Hearing Loss Treatments in Oroville, Chico, Redding, and Red Bluff, CA
Are You Struggling With Hearing Loss?
It may be affecting you more than you realize. Hearing connects us to the world around us — helping us work, communicate, and stay safe. It keeps us engaged with family, friends, and our community. Yet, many of us take healthy hearing for granted until it starts to fade.
According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, about 48 million Americans experience some degree of hearing loss — nearly 1 in 5 people. Another 25% of adults report tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears) lasting five minutes or longer. Because hearing loss typically develops gradually, many people delay treatment until it significantly impacts their lives.
When hearing begins to decline — as it often does with age — it can affect much more than just your ability to hear. Untreated hearing loss impacts your emotional health, social life, and cognitive function.
At Bartlett’s Hearing Aid Center, with locations in Oroville, Chico, Redding, and Red Bluff, we’re here to help you stay connected and confident through better hearing.
What Causes Hearing Loss?
Hearing loss is caused by numerous factors, including:
- Advancing age (presbycusis)
- Prescription medications
- Head injury
- Heredity
- Prolonged exposure to loud noises
- Acoustic trauma
- Illnesses, such as mumps, Meniere’s disease, otosclerosis or an autoimmune disorder
- A tumor
How Hearing Loss Occurs
In a healthy ear, sound waves travel through the outer ear canal to the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. These vibrations move through the tiny bones of the middle ear, which set the cochlear fluid and sensory hair cells in motion. The movement of these hair cells sends electrical signals through the auditory nerve to the brain, where they are processed as sound.
When hair cells or nerve pathways are damaged — especially from prolonged noise exposure — signals to the brain become weaker or distorted, resulting in hearing loss. Unfortunately, once these delicate hair cells are damaged, they do not regenerate.
If you’re experiencing hearing loss, Bartlett’s Hearing Aid Center can help. Schedule an appointment today and rediscover the sounds and conversations that make everyday life meaningful.
Which Hearing Loss Is Progressive and Associated With Aging?
Not all hearing loss is the same. Your options will depend on the type of hearing loss you have.
Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common type. Symptoms include difficulty understanding sounds or speech at normal volume. It is often caused by repeated exposure to loud noises, damage from noise over long periods of time or disease. Because of that, this type of hearing loss is often associated with aging.
Conductive hearing loss happens when you have a mechanical problem in the outer or middle ear, or by an obstruction in the ear canal, such as build-up of ear wax. Conductive hearing loss can be permanent or temporary.
Mixed hearing loss features components of both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss.
How Hearing Loss Affects More Than Just Communication
If you’re experiencing hearing loss, it can affect all areas of your life. Here are just some of the ways life changes when you have untreated hearing loss.
- Conversations and other sounds often seem muffled.
- You frequently ask others to repeat what they have said more slowly and loudly.
- You increase the volume on the TV or radio in order to hear it more clearly.
- You often withdraw from social situations because you find it difficult to communicate effectively.
- You have difficulty understanding words in noisy situations, including restaurants, family gatherings and large group meetings.
- You may experience sudden hearing loss in one ear.
- You may suffer from ringing or buzzing sounds in your ears – a symptom of tinnitus–that keeps you awake or raises anxiety.
- Over time hearing loss can affect your cognitive abilities, your relationships with others and has even been linked to an increased risk in accidents such as falling.
The Importance of Getting Hearing Aids for Your Hearing Loss
Most types of hearing loss are minor and treatable. Research has shown that getting hearing aids for age-related hearing loss has many benefits, such as improving the ability to hear in social situations and communicate with others. Effective treatment makes it easier for older adults to continue their normal routines and interact with friends, family members and other people they communicate with each day.
At Bartlett’s Hearing Aid Center, our hearing instrument specialists can help. A simple hearing test will determine if you suffer from hearing loss, including how mild or severe it is. A thorough hearing test will also tell us what kind of hearing loss you have which will determine treatment options and whether you’ll need to be referred to a specialist.
Call us today at 530-461-5183 to set up an appointment.