• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HearingResearch.org

Latest hearing research

Home » Uncategorized » High-Frequency Hearing Loss: Causes and Treatment Options

High-Frequency Hearing Loss: Causes and Treatment Options

November 23, 2022 by Mark Ross

Hearing loss affects nearly 1.5 billion people worldwide.

While a total loss of hearing may never occur, losing a portion of your hearing can change how you communicate and may even be hard to detect. 

Let’s talk about high-frequency hearing loss, which involves the loss of only a certain portion of your hearing.

We’ll talk about what causes it, how it is diagnosed, and what you can do to treat it.

Table of Contents

  • How Does Hearing Work?
  • What Causes Hearing Loss?
  • What Is High-Frequency Hearing Loss? 
    • Symptoms of High-Frequency Hearing Loss
  • Diagnosing High-Frequency Hearing Loss
  • What Causes High-Frequency Hearing Loss?
  • What Are Treatment Options for High-Frequency Hearing Loss?
    • Hearing Aids
    • Assistive Listening Devices
    • Lip Reading
    • Prevention
  • Healthy Hearing, At Any Age
    • References, Studies and Sources:

How Does Hearing Work?

There are three parts of your ear involved with hearing. 

  • Outer Ear. The outer ear includes the visible portion of the ear called the pinna and the ear canal.
  • Middle Ear. Your middle ear includes your eardrum and three ear bones, the malleus, incus, and stapes.
  • Inner Ear. The inner ear includes the cochlea, semicircular canals, and auditory nerve.

Hearing happens when sound waves are collected by the pinna and sent down the ear canal.

These sound waves vibrate against the eardrum, reverberating onto the middle ear's three bones. 

These bones amplify the sound waves and cause the fluid inside the cochlea to move.

The cochlea is home to a specialized membrane, called the basilar membrane, which divides the cochlea into two even parts.

On top of the basilar membrane, tiny hair cells begin to move along with the vibrating fluid.

This triggers neurons on top of the hair cells to rush chemicals into the semicircular canals, effectively changing the sound waves into electrical signals. 

The auditory nerve then carries the electrical signals to the brain, and we officially hear the sounds we are familiar with, like music, voices, and birds chirping. 

What Causes Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss can be caused by different life events, illnesses, or aging. Some of the most common causes of hearing loss are:

  • Exposure to Loud Sounds (Noise Induced Hearing Loss). Sounds that register over 70 decibels are considered unsafe for your ears. Exposure to sounds over this level for long periods can cause hearing loss. 
  • Illnesses and Diseases. Some diseases and illnesses can cause hearing loss. Frequent, recurrent ear infections may damage hearing and diseases that affect blood vessel health, like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. 
  • Aging. Hearing loss with age is very common. Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, usually occurs in the 65+ population and can dramatically change how a person lives their life.

Hearing loss that only affects a certain portion of hearing or only one ear, is also a common problem. 

What Is High-Frequency Hearing Loss? 

High-frequency hearing loss is a loss of hearing at a certain hertz, which is a measurement of sound.

High frequencies are usually considered those which are over 2,000 hertz. Examples of these sounds include:

  • Birds chirping
  • Certain consonants that spoken at a higher pitch (like F, H, and S)
  • Some aspects of voices that are higher pitched (like small children)
  • Musical notes that are higher on a musical scale

Your ability to hear high-pitched sounds also makes sound clear.

It helps you understand conversations and differentiate voices and other sounds in a noisy environment.

Although it may not seem like losing hearing at high frequencies would be life-changing, it can significantly impact the way you communicate. 

High-frequency hearing loss is a type of sensorineural hearing loss which occurs due to damage or malformation with one or some of the structures in the inner ear.

Most commonly, the tiny sensory hairs inside the cochlea are damaged. Because they do not regenerate, a portion of the hearing is lost when they are damaged or destroyed. 

Symptoms of High-Frequency Hearing Loss

If you think you have high-frequency hearing loss, you can look for signs. Some of the most common symptoms are:

  • Trouble hearing consonants. People may begin to sound muffled or like they are mumbling when they speak.
  • Inability to carry on conversation in a noisy environment like a restaurant or in a crowd. 
  • Frequently asking others to repeat themselves. 
  • Tinnitus or a buzzing or ringing in the ears that can be constant, or come and go.
  • Having feelings of social anxiety or insecurity from your hearing loss.

A diagnosis from your doctor can help you determine if you have high-frequency hearing loss.

Diagnosing High-Frequency Hearing Loss

Your healthcare provider may refer you to an audiologist for an audiogram to determine whether or not you have high-frequency hearing loss.

This simple test usually involves wearing a headset and responding to different frequency pitches when you hear them. 

Depending on your responses, your doctor may also have you respond to questions about your social activities and your level of difficulty carrying on a conversation and may test your ability to hear voices with background noise.

What Causes High-Frequency Hearing Loss?

