What are the different types of hearing loss?

Between “hearing well” and “hearing nothing” lies a wide range of different types of hearing loss. Experts distinguish between mild, moderate, severe and profound hearing loss. Most cases of hearing loss are categorized as mild or moderate.

Mild hearing loss

Soft noises are not heard. Understanding speech is difficult in a loud environment.

The sound of speech

Human speech consists of vowels and consonants at different loudness and frequency levels. They are recorded on the audiogram as a so-called “speech banana”. It is an easy way to check whether the entire spectrum of speech is still audible and how a person’s hearing changes with time.

Moderate hearing loss

Soft and moderately loud noises are not heard. Understanding speech becomes very difficult if background noise is present.

Severe hearing loss

Conversations have to be conducted loudly. Group conversations are possible only with a lot of effort.

Profound hearing loss

Some very loud noises are heard. Without a hearing aid, communication is no longer possible even with intense effort.

About Hearing Loss

Causes of hearing loss
Types of hearing loss
How hearing loss sounds
Consequences of hearing loss
What is an audiogram?
Facts and figures

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