Deaf Facts
Knowing the facts about deafness is essential to improving your quality of life. Here are four simple facts about deafness.
30 Million. That is the estimated number of Americans who suffer from significant loss of hearing. And contrary to popular belief, it is not only prevalent in senior citizens, but in children as well. Highly industrialized cities also resulted to noise pollution that also made young adults and middle-age people to be susceptible to hear loss. The fact that a large part of the population has a hearing problem makes it even more important that deaf facts be established and myths busted. After all, part of solving a problem is making sure that you get relevant information right.
Deaf fact #1
One of the more not-so-widely-known deaf facts is that most people who are hard of hearing aren't always aware that they have a hearing problem. Physicians rarely ever conduct audiograms, especially for younger people. Loss of hearing is also often gradual so it can't be easily noticed. As a result, people who resort to lip-reading (and caption-reading when watching TV shows and movies) are usually not aware of the problem.
Deaf fact #2
In deafness, the loss of hearing can be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. This means that the fact that you can still hear something is no assurance that you are totally of good hearing. In mild hearing loss, loss of sound is without 25 to 50% and 50 to 75% for people with moderate hearing loss. People with severe loss of hearing may not be able to hear well, even in quite environments, while people with profound hearing loss may not be able to hear anything at all. Different treatment options and recommended hearing aids vary according to the degree of hearing loss.
Deaf fact #3
A common misconception is about hearing aids being able to cure deafness. Hearing aids do not cure deafness; it helps people hear well by amplifying sounds. However, it does not take care of the root causes, such as damaged nerves or ruptured ear drums. It does a terrific job in retaining the functionality of the ear though.
Deaf fact #4
Yet another common misconception is that hearing aids do not block background noise. This may be true to analog hearing instruments but digital hearing aids are programmed to filter background noise and process speech sounds. There are also hearing aids geared specifically for listening to music.
Being realistic is vital, especially if the issue at hand is a medical condition. Looking up deaf facts is one way to keep your perspective as realistic as possible. That is the only way to help you acknowledge the existence of a hearing problem and eventually alleviate it.
