What to Ask Your HIS About Presbycusis

Presbycusis is the clinical term for age-related hearing loss. This is the slow, progressive loss of hearing, usually affecting both ears, and roughly 30% of all adults of the age 65 and above. Here are some of the questions you might have for your hearing instrument specialist about this condition.

What are the symptoms of presbycusis?

Because age-related hearing loss comes on gradually, it can be hard to notice some of the symptoms initially. However, you should keep a lookout for the following:

• Others’ speech started sounding muffled or slurred
• You don’t hear high-pitched sounds as easily
• Women’s and children’s voices become harder to understand
• Other people comment on excessive volume from your TV/radio, but it doesn’t sound overly loud to you
• Tinnitus (ringing sounds in one or both ears)

What causes presbycusis?

There are several potential causes of age-related hearing loss, usually due to changes in the inner ear, middle ear, or nerve pathways connecting the ears to the brain. Some of the most common causes include:

• The degeneration of the hair cells in the ear that pick up sounds
• Exposure to loud noises
• Genetics
• Chronic health conditions like heart disease or diabetes
• Use of certain medications, like aspirin, antibiotics, and chemotherapy medications

Can presbycusis be prevented?

There is no guaranteed method to prevent presbycusis. Some people experience several of the risk factors through no control of their own. However, you can reduce your chance of experiencing age-related memory loss by protecting your hearing, avoiding loud environments and wearing hearing protection if you are going to be exposed to loud noises.

How does presbycusis affect your life?

Your quality of life can be affected by age-related hearing loss. The most profound impacts tend to come when hearing loss isn’t being diagnosed or treated in any way. This can include making it harder to socialize or talk to people because you don’t understand them.

It can cause stress and anxiety, which can affect how you treat people and cause you to react in emotional ways to matters that usually wouldn’t bother you. People who have untreated hearing loss are also at a greater risk of self-isolation and loneliness.

Can a hearing instrument specialist help with presbycusis?

The first thing that a hearing instrument specialist can do is diagnose any hearing loss you might have with a hearing test. This way, you can get to the bottom of your concerns and find out, for sure, if you have hearing loss. If you do, then they can help you treat it and improve your quality of life, such as by helping you select the hearing aids that are best suited to your needs and lifestyle.

If you have any concerns about your hearing at all, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your hearing instrument specialist. They will be able to answer your questions, arrange for a hearing test and, if necessary, help you treat your age-related hearing loss.