Common questions about hearing loss

* What is the difference between being deaf and hearing impaired?

The degree of hearing loss can vary greatly from mild to profound.

People who are born deaf, or children who become deaf before they learn to speak, come to depend much more heavily on their sight than hearing people. Their natural language is sign language.

Hearing-impaired people are more likely to rely on spoken language than deaf people. In most cases they have clearer speech and better access to the hearing world, but still need help.

* How is hearing loss treated?

It can be treated in one of three ways - drugs, an operation, or hearing aids.

Drugs are often prescribed to clear an infection or underlying problems which can lead to hearing loss.

In many cases, operations can fully correct problems in the middle ear. But surgery rarely helps people with sensorineural (inner ear or hearing-nerve damage) hearing loss except providing cochlear implants in those with profound deafness.

For many, hearing aids are the only help available. They should always be fitted by a qualified audiologist.

* What is tinnitus?

It is the sensation of sound, sounds heard in the head, when no physical sound is being made. Although it is often associated with hearing loss, people with normal hearing also experience it.

* What is a cochlear implant?

Normally sound passes through the eardrum and hearing bones into the inner ear, where microscopic hairs convert the sound energy, which is mechanical, into nerve energy, which is electrical. The hearing nerve fibres then carry this information to the brain. People who are profoundly or totally deaf have few or no hair cells.

A cochlear implant bypasses the missing hair cells and electrically stimulates the nerve endings.

* Where do I go to learn sign language?

Call the National Foundation for the Deaf on 0800-867-446, or email enquiries@nfd.org.nz

Further reading
nzherald.co.nz/health