If you have a hearing issue, it could be something wrong in your ear’s ability to conduct sound or your brain’s ability to translate impulses or both depending on your exact symptoms.
Your ability to process sound is determined by a number of variables such as overall health, age, brain function, and genetics. You could be dealing with one of the following kinds of hearing loss if you have the aggravating experience of hearing people speak but not being able to comprehend what they are saying.
Conductive Hearing Loss
You might be experiencing conductive hearing loss if you have to repeatedly swallow and yank 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 issues to the outer and middle ear including wax buildup, ear infections, eardrum damage, and buildup of fluid. You may still be able to hear some people with louder voices while only partly hearing people with lower voices depending on the severity of your hearing loss.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
In contrast to conductive hearing loss, which affects the middle and outer ear, Sensorineural hearing loss impacts the inner ear. Sounds to the brain can be blocked if the auditory nerve or the hair like nerves are damaged. Sounds can seem too soft or loud and voices can sound too muddy. If you can’t separate voices from background noise or have difficulty hearing women and children’s voices particularly, then you may be experiencing high-frequency hearing loss.