The causes of high-frequency hearing loss are similar to those that cause any type of hearing loss. These can include:

  • Aging
  • Exposure to loud noise over time or impulse noise like a gunshot or a firework exploding.
  • Infections or illnesses
  • Genetic malformations inside the middle ear
  • A family history of high-frequency hearing loss or hearing loss of any type

Most of the time, high-frequency hearing loss happens over time and is most commonly noticed as you get older. 

What Are Treatment Options for High-Frequency Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss can dramatically impact your life and make it hard for you to communicate with those around you.

Thankfully, numerous treatment options make it completely possible to enjoy life and regain your confidence by helping you hear clearly and effectively.

Hearing Aids

If the thought of hearing aids makes you picture large, beige devices behind the ears, think again.

Hearing aids have evolved into small, streamlined devices that are very low profile and virtually undetectable to others. 

Modern types of hearing aids can connect via Bluetooth with your devices, and they can automatically capture and correct sounds so that you don’t experience extremely loud or low sounds without the need to “adjust” the volume of your hearing aid. The adjustment now happens automatically. 

Hearing aids use a microphone to collect sound, an amplifier to increase the size of the sound waves, and a speaker to deliver the amplified sound waves to the cochlea.

These can help give you the freedom to hear others speaking and make it much easier for you to hear in a noisy environment. 

Open-fit “miniature” hearing aids are often recommended for high-frequency hearing loss.

These hearing aids are minuscule and help pick up the high-frequency sounds you can no longer hear, amplifying them and giving you back that particular range of hearing. 

Assistive Listening Devices

In some settings, an assistive listening device, or ALD, may be a better option.

For instance, in theaters, auditoriums, or houses of worship where a single speaker is talking to a crowd, ALDs can be worn to help give the listener a clearer and more concentrated audio experience.

Lip Reading

Reading lips is a practice that helps people who are hard of hearing decipher words.

This can be particularly helpful for people who experience high-frequency hearing loss and can no longer hear certain consonants. 

Becoming familiar with the mouth movement that produces those sounds can make up for the inability to hear them and help a person with hearing impairment stay in the conversation. 

Prevention

A part of any hearing loss treatment plan includes preventing further loss.

You can easily practice hearing loss prevention by making smart choices regarding what sounds you experience. 

  • When you’re in a noisy environment with sounds over 70 decibels (like a rock concert or around power tools or lawn equipment), wear earplugs or hearing protection. 
  • Limit exposure to impulse sounds, or wear hearing protection when you’re around them. This includes fireworks shows or at a shooting range. 

Getting routine hearing exams is also important to ensure you aren’t losing your hearing.

Your doctor or audiologist can help you determine how frequently you need an exam.

Healthy Hearing, At Any Age

Losing your hearing can cause you to experience a significant change in how you live your life.

If you’ve had high-frequency hearing loss, there are options to help you hear again. 

Check out the USA Rx blog for more information and tips on managing your hearing loss.

You’ll also find information on leading a happy and healthy lifestyle and tips for combatting some of the most common health problems you may face.

References, Studies and Sources:

