It is thought that around one in seven American citizens experience hearing loss. This is incredibly common so if you are worried then know you are not alone. Unlike pictures and light, we aren’t programmed to be able to see sound, we can only hear it. If you are experiencing hearing loss then you may think it is other people who are murmuring or talking quietly. This is why you find yourself asking them to speak up or turning your tv up to a louder volume. 

What Are Sound Waves?

Have you ever held your hand up against a speaker when music has been blaring out of it? Did you feel the vibration? These are the sound waves that you can feel, they are created by a major transfer of energy. Take a cup dropping on the floor for instance. When the cup comes into contact with the floor, the energy changes and transfers from the cup to the floor creating the bang or crash that you will more than likely hear. If the cup breaks or shatters then another transfer of energy will happen and the sound will be completely different as the cup comes apart. 

The energy and the vibrations travel through the air and create sound waves that reach your ear. Sound waves are amazing as they can travel through surfaces, provided they are thin enough or the sound wave is powerful enough. This is why you can occasionally hear what is happening outside your door, for example, if someone knocks or someone is talking. 

You Can’t See Sound

Did you know that 90% of the information that goes into your brain is visual? Human beings are visual creatures, as explained above it is because we can see light. If we can see it then we can understand it better, it makes things a lot easier to deal with. Let’s use an example of someone losing their sight. You use your eyes every day, the same as your ears, if you are losing your sight, you will be able to notice this rather quickly. If you are experiencing hearing loss then this is slightly different, you can’t see your hearing diminishing as you can with sight. 

In Your Ears

Believe it or not, sound isn’t produced until it enters your ear. Sound travels slower than light so it takes longer to enter your ear than light takes to enter your eye. Let’s take a look at fireworks for example to understand how these phenomena work. When a firework is let off, you see the light of the firework before you hear the bang. This is because of the light hitting your eyes before the sound waves have reached your ears. Put it this way, in a race between light and sound, the light will always win. 

Have you ever really thought about why your ears are shaped the way they are? It is all to do with sound and how you hear it and process it. Sound waves hit your outer ear first where it bounces off and resonates with your inner ear. Before they reach your inner ear it hits your eardrum which vibrates to ensure the sound reaches your middle ear. Here is where the sound is amplified so you can hear it before it finally reaches your inner ear. 

Hearing Loss

If you are experiencing hearing loss then there may be a problem with your inner ear not hearing sound properly. Hearing loss can be incredibly frustrating and you may not realize until further down the line that it was in fact an issue with your ears, not other people. It can make you feel isolated and distant from the outside world. The sooner you see a specialist audiologist the better your quality of life will become. 

Hearing loss can occur at any time but is more prevalent when you are over the age of 60. If hearing loss occurs before the age of 50 then it may be caused by the tiny hair cells known as stereocilia becoming damaged. If you work in a loud industry or attend a lot of music gigs then these can quickly get damaged. 

Hearing loss can be sorted through the use of hearing aids, there are plenty to choose from and the team at Gavin Audiology and Hearing Aids will be able to help reassure you. You don’t have to deal with hearing loss on your own. Give the team a call at (914) 610-3440 for more help and guidance regarding your hearing loss.