1. HEARING WELL CLUB WHAT DOES YOUR AUDIOGRAM SAY ABOUT HEARING LOSS?
SHANNON RICCI, M.A. & JANIS S. UFFENHEIMER, AU. D.
NEWPORT AUDIOLOGY/CONNECT HEARING

2. What is hearing loss? The ear is Made up of 3 parts
The outer ear
(ear canal and pinna)
B. The middle ear (eardrum and ossicles)
C. The inner ear (Cochlea or hearing nerve)
Hearing loss is the result of damage to any of these ear parts

3. Conductive vs. Sensorineural hearing loss Conductive Loss:
Problem in the outer or middle ear
Causes:
Excessive earwax, ear infection or fluid in the middle ear
Stiffness in the bones of the middle ear (Otosclerosis)
Conductive hearing loss is treated by a physician

4. SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS
Sensorineural Loss (Nerve Deafness)
The hearing nerve is damaged and cannot send signals to the brain
Causes:
Noise exposure
Hereditary factors
Decline in hearing with age
Sensorineural loss cannot be corrected with medicine or
surgery
Hearing aids can be very helpful
Sensorineural hearing loss

5. AUDITORY SYSTEM

6. AUDIOGRAM How to Read an Audiogram: A pure tone audiogram is a graph
the pitches (frequencies) across the top
loudness (intensity) down the side.
This graph registers the loudness at which different sounds need to be in order to be heard.
An audiologist fills in the graph using symbols to mark the points at which sounds begin to be heard.

7. AUDIOGRAM SYMBOLS Symbols:
Left ear measurements. Usually marked blue ink: X or BOX.
Right ear measurements. Usually marked in red ink: O or Triangle
> < or ] [ To mark bone conduction thresholds.

8. HEARING LOSS CONFIGURATIONS
SLOPING
GRADUAL
SKI SLOPE
FLAT
REVERSE SLOPE
UNILATERAL

9. COOKIE BITE HEARING LOSS

10. DEGREE OF HEARING LOSS Mild Loss: May hear some speech sounds but soft
sounds hard to hear
normal level
Moderate Loss: May hear
Almost no speech when a person
Is talking at a normal level
And only some loud sounds
Severe Loss: Will hear no speech
when a person is talking at a
normal level and only
some loud sounds
Profound Hearing loss: Will
not hear any speech and
only hear and maybe only
feel some very very loud sounds

11. Other Terms
Unilateral Hearing Loss: Have a hearing loss in only one ear; Will have more difficulty in background noise and finding the source of a sound
Symmetrical or Asymmetrical: Hearing loss is the same in both (symmerical) Hearing loss is different for each ear (asymmetrical)
Progressive or Sudden: Hearing loss worsens over time (progressive); Hearing loss happens quickly (sudden- See your ENT immediately)
Fluctuating or Stable: Hearing Loss gets better or worse (fluctuating) or stays the same (stable)
Word Recognition: A measure of how well you can hear and recognize speech when presented at a comfortable listening level. People with the same degree/configuration of hearing loss may have different word recognition abilities and thus have different abilities with amplification

12. How hearing loss affects speech understanding
Hearing Loss is documented on an Audiogram
Most people with sensorineural hearing loss have difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds
Speech understanding requires hearing the soft, high-pitch sounds
Vowels = loudness
Consonants = Speech intelligibility
Audible
Not Audible

13. “Seed” “Deed” “Greed” “Need”
Most people with hearing loss have difficulty with high pitch sounds, like “s”, “ch”, “th”, “f” and “z”

14. WHEN DO I NEED A HEARING AID?
No outward visible signs
usually occurs gradually, and your close
Friends and family members may notice
it before you do.
You don’t always know what you missed,
because you didn’t hear it.
Sometimes, things may sound loud enough,
but not be clear.
At first, you may only have a problem
on the telephone, or with television, or
only in background noise.
You may have the perception that you’re hearing fine,
if other people would just stop mumbling.
Link to dementia, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it

15. What should I do first? Research re: “use it or lose it” principle,
Speak with your family members and close friends to see how they feel your hearing is; Don’t let them continue to be your living hearing aid
If you think you have a hearing loss, you probably do
Get your hearing tested
Research re: “use it or lose it” principle,
In order to be fully engaged in life, you need to be fully engaged everywhere

16. Questions?
THANK YOU!
Newport Audiology/Connect Hearing