Hearing loss is quite common, especially in older people. Hearing may disappear gradually, or it may disappear abruptly and return, but not completely. In some patients, hearing disappears up to a certain point and then does not worsen. But hearing loss can also be progressive: with this disease, hearing deteriorates constantly.
Hearing loss of the 2nd degree is a hearing loss in which a person has difficulty understanding whispers and sounds of average severity, and also has difficulty distinguishing speech against the background of noise or extraneous sounds. Conductive hearing loss is characterized by insufficient amplification of sounds entering the inner ear. It occurs due to cerumen plugs, congenital anomalies, external and otitis media, tumors, and is easily treatable.
Sensorineural hearing loss is a lesion of the entire apparatus that perceives sounds. The process involves the auditory nerve, as well as areas of the brain responsible for hearing. In this condition, sounds are distorted, and speech, in the presence of background noise, is very difficult to understand. The development of the disease is influenced by various factors:
- uncontrolled use of antibiotics;
- constant exposure to high-frequency noise;
- increased fluid pressure in the inner ear;
- age-related changes;
- multiple sclerosis;
- inflammatory processes in the auditory nerve, etc.
There is no cure for sensorineural hearing loss. In this case, only hearing aids can help the patient. Wearing a hearing aid is the only way to correct your hearing.
How is the degree of hearing loss determined?
The development of dysfunction of the hearing organs, there are 4 degrees of hearing loss. The following table shows the distinguishing characteristics of each:
| Degrees of hearing loss | Speech perception, m | Perception of whisper, m | Hearing threshold, dB |
| Hearing loss 1st degree | 6-7 | 1-3 | 25-40 |
| Hearing loss 2 degrees | 4 | 1 | 41-55 |
| Hearing loss 3 degrees | 1 | — | 56-70 |
| Hearing loss 4 degrees | <1 | — | 71-90 |
The initial stage is quite easy to cure. In addition, if you do not start treating the disease at stages 1-2, the risks of its progression increase, up to complete hearing loss. At grade 3-4, disability is already determined due to significant limitations in activity.
Depending on the volume and frequency at which a person perceives sounds, the specialist determines the degree of the disease. There are four of them in total, but before we talk about them in more detail, you need to know the basic sound parameters.
Power of sound
Each sound has a different effect on the ear, depending on its sound intensity or volume, which is measured in decibels (dB).
With normal hearing, the human ear is able to distinguish sounds over a wide range, starting from 0 dB. Comfortable sound does not exceed 85 dB. With louder sound, a person experiences discomfort, and already at 120 dB, the eardrums fail and rupture.
To imagine the difference in the sound strength of different sounds, you can consider the following examples:
- winter forest in calm weather – about 0 dB;
- rustle of leaves – 20-30 dB;
- conversational speech in calm tones – 40-60 dB;
- engine noise in the car interior – 70-80 dB;
- loud screams – 85-90 dB;
- thunder - 100 dB;
- the noise from a jackhammer at a distance of 1 m from it is about 120 dB.
Pitch ⚡
The pitch of the sound determines the number of vibrations of the sound wave. The parameter is measured in hertz (Hz): the higher the hertz, the higher the tone. Our ears distinguish sounds whose frequency varies from 16 to 20,000 Hz. Everything below 16 Hz is called infrasound, and above 20,000 is called ultrasound.
The human ear cannot perceive either infrasound or ultrasound, but they can affect the body and mental state.
A person perceives sounds better in the mid-frequency range of 500-10,000 Hz. A person does not hear high-frequency (up to 500 Hz) and low-frequency (more than 10,000 Hz) sounds or they seem very quiet to him. With age, the level of sound audibility inexorably decreases to 16,000 Hz, so that by the age of 50, hearing weakens for natural reasons.
How to restore hearing with sensorineural hearing loss of the 2nd degree without surgery?
Doctors at the institute are taught: all hearing diseases (sensorineural hearing loss from 1-4 degrees, auditory neuritis, hearing loss after ototoxic antibiotics, occupational, age-related hearing loss) are not curable!!!
And that’s it, they believe in it and doctors in ENT centers say:
«Sensorineural hearing loss 2 degrees
“It’s incurable, we need to save what’s left.” Everything is a sentence. How to live further? Not a chance - a dead end.
Diagnosis: sensorineural hearing loss. Treatment
which is carried out in hearing restoration centers does not give any results. And people who have hearing loss were treated in Russia and abroad - no one restored their hearing. We didn’t come up with this, all this is said by people who come to our groups. The hearing threshold for sensorineural hearing loss of degree 2 is 26-40 dB and the person experiences difficulties in communication and is often fitted with one or even two hearing aids. People don’t hear enough, often ask again, ask the same questions, which irritates the interlocutor. The main thing is the difficulty in communication. Problems are created at work and a negative attitude towards these people, who constantly ask questions and distract from work. Difficulty communicating within the family. And most importantly, a negative emotional state is created - fear of asking, fear of communication, and people gradually move away from a large circle of friends and become withdrawn, loners. Lost interest in life, work, study, lack of life goals. What life goals can I achieve with my hearing?
With sensorineural hearing loss, a person has difficulty communicating - this is a mild degree of hearing loss
.
And the most unpleasant thing is that with sensorineural hearing loss of the 2nd degree, they wear one or two hearing aids, which cannot be done.
When one hearing aid is put on for hearing loss of the 2nd degree, at first it’s so good to hear, and everything is clear and clear, joy - I hear all the sounds! And people think that it will always be like this. But after a while they notice that it is already difficult to listen even with a hearing aid, and when the hearing aid is removed, they realize that the ear hears much worse than it was before. After all, they said that hearing might decrease, and indeed it did. And again, fear for the future, fear of communication intensifies, apathy, depression. And then there is a visit to the doctor or ENT center, and there: we told you that your hearing cannot be treated and now you need to wear a more powerful and expensive hearing aid.
From my own experience: many people who came and spoke to the group, my hearing decreased from grade 1, and now they put me at grade 3-4 and cried, where were you before?
What is grade 1 hearing loss?
- What it is? 1st degree – hearing loss, which is characterized by a lack of sensitivity to sounds from 26 to 40 dB;
At a distance of several meters, provided there are no extraneous sounds, a person does not experience any problems with hearing and distinguishes all words in a conversation. However, in a noisy environment, the ability to hear the speech of interlocutors is clearly deteriorated. It also becomes difficult to hear whispers at a distance of more than 2 meters.
