High-Frequency Hearing Loss: Can Cochlear Implants Help You?
Some people have problems hearing low-frequency sounds, while other people may find it difficult to make out high-frequency sounds. If your audiologist diagnoses you with high-frequency hearing loss, you may wonder if there's anything they can do for you. Hearing specialists and doctors offer cochlear implants to help people with high-frequency hearing loss. Here's how high-frequency hearing loss affects you and how cochlear implants help you.
What's High-Frequency Hearing Loss?
High-frequency hearing loss develops when you damage the part of the cochlea, or shell-like sensory organ in your ears, that picks up high-pitched vibrations. Autoimmune diseases, exposure to excessively loud noises and certain ear medications can damage the cochlea by changing or destroying the sensory hair cells inside it.
High-frequency hearing loss affects how you hear or make out certain letters of the alphabet, such as "s" and "f." The sounds "sh", "th" and "ch" may be difficult to hear as well. You also have problems hearing things that give off high pitches. For example, instead of hearing baby birds chirping in their nest, you only hear garbled sounds or nothing at all. You may also have a problem distinguishing the high-pitched voices of young children and women from the lower-pitched voices of men.
Because of the complexity of high-frequency hearing loss, traditional hearing devices may not be enough to overcome your problem. The devices may not have the abilities to pick up high-pitched sounds. To combat this issue, speak to a hearing specialist about cochlear implants.
How Can Cochlear Implants Help?
Cochlear implants are unique devices that use microphones, transmitters and speech processors to amplify high-pitched sounds. In most cases, the amplified sounds bypass the sensory damaged cells in the cochlea and transmit directly to your brain for immediate interpretation. In addition, an audiologist can program the implants to pick up high-pitched sounds without disrupting your ability to hear low-pitched sounds. As a result of the programming, your hearing abilities improve greatly.
An audiologist will need to examine your ears thoroughly before fitting and selecting the right cochlear implants for you. The exam may include measuring the lengths and widths of your ears so that the implants don't aggravate or make your ears sore when you wear them.
The hearing specialist may also spend time adjusting the frequency of your new hearing devices for each ear. Keep in mind that your high-frequency hearing loss may be greater in one ear than the other. After you receive your cochlear implants, you may need to see an audiologist regularly for adjustments to ensure that the devices function correctly.
For more details about cochlear implants and how they work, contact an audiologist in your area.
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