It’s not rare that we come across people who find it challenging to follow conversations in noisy surroundings and a group. They may even ask to repeat the sentences as they hear everything muffled. It may be a case of high-frequency hearing loss. People with high-frequency hearing loss cannot hear high-pitched sounds. An audiologist from Astra Hearing says that consonants become hard to hear in the above kind of hearing loss, implying that others may sound like they are mumbling.

The major causes of high-frequency hearing loss are aging, noise exposure, and medical conditions. People suffer from hearing loss when the sensory cells in the inner ear are damaged. Certain medications, diseases, and genetics may also cause hearing loss.

Symptoms of high-frequency hearing loss

The noticeable symptoms of high-frequency hearing loss include difficulty in following the conversation, phone conversations becoming unclear, people seem to be mumbling, and being unable to follow group conversations, especially where there is background noise. It is also noticed that such people often ask to repeat themselves, face difficulty locating sounds, experience buzzing sound in the ears, and turn up the television volume loud.

High-frequency hearing loss is not reversible, but one can correct it with hearing aids in several cases. If you think you have some level of hearing loss, schedule a meeting with an audiologist. The hearing care experts at Astra Hearing often recommend hearing aids to treat high-frequency hearing loss. Today, the hearing aids can be programmed to focus on amplifying higher frequency sounds.

High-frequency hearing loss can occur in all ages. When children are affected, it can hinder communication and speech development, disturbing their learning. Adults with high-frequency hearing loss will find socializing difficult as they can’t understand some people’s voices.  

High-frequency hearing loss is often preventable. One should protect their ears when exposed to dangerous noise levels which are louder than 85 decibels. Live concerts, noisy machinery, riding loud motorcycles, or shooting range can expose one to louder than 85 decibels.

Even listening to music too loud can result in high-frequency hearing loss. There are noise-cancelling headphones and ear plugs to mitigate the noise to prevent damage to your hearing.