How bad is your hearing?

Before we go into the degrees of hearing loss, let’s first discuss how it is you perceive sound and the different types of hearing loss.

Sound waves are received by mechanisms present in the external, middle and inner ear structures.

These areas are controlled by a part of the brain known as the auditory cortex.

It is essential that both of them work in tandem with each other in order to perceive sound.

If any of these structures are damaged the end result is hearing loss.

Causes of deafness are typically broken down into two categories.

Conductive and Sensori-neural

Occasionally there is a mixed pathology present both in the conductive areas of the ear or the perception areas of the brain.

Sound is measured by its intensity which is represented by the unit – decibel (db).

Deafness is classified by the minimum amount of sound that is required for the perception of sound.

Following is a categorization of deafness as it relates to the degrees of hearing loss.

• Normal Hearing (-10 to 15 db): for all practical purposes, this is the normal level of hearing. A person can hear sound that is so low in intensity.
• Slight deafness (16 to 25 db): person can hear almost all sound except whispers produced at a distance of 5 meters.
• Mild deafness (26 to 40 db): person cannot hear normal conversations and words spoken in a soft voice. The person may have a difficult time in noisier environments.
• Moderate deafness (41 to 55db): person has problems with perception of normal conversational sounds. It is more prominent at a noisy environment. Often times the person will increase the volume of television and music player in order to hear it.
• Moderately severe (56 to 70db): perception of speech is considerably reduced. The person cannot hear normal conversation. The pitch has to be loud enough to be understood. There is great difficulty in group discussion.
• Severe (71 to 90 db): patient cannot understand any speech during normal conversation. Only speech produced in louder pitches will be audible.
• Profound deafness (91+ db): this is a complete loss of hearing. Sounds produced even with an amplifier are also inaudible.

The degrees of hearing loss play a key role for an otolaryngologist (ENT specialist) in determining the proper treatment.