Dr. Rahul Agrawal Explains Why Adult Hearing Loss Needs Immediate Attention

Most adults have hearing problems in gradual and treat them only after the damage is done. People tend to consider hearing impairment as a natural phenomenon of aging and avoid treatment. However if left untreated, hearing impairment can lead to several problems, affecting communication, self confidence, relationships and in the long run quality of life.

According to Dr. Rahul Agrawal, Senior ENT and Cochlear Implant surgeon from Gwalior, the incidence of hearing impairment among adults has increased significantly due to multiple reasons such as aging, prolonged noise exposure, recurrent ear infections, diabetes, hypertension and certain drugs that damage the ear system over time.

An important issue patients often fail to realize is that most hearing impairment is gradual in nature. Initially patients complain of increased volume for the TV, inability to hear conversations in crowded places or continuously ask people to speak up. With the passage of time these complaints become very significant.

Dr. Rahul Agrawal explained that hearing impairment may not be related to the sound intensity alone. In many elderly patients, the brain may fail to process speech and thus the sounds may be loud, but speech unintelligible. They may mention 'I can hear the sound of the engine, but the words are unclear'. In such situations hearing aids may help in the early stages, but for those with significant sensorineural loss it may be difficult to overcome. Patients themselves often get frustrated that after wearing hearing aids, voices are just loud, and do not have clarity. Most of the time families tend to make the same changes to the hearing aid or keep changing it at regular intervals hoping that the problem would be resolved by the same. In such patients advanced hearing tests should be considered and in many cases cochlear implantation might be the option.

Nowadays various solutions are available at ENT, the approach to management of hearing impairment includes better hearing rehabilitation for many. For patients with severe and profound hearing loss and a damaged inner ear structure cochlear implants should be considered. Early assessment of hearing loss is critical to ensure positive social and emotional outcomes and prevent isolation and depression in the elderly.

Some preventive measures, according to Dr. Rahul Agrawal, can be adopted to save your ears:

• Avoid excessive noise exposure
• Do not ignore even gradual loss of hearing
• Take medicines only when prescribed by a doctor
• Keep Diabetes and Hypertension under control
• Get regular check-ups after 50

The most commonly found problem among the patients is that most people tend to consider hearing loss in the elderly as a 'natural' phenomenon and ignore it till it starts impacting communication severely. As explained by Dr. Rahul Agrawal, "Hearing treatment is about staying connected. It is about connecting to your loved ones, your friends and the world around you. So the solution to the problem cannot be 'ignoring it'"