If you have a hearing problem, it might be a problem with your ear’s ability to conduct sound or your brain’s ability to translate impulses or both depending on your exact symptoms.
Age, overall wellness, brain function, and the physical makeup of your ear all play a role in your ability to process sound. If you have the aggravating experience of hearing a person’s voice but not being able to process or understand what that person is saying you may be dealing with one or more of the following kinds of hearing loss.
Conductive Hearing Loss
You might be experiencing conductive hearing loss if you have to repeatedly swallow and tug on your ears while saying with growing irritation “There’s something in my ear”. The ear’s ability to conduct sound to the brain is lessened by problems to the outer and middle ear like wax buildup, ear infections, eardrum damage, and buildup of fluid. You might still be able to hear some people with louder voices while only partially hearing people with lower voices depending on the severity of your hearing loss.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Where conductive hearing loss can be induced by outer- and middle-ear issues, Sensorineural hearing loss affects the inner ear. Sounds to the brain can be stopped if the auditory nerve or the hair like nerves are damaged. Sounds can seem too loud or soft and voices can sound too muddy. If you can’t differentiate voices from background noise or have a hard time hearing women and children’s voices particularly, then you may be suffering from high-frequency hearing loss.