HOW TO BEAT... HEARING PROBLEMS

Are you a victim of HIDDEN hearing loss?

DO YOU listen to the radio at maximum volume? Do you find yourself lip- reading rather than actually listening to conversation in busy restaurants? You’re probably suffering from hearing loss. This is fast becoming a silent epidemic in Britain, increasingly affecting not just older people, but the young, too.

Hearing loss affects around 10 million people, but that is set to rise dramatically to 14.5 million by 2031, according to Action on Hearing Loss, formerly the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.

The majority are past retirement age, but more than a third are people of working age and younger.

The growth in hearing problems is largely down to the ageing population, says Louise Hart, senior audiologist at Action on Hearing Loss — because hearing does tend to deteriorate over time.

‘But there are many other things which mean that people of all ages are facing a lifetime with poor hearing,’ she adds.

‘Noise-induced hearing loss is far more common than it was 50 years ago. Modern life includes countless new technologies, such as amplifiers and personal music players, which expose our ears to decibel levels that are damaging our ears permanently.’

Up to 20 per cent of young people have some degree of hearing problems as a consequence of excessive exposure to loud sounds, according to an EU report in 2008 — three times what is was in the early Eighties. This rise reflects the growth in use of personal music players.

And hearing loss has implications beyond not being able to hear properly. Studies show that it affects psychological well-being and is linked to a greater risk of depression and isolation, with younger people the worst affected.

A Dutch survey of people aged up to 70 found that those aged 18 to 29 were most likely to experience loneliness as a result of hearing loss. Those between 60 to 70 were more resilient, reporting virtually no changes in sociabilty.

There are a number of ways our sense of hearing can be damaged.

In normal hearing, sound waves pass down into the ear canal where they cause the ear drum, an elastic circle of skin, to vibrate. These vibrations are passed, in turn, through three small bones in the middle ear called the hammer, anvil and stirrup.

These tiny bones move against each other, passing vibrations on into the inner ear, to the cochlea.

THE COCHLEA, which is like a snail shell, contains around 15,000 tiny sensory hair cells that convert the sound waves into electrical signals and send them along the auditory nerve to the brain, where they are finally perceived as sound about one-sixth of a second later. There are three types of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss occurs when there’s a problem in the transmission of sound waves from the external ear to the middle ear. This can be caused by excess ear wax, glue ear (a build-up of fluid), infection or damage to the ear drum itself.

Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by problems in the cochlea, such as damage to the tiny hairs (linked to ageing, excessive noise or as a side- effect of chemotherapy). It can also occur as a result of damage to the auditory nerve or the brain stem, with a reduction in nerve impulses reaching the brain.

Mixed hearing loss is a combination of the other two.

Hearing loss is usually gradual, but it can happen suddenly as the result of trauma, or an infection such as mumps or meningitis.

Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common and is irreversible. As Louise Hart explains: ‘After birth, all mammals lose the ability to regenerate hair cells, meaning that any damage can lead to a permanent hearing loss.’

But this form is on the rise in younger people, typically caused by exposure to loud noise. The maximum safe level is 80 decibels (dB) — personal music players such as MP3 players can crank up the volume to more than 100 dB. Earphones pipe music straight into the ear canal with no chance for the sound to dissipate, as it would with normal headphones.

But loudness isn’t the only issue. Length of exposure is equally important — listening to sounds at lower decibels for longer periods can be just as damaging. Hearing damage, usually temporary, will always occur if you listen to music above 120 dB for even a few seconds, but listening to music at 95 dB for two hours will also cause damage.

Nightclubs and concerts can measure 20 dB or more above the safe noise level, according to Action on Hearing Loss, meaning more people of all ages are likely to start feeling the effects.

And it isn’t simply about not hearing quiet sounds. ‘Hidden hearing loss’, so- called because it is difficult to diagnose using standard tests, means people can’t hear sounds when there is background noise, such as in a busy office. But they can hear quiet sounds when there’s no background noise, so pass the tests.

Chris Plack, professor of audiology at the University of Manchester, has recently received a £1.2 million grant from the Medical Research Council to determine the scale of the problem.

HE SAYS: ‘ Although they are able to hear quiet sounds without background noise, they struggle to hear a conversation in a restaurant. What is happening is that one type of nerve cell that passes signals from the hair cells to the brain allowing louder sounds to be processed seems to be particularly susceptible to noise damage.’

He hopes to develop a diagnostic test that measures activity in the auditory centres of the brain.

Hidden hearing loss can be particularly hard to cope with as many are told their hearing is OK. ‘If you can diagnose it, you may be able to treat it,’ says Professor Plack. ‘There are hearing aids which filter out background noise and amplify particular sounds.’

Of course, prevention is better than cure. Action on Hearing Loss has long campaigned on the dangers of loud music and the importance of protecting your hearing.

As Paul Breckell, the charity’s chief executive, points out: ‘Damage to hearing is irreversible and, contrary to popular opinion, hearing loss is not a condition only older people need to be concerned with.’

In this unique supplement we will show you how best to protect your hearing — and maximise the hearing you have left.