Hearing Loss – House of Hearing Malaysia

What is hearing loss?

It is the lost of ability to hear some or all sounds. It can affect perceiving sounds with high pitch like women or children voices. Also, it can affect picking up specific sounds when surrounded by a noisy environment or when in a group conversation.

Hearing loss can be temporary which is called conductive hearing loss or it can be a permanent one which then will be called sensorineural hearing loss or it can be a combination of both which is called a mixed hearing loss. In sensorineural hearing loss cases, it’s hard to treat the loss due to the damage in the hearing nerves system.

Types of hearing loss

Conductive Hearing Loss

Conductive hearing loss is a problem with the outer or middle ear that blocks or reduces sound waves from reaching the inner ear. It can be caused by fluid in the middle ear, infection, poor Eustachian tube function. This type of hearing loss is classified as a temporary loss and It can be treated by medication, or in most cases by removing the conductive (blocking) elements.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sensorineural hearing loss is a result of disorders in the inner ear or auditory nerve system. Sensorineural hearing loss might not be noticed at early stages except in trauma cases. It is usually gradual specially when it’s due to aging factors. Affected people will start to notice this type of hearing loss when they start to have difficulties in speech comprehension and find it difficult to follow conversations specially in noisy environments like restaurants or train stations. This type of hearing loss is irreversible and usually it’s managed by hearing aids.

Mixed Hearing Loss

In this type of hearing loss, people usually have a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss and it’ll be the result of having conductive elements as well as disorders in the inner ear.

The common factors leading to conductive hearing loss

Conductive Hearing Loss - Fluid in the canal - external infection

Fluid in the ear canal / external ear infection

Conductive Hearing Loss - Earwax buildup

Earwax buildup in the ear canal

Conductive Hearing Loss - Middle Ear Infection

Fluid in the middle ear / internal ear infection

The common factors leading to sensorineural hearing loss

Noise induced environments

Head diseases

Sensorineural Hearing Loss - Head Accident

Head accidents / injuries

Aging

Genetics

Levels of hearing

Normal Hearing

The ability to hear all different sounds from all different angles and in any listening environments without offering an effort to pickup words and understand them. The sensitivity to pickup soft sounds differ from one person to another.

Mild Hearing Loss

People who suffer from mild hearing loss will normally have some difficulties keeping up with conversations, especially in noisy surroundings.

Moderate Hearing Loss

People who suffer from moderate hearing loss have problems hearing in many situations and will have difficulties keeping up with conversations. People with a moderate hearing loss will benefit from using hearing aids.

Severe Hearing Loss

People who suffer from a severe hearing loss are very hard of hearing and will normally have to use powerful hearing aids. Often they also rely on lip-reading even when they are using hearing aids.

Profound Hearing Loss

People who suffer from profound hearing loss have a very weak sense of hearing and need very strong hearing aids or implants, many also rely on lip-reading and/or sign language

Through our online hearing test, you will get an indication about your hearing level. We suggest that you be in a quiet environment and avoid any disruptions to get the optimum results. We recommend that you use your headset to undergo the test. If not available then your phone / laptop / PC speakers will do with the volume set to average middle pointer.

Start Test

This online hearing test is not a replacement for the clinical audiology test.

Start Test

This online hearing test is not a replacement for the clinical audiology test.