Hearing Loss

The widespread opinion that hearing impairment is strictly associated with old age, coupled with the notion that such people are no longer fully capable of meeting today's demands, is not really true.

Age-related hearing impairment, has indeed very little to do with old age. In fact, already from the age of 40, our hearing slowly but surely begins to deteriorate. One person is afflicted earlier, another somewhat later - but no one is spared.

Prolonged exposure to continuous or shock-type noise (on the job, discos, detonations, low-flying airplanes, to name a few examples) can cause irreparable damage to the hair cells of the inner ear even at an earlier age.

Another phenomenon is sudden loss of hearing. Together with ringing in the ears or the feeling of pressure, the hearing ability - usually on one side and fully without warning - is suddenly reduced nearly to deafness.

This stress-induced disorder occurs mostly in the morning. It is cause to go immediately to an ENT doctor, who can diagnose the problem and initiate measures against it.