor neural hearing loss and mixed hearing loss. Furthermore, hearing loss may be of different degrees of severity of which there are five categories that include normal, mild loss, moderate, severe as well as profound hearing loss. And, hearing loss that only affects high frequencies is known as high-frequency hearing loss in which hearing is good at low frequencies, but poor at higher frequencies. Frequency can be measured in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz) and high frequency sounds means the pitch of the sound is high, and with proper hearing one can distinguish sounds in the 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz range of frequencies. Most often, high-frequency hearing loss occurs first, and this causes people to be unable to hear the high pitched voices of women and children.

When a person loses high frequency hearing he or she ends up with distortion in sound which makes speech difficult to understand, even though it can be heard. High-frequency hearing loss may, in many instances, cause a person to lose the ability to hear consonants such as s, f, t etc. Also, having difficulty in hearing when in a crowd can be indicative of having high-frequency hearing loss.

Hearing Aids Can Help

There are many people that have hearing loss with hearing thresholds at higher frequencies that precludes the perception of sounds and for them; it is not possible to hear at such high frequencies. Use of a hearing aid which will process as well as deliver high frequency speech sounds to lower frequencies is one possible solution. Such methods have been used widely, and date back thirty years with attempts having been made to convert high frequency sounds to surrogate lower frequencies.

High-frequency hearing loss is a sensorineural hearing deficit, and it may be caused by chronic exposure to excessive levels of sound, and may include sounds from firearms as well as sirens that cause an asymmetric loss. It is believed that high-frequency hearing loss may account for as many as one third of a cohort of college students in the USA.

Any person that cannot hear well in crowds will definitely be having high-frequency hearing loss, but will still be able to hear well in a one-to-one situation as well as in small groups. It is the distracting noises of the crowd that causes persons with high-frequency hearing loss to only be able to hear the louder noises, and miss out on the speech.

Author Details:
M. A. Fulmar writes articles for various web sites in which he discusses health matters, such as hearing loss, and the various treatments and remedies available.

Article Source: Health Article Source

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