Definition

Hearing disorders range from a temporary, partial loss of hearing to the permanent loss of hearing known as deafness.

Description

The variety of hearing disorders includes a loss or decrease in the ability to discern certain frequencies of sound, a ringing or other noise that is unrelated to any actual external sound, damage due to physical trauma or infection, and genetically determined structural malformation.

Demographics

Hearing disorders occur worldwide in all races. The hearing loss that occurs with age is very common, affecting an estimated 30% of Americans over 60 years of age and 50% of those older than 75.

Tinnitus, a ringing or noisy sensation in the ears, is quite common with an estimated 20% of people affected worldwide. In the United States alone, some 36 million people experience tinnitus.

For hearing loss caused by otosclerosis, middle-aged Caucasian women...