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Changes to our hearing begin at a relatively early age. In fact, by the time we are in our 20's our ability to hear very high pitched sounds apparent in our early childhood has already begun to diminish.
Most hearing loss occurs gradually throughout our life and is likely to become more pronounced as we get older. However, it can be difficult to notice subtle changes from one day to the next and we may gradually adapt our lifestyles and communication techniques to cope. As a result, we might not readily acknowledge that we have lost aspects of our hearing ability and it is often someone close to us that will approach the subject first.
Hearing loss is most commonly associated with the inner ear. It is here that thousands of microscopic hair cells transform noises into recognisable sounds. They help us to distinguish speech, for example, from unwanted background noise. It is the on-going wear and tear of these delicate hair cells that impairs our ability to differentiate between sounds and reduces our clarity of hearing. |