Miracle Ear in Tullahoma was having its annual open house, and to Davison it seemed the right time.

"We think it will help improve his quality of life," his daughter said.

Davison came with his daughter, Lou Juan Mignogna, and her husband, Joseph, who also wanted to have his hearing checked.

"Hearing loss sneaks up on people," said Ross Osborne, hearing instrument specialist for Miracle Ear. "Usually it is a spouse or family member that notices it before the individual recognizes they are having problems."

Sometimes referred to as the "silent killer," hearing loss can slowly diminish a person's ability to interact with family members and affect their overall outlook on life, Osborne said. If left untreated, hearing loss can eventually cause the person to completely withdraw from activities they once enjoyed.

For many people, hearing loss is an embarrassing subject. They may choose not to seek treatment because they feel it is a natural process of aging. Michelle Crawford, a licenced hearing specialist for Miracle Ear in Tullahoma, said that isn't case.

"Hearing loss is not an ailment of old age. Forty percent of people with hearing loss are younger than 65," Ms. Crawford said. "We are seeing people in their 40s coming in to have their hearing tested and see where they stand. Coming in early is helpful because we are able to determine if hearing loss is progressing."

Part of the treatment in dealing with hearing loss is diminishing the stigmas surrounding hearing loss, she said.

There are a number of factors that can contribute to hearing loss. According the Better Hearing Institute, one of the largest contributors is noise damage.

Gunshot blasts, working in noisy factories, and simply not wearing protection while noise levels are elevated can cause permanent damage.

"Often clients will tell us that they wish they had known that sitting on a tractor or working in a factory all those years would cause damage. Otherwise, they would have worn ear protection," Osborne said.

Once the damage is done it is very rare that it reverses. Even with hearing loss, specialists recommend wearing protection to preserve the hearing you still have.

Diagnosis for hearing loss is relatively simple and only takes a little more than an hour. An otoscope is one of the first tests. The hearing instrument specialist or doctor looks through a specula into the ear canal to make sure there isn't any excessive earwax buildup, blockage or damage to the eardrum.

When Davison went to get his hearing checked, Osborne used a video otoscope to look into his ear. On the end of the specula were fiberoptic cables that passed into the ear canal projecting an image of the inner ear onto a monitor. A photo of the ear was taken and printed.

If there are not any signs of visible damage, a hearing evaluation is done.

"Not everyone with a hearing problem can be helped by a hearing aid," Osborne said. "If there is visible damage to the inner ear we will refer them to an ear, nose and throat specialist."

According to a report by the National Academy on Aging, sensorineural hearing loss is the most common form and occurs when damage or trauma affects the nerve endings in the inner ear or along the nerve pathways to the brain.

The damage not only lowers the overall hearing level, but can selectively affect speech understanding, ability to hear certain frequencies, and other specific symptoms, which are unique to every individual.

"A person with hearing loss will only hear parts of words, not the complete word. Their brains will then fill in blank-sometimes incorrectly," Osborne said. "This is a problem that now can be treated."

Hearing instruments now come in many different shapes and sizes. When some people think of hearing aids they think of large bulky and uncomfortable.

"You do not have to wear the large hearing aids anymore," Osborne said. "Now, many hearing aids are small and fit into the ear canal becoming barley noticeable."

New hearing aids are equipped with directional microphones that can focus specific on amp ranges, which is ideal for people with low speech recognition.

"The quicker you come in, the faster you can adapt to a hearing aid," Osborne said. "Hearing loss does not mean you have to miss out on family time or your daily activities."

From Tullahoma News