To understand hearing loss you need to understand what normal or average hearing means. If you have normal hearing you should have no difficulty hearing and understanding most of what other people in a conversation are able to hear, whether spoken by men, women or children. If you are experiencing a hearing loss, you may notice that you are unable to understand women or children, but can hear men more clearly. With the beginning of a hearing loss, the higher sounds such as those made by women and children are frequently the first sounds that we lose.
Hearing on the phone, at meetings, in large groups and with background noise may become challenging and frustrating for you. Generally, if you are having difficulty hearing the same things that others around you are hearing with no difficulty, you should discuss this with your doctor who can begin an assessment of your hearing and determine if there is a problem.
Hearing loss, once identified by a professional, will be described to you in terms of: a mild loss in which you experience some difficulty in ordinary conversation, a moderate loss where others must raise their voices and hearing devices are necessary for you to hear in most situations, a severe to profound loss where you would require hearing aids and/or other accommodations.