The Scourge of Hidden Hearing Loss
48 million people, or 15% of the U.S. population, live with measurable hearing loss. This includes mild to severe impairments and increases significantly with age; nearly all individuals aged 85 and older are affected.
Another 50 million people report difficulty hearing in noisy environments despite having normal or near-normal hearing on standard audiograms. This condition, often linked to noise-induced damage at the cellular level as described below, is distinct from traditional hearing loss and highlights gaps in diagnosis.
These are the people who take the time to report….How many more people are damaged, and don’t even realize it yet?
The World Health Organization estimates that over 1 billion young people globally are at risk of permanent hearing damage and Hidden Hearing Loss from unsafe listening practices.
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What is Hidden Hearing Loss?
Hidden Hearing Loss, also known as Cochlear synaptopathy is a hearing disorder where individuals struggle to hear clearly despite standard hearing tests showing normal results. They often have trouble distinguishing and recognizing sounds that other people can identify. The problem occurs when loud noises damage some, but not all of the 10-30 nerve fibers that connect with each inner hair cell of the ear. Like a frayed rope, the hearing is hanging on by a thread. As long as there are one or two fibers, the patient is able to pass the standard hearing tests.
The 10-30 fiber connections (also called synapses) provide nuanced sound information much like how multiple camera angles of a subject provides richer understanding than a single picture. Loud music can over stimulate an inner hair cell to release too much neuro-chemicals that in excess, becomes toxic to the synapses of connected nerve fibers. This is like how rain can be good or bad for crops. When light rain comes down, and is absorbed by the soil, the plants are happy. However if the rain comes down in one big blast, or if it rains for an excessive amount of time, you can get flash floods that kill off the crops. This is called Noise Induced Excitotoxicity.
It is called Hidden Hearing loss because patients do not realize that they cannot hear. They think everyone else mumbles. Their impairment is not detected by conventional audiograms, making it challenging to diagnose and treat.
