Hearing loss is a condition that most people experience throughout their lifetime at one point or another. One of the first things you want to do when you experience hearing loss is to determine whether it's just temporary or permanent. While it's always good to go to a licensed audiologist to get a professional diagnosis, it doesn't hurt to better understand the difference between the two first.

Temporary Hearing Loss

Temporary hearing loss typically affects most people at some point throughout their lifetime. This can be caused by several factors, including medications, ear infections, loud noises, allergies, illnesses, and ear obstructions. Your hearing specialist will examine the severity of your hearing loss and offer excellent treatment options.

The specific treatment that you'll be recommended will highly depend on the cause of your temporary hearing loss. For example, if an ear infection is the cause of your temporary hearing loss, you'll be prescribed antibiotics to treat the infection. Once the infection is fully cured, your hearing will return to normal. In cases where temporary hearing loss results from loud noise exposure, it can take a few days to a few weeks for the eardrum to naturally recover. If there is a physical blockage, you can get it surgically removed to open up your ear canal.

Permanent Hearing Loss

In some cases, the hearing loss that you experience may be permanent. About 36 million Americans of all ages suffer from hearing loss. Audiologists categorize permanent hearing loss into four main categories, ranging from mild and moderate to severe and profound. Permanent hearing loss can be caused by several factors, including aging, trauma, illness, medications, infections, and noises.

Those who are experiencing permanent hearing loss have a number of different symptoms, which include:

• Muffled speech
• Inability to hear consonants
• Difficulty understanding words
• Frequently asking others to repeat themselves
• Withdrawal from conversations
• Avoidance of social settings
• Constantly turning up the volume on electronic devices

In most cases of permanent hearing loss, individuals develop these symptoms over a period of time. If you've noticed that you're culpable of some or all of the symptoms above, it's time to seek professional help from a Beltone audiologist. You can expect to undergo various testing procedures to help identify whether your hearing loss is temporary or permanent.

Contact Us Today

If you're experiencing hearing loss, consider taking our online hearing test and scheduling an appointment with our hearing care specialists. These options will help to evaluate the state of your hearing and allow us to recommend the best solutions to meet your individual needs.