It is not only older people who suffer from hearing loss, but hearing loss is a risk that lurks at any age. However, there are treatments ranging from hearing aids, hearing implants to reconstructive surgery, with excellent results.
Hearing loss is the name Otorhinolaryngology uses to refer to hearing loss. It can be mild, moderate, severe or profound and can appear at any age.
When hearing loss occurs in childhood, its repercussions are very important, because it hinders language learning. It is very common in the elderly, affecting 30% of people over 65, 50% of people over 75 and up to 80% of people over 80. At this age it can cause the patient to have a tendency to isolation, depression and cognitive impairment is greater in this group.
How do I know if I have hearing loss?
The diagnosis, in addition to an otoscopic examination, requires the performance of an audiometry. This is a test performed by an audiologist measuring the patient’s responses to different sounds.
In other cases, more sophisticated means are necessary to reach an adequate diagnosis, such as otoacoustic emissions or auditory potentials, which are more common in the pediatric age group. The correct diagnosis is essential to provide the best and most individualized treatment possible, in order to achieve a good result.
Each hearing problem, a personalized solution
Currently there are hearing implants for patients with different types of hearing loss, from moderate to profound, in order to restore hearing. The implants fully integrated in the patient are not visible, they are completely under the skin and the patient can do all kinds of activities, even swimming, with these implants.
When to resort to surgery?
There are cases that are solved with surgery and in these cases the results are excellent. These surgeries can be performed under local anesthesia and without the need for hospitalization. In other cases, surgery is used for the placement inside the patient of the implants mentioned above.