Personal Impact of Hearing Loss

Individuals vary in their personal responses to hearing loss. The impact of hearing loss is also influenced by the nature and magnitude of the condition. Some individuals, such as users of recreational firearms, have trouble deciphering high frequency sounds, while others have trouble distinguishing between pitches.

Sometimes hearing loss is identified by a spouse, friend, or co-worker because it can be an invisible, painless injury that slowly worsens over time. In other cases if hearing loss is an acute, traumatic, and painful event, a sudden change in hearing may be more obvious to the individual.

The impact of hearing loss is further compounded for polytrauma patients, such as those with traumatic brain injury. These patients experience hearing loss along with multiple other visible or invisible injuries that often have overlapping and interdependent symptoms, such as dizziness or vertigo, visual impairment, headache, depression, and other cognitive and physical issues.