At What Age Do People Begin To Lose Their Hearing?
There’s no easy answer for that question. Hearing loss is usually attributed to people aged 65 and older, but there are other factors that can affect when you start to lose your hearing. Keep these things in mind if you think your hearing might be starting to go.
At Any Age
You can lose your hearing at any age, from birth to your senior years. If you have experienced ear damage in any way, you might completely lose your hearing. This can happen at any age by a sudden noise or overexposure to a loud noise over long periods of time. To ensure this doesn’t happen, take care of your ears and wear earplugs.
When we are young, we are often more prone to ear infections. If ear infections take a significant toll on our ears, it can affect when we start to lose our hearing. This makes it important to take action when we, or our children, have an ear infection or have recurring ear infections.
Age-Related Hearing Loss
Commonly, most adults begin to lose their hearing around the age of 65. Depending on certain factors, this number moves around a little. Some of the more common factors for hearing loss include:
- Smoking (smokers have been found to experience more hearing loss than non-smokers in studies)
- Genetics
- Medical conditions
- Medications
- Sickness
What Can Be Done?
Because hearing loss isn’t always associated with age, it’s important to take good care of your ears right now. If you aren’t careful, you may just end up losing your hearing long before it is common. If you are experiencing age-related hearing loss, there isn’t much that can be done to stall the process. Instead, focus on maintaining function in your life, despite the hearing loss. Taking action can include:
- Using a hearing aid
- Using an amplifier for telephones and other devices
- Learning to read lips
- Surgery (cochlear implants can be used for those who are good candidates and have severe hearing loss)
Seeing a Professional
If you think you have hearing damage, it’s important to get tested. Testing can determine how much hearing damage you have and what can be done about it. Speak with a professional as soon as possible, and even if you can’t reverse the damage, you can still start to take action that will keep you in control of your life.
