Ear issues and hearing loss can have a significant impact on one’s quality of life. Adults, suffering from hearing loss, often feel that others are mumbling and often must ask others to repeat themselves. This results in frustration and often limits the frequency and content of one’s conversations. If hearing loss worsens, difficulty in communication can result in strained relationships, lost friendships, and decreased work or school performance and safety. Sounds incorporated into everyday life that are made to alert one of danger are not heard and overall situational awareness is lost. This leads to workers with hearing loss more likely to get injured on the job.
Hearing loss can also negatively impact a person’s mental health. Hearing loss is associated with depression and social isolation. In older adults, hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline including loss of memory. As adults lose the ability to hear, the parts of the brain that used to process sound are not used as much and start to break down.
Often those with hearing loss also have “ringing in the ears” (tinnitus). Tinnitus can present as an annoying buzzing, rushing or ringing noise in one’s ears or head. Tinnitus can disrupt sleep and concentration, increasing fatigue and affecting one’s alertness. Tinnitus can be intermittent or continuous. Similar to hearing loss, tinnitus can also impact mental health and is associated with depression and anxiety.
The doctors at Prime ENT work with several local Audiologists. This ensures our patient have easy access to highly trained professionals in the community where they live. We provide superior hearing and balance care with individualized treatment plans for hearing loss, vertigo, ear infections, and wax impaction. Our multidisciplinary approach ensures our patients can seamlessly receive medical and Audiological care.
Recurring childhood ear infections are by far the most common pediatric ear problem. Eventually, most kids will outgrow ear infections, but sometimes they will need tubes placed in their eardrums to help prevent infections while they grow and develop. Your pediatrician will coordinate with your Prime ENT surgeon to determine if ear tubes are needed.
Children with hearing loss often have difficulty at school and in social situations. Hearing loss can often present as speech delay in a child and therefore a child with hearing loss should undergo a hearing test. If your child has failed their hearing screening at school or at the pediatrician’s office, your Prime ENT physician can perform a thorough assessment to determine what the issue is and how to treat it.
