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Die verskil tussen werklike en voorkombare doofheid
One reader asks: “My husband says I mumble. That’s why he can’t hear what I’m saying. I think he may be starting to go deaf – or just doesn’t want to hear. How does one know if they are starting to go deaf?”
You are not really deaf, but you are missing some things here and there. How do you know it’s time to do something about it? We ask Yolandé van der Westhuizen, an audiologist from Centurion and spokesperson for the SA Audiology Association.
“Exactly when you notice people saying they’ve said things you didn’t hear. It can be much earlier than you expect. You can expect some hearing loss from as early as 35.”
1. Why should one get a hearing aid early now?
“Usually, people have waited until they are really struggling. But the latest recommendation is the earlier you start, the better you’ll hear in ten, twenty years.”
2. How does it work?
“Hearing happens in two steps: first, sounds (which are actually frequencies) stimulate your auditory nerve, which transmits it as impulses to the brain. The second phase is the most important: your brain interprets the impulse and makes sense of it. You hear because your brain ‘understands’ the impulses as sounds, words, and sentences.
“As you get older, it’s normal for parts of your auditory organs to decline slightly. Thus, certain sound frequencies can no longer be transmitted to your brain. This causes normal age-related hearing loss.
“But now comes the additional hearing loss: your brain loses its ability to hear. Because your auditory organs are no longer sending certain sound frequencies very weakly or not at all to your brain, the part of the brain that should interpret these sounds is also not being stimulated much.
“We know the brain is ‘plastic’. In other words, stimulation keeps it active, while a lack of it causes it to weaken.
“Therefore, your brain gradually loses the ability to interpret these sounds over time – leading to secondary deafness. We call the hearing you lose in this way preventable hearing loss.
“This reader’s husband’s hearing is very typical of partial hearing loss. I suspect his auditory organs can no longer register the higher frequencies – where female voices usually lie – while other sound frequencies are still being transmitted well to the brain. So, he really only hears those parts of her words said at pitches within his audible frequencies, while the rest is lost to him. Thus, it truly sounds to him as if she is mumbling.
“If he does nothing, the part of the auditory nerve that should transmit higher frequencies, plus the part of the brain that should interpret it, will gradually weaken. But if he starts using a hearing aid now, it will amplify the pitches he’s struggling with, helping the auditory nerve to transmit these frequencies to the brain, which remains stimulated and continues to interpret sounds.”
“Starting to use a hearing aid earlier rather than later minimizes additional hearing loss and maintains your better hearing for a longer time.”
3. How often should you test?
- Test your hearing immediately if you suddenly hear weaker. Work through the questionnaire below, and test if you even answer just one “yes”.
- Definitely test your hearing if you are hearing worse this year than last year to limit additional hearing loss at least.
- And test regularly if you have any kind of hearing problems. Guidelines vary for the rest of us. The USA recommends that you go once every decade, and from fifty every three years. Go more often if the following applies to you:
- There is deafness in your family.
- You work in a noisy place, like a factory or shops where music plays loudly all day.
- You are HIV positive.
- You have diabetes, high blood pressure, or an autoimmune disease.
- You are on chemotherapy.
- You use certain long-term medications such as neomycin, gentamicin, and streptomycin, quinine, and NSAIDs like naproxen and ibuprofen, all of which are linked to hearing loss.
4. Is a hearing aid the only solution?
“Not necessarily. An audiologist looks at why you hear worse. For some people, earwax is the problem. The solution is as easy as regularly cleaning the ear. Sometimes we see people whose hammer and anvil have grown together. A small operation can easily fix this.”
5. Can people simply speak louder?
No, they will only remember it for a few minutes. Rather, look at how nice and small the new gadgets look and how well they work. Where old hearing aids amplified all sounds, the new ones can be set to only amplify the specific sounds you hear weakly. It can even cut out wind and background noise and make sudden loud sounds easier.
Yolandé says people often complain that hearing aids make sounds too loud. But, she says, you were actually accustomed to deafness. Therefore, normal sound levels feel too loud at the beginning.
“Others complain that sounds echo, as if you are in a tunnel. We can fix or at least improve everything – as long as you come for your follow-up appointment. Your feedback on how it works for you is like clues for us to adjust your device optimally according to your needs.
“Just like glasses, a hearing aid is an adjustment. Give yourself at least a month to get used to it.”
Is it time for a hearing test?
Test yourself, and take action if you answer just one “yes”.
- Can you hear your family and friends if you don’t look at them? What about the pastor and TV presenters?
- When you sit in front of the TV, do you immediately look for the remote control … so you can turn the sound up slightly?
- Is your radio and TV permanently set at or near its maximum volume? Do people complain that your TV is too loud?
- Do you complain about poor phone and cellphone reception? Can you barely hear what other people say?
- Do some people, especially broadcasters, mumble very annoyingly?
- Do people claim you don’t answer the phone/doorbell, while you’re sure it never rang?
- Do people comment that you speak quite loudly?
- Do you hate going out to eat because it’s so noisy that you miss parts of the table conversation?
