We often say to each other that we can not hear! But, hearing loss can be quite dangerous and can affect many aspects of your life, as safety and productivity is impaired. If left undiagnosed or untreated, it can lead to various other complications such as depression, frustration, social isolation, loss of confidence and independence.

Hearing loss is the decreased ability to hear and can happen suddenly or gradually. Depending on a few factors, such as the cause, hearing loss can be permanent, temporary, mild or severe.

The term hearing loss is quite a general term, as there are different levels and types of hearing loss in different people. The hearing impairment of each individual will be unique and some people learn to adjust well to slow down the hearing loss. For others, some do not even realise that they are losing their hearing, especially if they work in noisy environments.

As we grow older, the sensory hair cells (which detect the vibrations), located on the cochlea of the inner ear, gradually begin to die. This coincides with deterioration in the hearing. In addition, exposing our ears to loud noises distort and damage the sensory hair cells, which results in the loss of transmission of incoming sounds to the brain, therefore, leading to permanent loss of hearing.