How Hearing Loss Affects Your Brain

Hearing loss doesn’t just affect your ability to process sound. It can actually change the way your brain functions. A study from John Hopkins University followed 639 participants over 12 years. They found that hearing loss increased a person’s risk of dementia. Furthermore, that risk increased as hearing loss became more severe: Mild hearing loss…
Do You Need to Treat Hunting-Related Hearing Loss?

Hunting and target shooting are popular past-times in the U.S. However, if you’re not careful, these hobbies can be hazardous for your hearing. Below we review everything you need to know about the risks of shooting firearms when it comes to your ears, what the studies show and how you can protect your hearing. How…
10 Common Signs of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is a progressive condition, which means it often develops so slowly, you don’t even know you have it until it has advanced to a stage that is difficult to treat. Left untreated, hearing loss can lead to social withdrawal, feelings of isolation, depression, anxiety, falls and even dementia. To prevent these and other…
4 Reasons You Should Get a Hearing Aid

Hearing loss is common, affecting approximately 48 million people across the nation. In fact, the CDC reports that it is the third most common physical condition affecting Americans. Yet despite its prevalence, there is stigma around treatment that keeps people from wearing hearing aids. If you could benefit from a hearing aid but are still…
Understanding the Viral Causes of Hearing Loss

While the two most common causes of hearing loss are old age and noise exposure, another common cause is viral infections. It can be all too easy to pick up a virus at Downtown Silver Spring Freshfarm, which is why it’s important to practice social distancing and handwashing whenever possible. Some viruses are linked to…
The Link Between Hearing Loss and Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans. In fact, one person dies from cardiovascular disease every 36 seconds in the U.S. If these facts surprise you, it may also surprise you to learn that there are other consequences of heart disease: hearing loss. How Does Heart Disease Lead to Hearing Loss? Heart…
What’s the Difference Between Being Deaf and Hard of Hearing?

You’ve likely heard the terms “hard of hearing” and “deaf” used to describe hearing loss, but they’re not interchangeable. In order to understand the distinction, we first need to review the different levels of hearing loss. What Are the Levels of Hearing Loss? There are four general levels, also called “degrees,” of hearing loss: Mild…
What is Low-Frequency Hearing Loss?

Low-frequency hearing loss is hearing loss characterized by difficulty hearing low-pitch sounds, including men’s voices, musical bass and thunder. It’s sometimes called reverse-slope hearing loss due to the shape it makes on an audiogram, which is a standard chart that audiologists use to measure levels of hearing loss. For most people with low-frequency hearing loss,…
How Your Ears Work

You’ve probably not given too much thought to their ears, unless you’re getting them pierced or covering them up when it’s cold outside. But these complex organs demand some attention and respect. They are able to collect and process sounds and transmit them to the brain for interpretation. Structures of the Ear The ear is made up of three sections: the…