Severe Hearing Loss Vs Moderate Hearing Loss
Over 35 million Americans suffer from hearing loss, and because each of those 35 million hear differently, the loss of affects them all differently too.
One attempt to standardize the process by which hearing loss is diagnosed and treated is the implantation of one of several different degrees: one of them which is the most serious one of them all which is termed "severe hearing loss.
" Standardization is always good because it does help us understand the condition of those who are categorized, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Every person is unique in terms of their individual condition and the reasons for it varying from genetics (it may be inherited by a family member) to trauma (a sudden loud bang or perhaps an injury that may have damaged the inner ear).
The best way to look at these terms is to see them as guidelines.
If you look at it as a pure definition that has no flexibility, this will only cause problems in both the long run and in short term.
The degree of hearing loss is generally defined by self-reported ability to hear sounds.
The louder a sound has to be before one can respond to it, the greater the degree the hearing problem is.
Severe hearing loss is experienced by those who are unable to hear sounds below 71 decibels (normal human but are able to hear sounds below 90db.
If one is unable to hear sounds above that upper range, the hearing loss is then categorized as "profound.
" Once the audiologists have the hearing level of the individual categorized, it is then easier to see which form of action should be taken; a prescribed hearing aid, a cochlear implant or in some cases, a stapedectomy.
If these categories where not created, then it would be much harder for audiologists to help their patients improve their hearing and perhaps in some cases, even impossible.
Designating and diagnosing what qualifies as "severe" hearing loss vs.
"moderate" or "profound" hearing loss is less than straightforward.
For one, the range of normal human hearing is so wide that it must be graphed on a logarithmic scale and is still slightly challenging to diagnose because everyone hears differently.
It is best to imagine degrees of hearing loss less as strict prescriptions and more as potentially helpful guidelines for treatment (do not make them absolute because this will cause problems).
If taken as too strict, then it may cause problems: just as every human body varies differs, so does hearing abilities.
This is for the same reason in which we are all somewhat different: genetics, our daily interactions and our surrounding environments.
Severe hearing loss is sometimes converted to a percentage in an attempt to more narrowly define what part of hearing remains.
However, this is usually done in a legal context.
Outside of this particular context, the usefulness of trying to define hearing in strictly mathematical terms is questionable.
Still, even a somewhat amorphous term like "severe hearing loss" can help guide an audiologist and provide a higher quality of life for those who are suffering from any kind of hearing problem.
Someday hopefully, any problems with hearing will be cured with some type of medicine or surgery that can permanently restore a patients hearing capability to its fullest potential.
One attempt to standardize the process by which hearing loss is diagnosed and treated is the implantation of one of several different degrees: one of them which is the most serious one of them all which is termed "severe hearing loss.
" Standardization is always good because it does help us understand the condition of those who are categorized, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Every person is unique in terms of their individual condition and the reasons for it varying from genetics (it may be inherited by a family member) to trauma (a sudden loud bang or perhaps an injury that may have damaged the inner ear).
The best way to look at these terms is to see them as guidelines.
If you look at it as a pure definition that has no flexibility, this will only cause problems in both the long run and in short term.
The degree of hearing loss is generally defined by self-reported ability to hear sounds.
The louder a sound has to be before one can respond to it, the greater the degree the hearing problem is.
Severe hearing loss is experienced by those who are unable to hear sounds below 71 decibels (normal human but are able to hear sounds below 90db.
If one is unable to hear sounds above that upper range, the hearing loss is then categorized as "profound.
" Once the audiologists have the hearing level of the individual categorized, it is then easier to see which form of action should be taken; a prescribed hearing aid, a cochlear implant or in some cases, a stapedectomy.
If these categories where not created, then it would be much harder for audiologists to help their patients improve their hearing and perhaps in some cases, even impossible.
Designating and diagnosing what qualifies as "severe" hearing loss vs.
"moderate" or "profound" hearing loss is less than straightforward.
For one, the range of normal human hearing is so wide that it must be graphed on a logarithmic scale and is still slightly challenging to diagnose because everyone hears differently.
It is best to imagine degrees of hearing loss less as strict prescriptions and more as potentially helpful guidelines for treatment (do not make them absolute because this will cause problems).
If taken as too strict, then it may cause problems: just as every human body varies differs, so does hearing abilities.
This is for the same reason in which we are all somewhat different: genetics, our daily interactions and our surrounding environments.
Severe hearing loss is sometimes converted to a percentage in an attempt to more narrowly define what part of hearing remains.
However, this is usually done in a legal context.
Outside of this particular context, the usefulness of trying to define hearing in strictly mathematical terms is questionable.
Still, even a somewhat amorphous term like "severe hearing loss" can help guide an audiologist and provide a higher quality of life for those who are suffering from any kind of hearing problem.
Someday hopefully, any problems with hearing will be cured with some type of medicine or surgery that can permanently restore a patients hearing capability to its fullest potential.
