Audiology is a growing field in a country where even a mild hearing loss can cause a child to miss as much as 50% of classroom discussion. Of growing concern is the fact that two to three out of every 1,000 children in America are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears.
Do you have a child who does not seem to hear well? Do you have a teenage who is struggling in school and complains about not being able to hear the teacher? Parents of children with possible hearing problems should seek help sooner rather than later in an effort to stop any further preventable damage. In addition, parents of children with possible hearing problems should work with a hearing consultant to make sure that additional language and comprehension problems do not occur.
Hearing aids and other hearing assistance products can help people make better use of the newest advancements in affordable digital hearing aids and other products. And while many products help both children and adults deal with hearing loss that has already occurred, other products provide very important hearing protection. From assistive listening devices to batteries for hearing aids, hearing consultants can provide comfort as well as empowerment to the many Americans who suffer from a hearing loss.
Consider some of these facts about how frequent hearing problems can be in today’s world:
- In addition to causing loss of understanding, hearing loss also comes with a financial loss for some individuals and families. In fact, the lifetime costs of profound hearing loss can be as much as $1 million per person in the U.S.
- Only 30% of those adults with hearing loss who are aged 70 and older have ever used hearing aids, despite the fact fact that these devices could be very beneficial. Even fewer adults between the ages of 20 and 69, which represents a mere 16%, who could benefit from wearing hearing aids have ever used them.
- 10% of Americans report suffering from tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears, on a regular basis.
- 25 million American adults have reported having suffered from tinnitus for five or more continuous minutes in the last 12 months.
- 20% of both teens and adults suffers from hearing loss.
- Between the years of 2000 and 2015, the number of Americans with hearing loss has doubled.