Deafness and hearing loss | WHO 

Hearing Loss: A Common Problem for Older Adults | National Institute on Aging 

Sensorineural Hearing Loss | ASHA 

High-frequency hearing loss: Can hearing aids help? | Mayo Clinic 

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Trending Posts

  • The “Occlusion Effect” — What it is, and What to Do About it
  • The Connections Between Hearing Loss and Dementia
  • 5 Latest Treatments for Hearing Loss and Are They Effective?
  • 5 Signs and Symptoms of Hearing Loss
  • 5 Types of Hearing Aids and How To Choose the One for You
  • Age-Related Hearing Loss (Presbycusis): Six Treatment Options
  • Auditory Processing Disorder: When To Try Hearing Aids
  • Bilateral Hearing Loss: Types, Causes, and Treatments
  • Can a Deaf Person Hear With a Hearing Aid?
  • Can Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Cause Hearing Problems?
  • Deaf or Hard of Hearing: What’s the Difference?
  • Hearing Aids for Severe Hearing Loss: What To Know
  • Hearing Aids vs. Hearing Amplifiers: What‚Äôs the Difference?
  • Hearing Loss in One Ear: Causes & Treatment Options
  • High-Frequency Hearing Loss: Causes and Treatment Options
  • How Hearing Loss Can Affect Your Balance
  • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: What Are Your Treatment Options?
  • Seven Common Causes of Hearing Loss¬†
  • The Connections Between Mental Health & Loss of Hearing
  • Treating and Recovering From Sudden Hearing Loss: What to Know
  • What Are the Best Hearing Aid Options for Children?
  • What are the Best Hearing Aid Options for Seniors?
  • What Does Unilateral Hearing Loss Mean?
  • What Is Hidden Hearing Loss and What You Can Do About It
  • What Is Mixed Hearing Loss?
  • What Percentage of Hearing Loss Is Legally Deaf?
  • Why Am I Hearing a Crackling Noise in My Ear?
  • Can Hearing Aids Help Tinnitus?
  • Conductive Hearing Loss: Types, Causes, and Treatments
  • Does Medicare Cover Hearing Aids? What To Know
  • Hearing Aids for Veterans: Three Things To Make Sure of
  • How Do I Know If I’m Losing My Hearing?
  • Seven Different Hearing Loss Tests, and What They Do
  • The Best Hearing Aids for Those Dealing With Sound Loss
  • What Level of Hearing Loss Requires a Hearing Aid?
  • What To Know Before Buying Hearing Aids
  • When Do You Need a Hearing Aid? Five Signs It May Be Time
  • What Are the Best Hearing Aid Options for Young Adults?
  • 7 Common Signs of a Child With Hearing Loss
  • Are Hearing Aids Useful for Mild Hearing Loss?¬†
  • Can You Buy Hearing Aids Over-the-Counter?
  • Difference Between Sensorineural & Conductive Hearing Loss
  • Does Insurance Cover Hearing Aids?
  • Hearing Loss From Meningitis: Everything You Need To Know
  • The 4 Types of Hearing Impairment & What They Mean
  • What Is Acoustic Trauma & How Do You Know You Have It?
  • What Is Asymmetrical Hearing Loss?
  • TELECOIL AND TELEPHONES
  • Classroom Sound-Field Systems
  • Why do Hearing Aids Cost So Much?
  • My “Near Deaf” Experience
  • Hearing Aid Services and Satisfaction: The Consumer Viewpoint
  • The “Occlusion Effect” — What it is, and What to Do About it
  • My “Near Deaf” Experience
  • LARGE AREA ASSISTIVE LISTENING SYSTEMS (ALS): REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • The Audiogram: Explanation and Significance
  • Feedback Cancellation Systems and Open-Ear Hearing Aid Fitting
  • Some Reflections on Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Hearing Aids
  • Helpful Hints to the New Hearing Aid User
  • Environmentally Adaptive Hearing Aids
  • MULTICHANNEL AND MULTI-MICROPHONE DIRECTIONAL HEARING AIDS: Fitting Procedures and Evaluation of Current and Emergent Technology
  • Acceptable Noise Levels (ANL)
  • Dr. Mark Ross is a Principal Investigator of the RERC on Hearing Enhancement,
  • Dr. Ross on Hearing Loss Noise Reduction Hearing Aids: Why They’re Needed, and How They Work
  • Evaluating the Performance of a Hearing Aid in the Real-Ear
  • Audiogram
  • Hearing Aid Companies
  • CURRICULUM VITAE: LINDA KOZMA-SPYTEK
  • Why do Hearing Aids Cost So Much?
  • Developments in Tinnitus
  • TELECOIL AND TELEPHONES
  • Personal and Social Identity of Hard of Hearing People
  • Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aids
  • Dr. Mark Ross is a Principal Investigator of the RERC on Hearing Enhancement
  • A Retrospective Look at the Future of Aural Rehabilitation
  • Home-based Auditory and Speechreading Training
  • Dr. Ross on Hearing Loss
  • Classroom Sound-Field Systems
  • Digital Hearing Aids: From the Perspective of One Consumer/Audiologist
  • Why do Hearing Aids Cost So Much?
  • Listening to Music Through a Cochlear Implant: Part 1
  • Audibility and Useful Hearing Aid Features
  • My “Near Deaf” Experience
  • Different kinds of implants: Auditory, Penetrating and Hybrid
  • Hearing Aid Services and Satisfaction: The Consumer Viewpoint
  • Are Binaural Hearing Aids Better?
  • Classroom Sound-Field Systems
  • Acoustic Feedback Control
  • The Audiogram: Explanation and Significance
  • Frequency-Lowering Hearing Aids: Increasing the Audibility of High-Frequency Speech Sounds
  • Hearing Aid Services and Satisfaction: The Consumer Viewpoint
  • Acceptable Noise Levels (ANL)
  • Hearing Aid Troubleshooting
  • The “Stigma” of Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids
  • Mark Ross
  • STI PROGRAM INFORMATION
  • The Audiogram: Explanation and Significance
  • Low Frequency Residual Hearing Revisited
  • When a Hearing Aid is NOT Enough: Consider other types of Hearing Assistance Technologies

Footer

About Us

Our goal is to address the growing issue of hearing health by conducting innovative research and providing education on how to prevent, detect, preserve, and treat hearing and balance disorders.

Recent Posts

  • The “Occlusion Effect” — What it is, and What to Do About it
  • The Connections Between Hearing Loss and Dementia
  • 5 Latest Treatments for Hearing Loss and Are They Effective?
  • 5 Signs and Symptoms of Hearing Loss
  • 5 Types of Hearing Aids and How To Choose the One for You

Copyright © 2023 · Expert Advice from Audiologists · Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy · Editorial Policy · Partnership with Diabetic.org