Page 4 - Hear.com e-magazine

How’s your hearing?

The data from your analysis shows a slight to moderate hearing loss. This means that certain
sounds might be increasingly difficult for you to hear. For instance, you may have trouble
following conversations in noisy environments or even hearing the phone ring.

-10
soft 0
10 normal
hearing
20
30 f th
w m d b h k s hearing loss
mild
40
Hearing Level (dB) 50 n g l u o i a p r sh hearing loss
e
ch
moderate
60
70
80
severe
hearing loss
90
100
profound
110 hearing loss
loud 120
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
low pitch Frequency (Hz) high pitch

In many cases, hearing loss happens You are not alone with this: According to
over time, and it typically begins in a recent survey, one out of three people
the high-frequency range (see orange will experience some degree of hearing
rectangle) – human speech is a part of loss in their lifetime – and not just when
The voices of women and children this range. The “speech banana” (see they are older. However, only 20 percent
will actually seek treatment. Most people
graphic) shows the frequencies of spoken
fall in the high-frequency hearing language, vowels, and consonants. tend to ignore the first signs of hearing loss.

range. These voices become With your hearing loss, high-frequency They mistakenly assume that it’s not a big
deal and go on with their lives, expecting
consonants and hissing sounds like s,
more difficult to understand with f, z, and sch may be hard to hear. their hearing loss to get better with time.

high-frequency hearing loss.

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