Hearing is one of our seven senses. It’s the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations, changes in the pressure of the surrounding medium through time, through an organ such as the ear.
As with sight, auditory processing relies on how the brain interprets, recognises and differentiates sound stimuli. It’s important as it helps us to communicate with the world around us as well as with our loved ones.
The ability to express our thoughts, needs and emotions with the people we love gives us pleasure and connects us. If you have signs of hearing loss it’s best to act early to minimise its effects.
There are four stages of hearing loss:
Mild
The ability to hear speech but it’s not loud or clear enough, soft sounds may be missed and the volume on TV is turned up a little louder than usual.
Moderate
During conversations speech sounds unclear or soft and environmental sounds may be missed, the volume on the TV is quite loud to very loud so much so that it can be heard at the front door.
Sever
Unable hear speech unless it is shouted, unable to hear most environmental sounds and often cannot get the volume on the TV loud enough to understand.
Profound
The ability to only hears loud vibrations mostly from low-frequency sounds. Unable to hear voices, environmental sounds or the TV at all.
If you think you or a loved one may have a hearing loss our advice would be to get a free hearing checked.
