The presbyacusia is the progressive loss of the ciliées cells which paper usually our internal ear. It is one of the effects of ageing on the Audition. It is thus about an inescapable phenomenon caused by ageing.

The word comes from the Greek words presby , which means “older” ( presbys meaning “old man”), and akousis , meaning “hearing”. The parallel with the Presbyopia, which relates to the effect of ageing on the vision is rather obvious.

Presbyacusia results in a loss of the perception of the acute sounds which allow a good perception of the words.

Description

It corresponds to various mechanisms, and of which the effects generally combine: loss of flexibility of the ossicle S, physiological degeneration of the cochlea, loss of the sensory cells, etc It corresponds in fact to a total attack of the auditive system, middle ear until the nervous system. The consequences of presbyacusia generally appear with the top of the fifty years age, and evolve/move gradually and symmetrically (the two ears touch in an equal way).

It seems conditioned by factors Génétique S (there exist families where presbyacusia appears earlier and more intensely), or by the lifestyle, noise exposure. Except these factors, often worsening, the auditive losses that it induces are very variable from one individual to another. Lastly, a marked difference would exist between men and women in the evolution of the thresholds of hearing with the age (men more strongly touched, in term of level of losses). It remains the most frequent cause of hearing impairment.

Presbyacusia in general affects initially the high frequencies, above 1000 Hz (it can touch all the frequencies according to its origins, but the perception of the low frequencies remains overall less affected). For the person reached of presbyacusia, the consequences in the life of the every day can go from the simple difficulty of comprehension in a noisy environment, until the fold on oneself, with insulation, of fear of not being able to communicate correctly with its pars.

Treatment

Auditive equipment is the only treatment to be proposed, but the proportion of installed people remains weak. Many factors can explain that (lack of information, sometimes difficult tracking), but the vision of auditive equipment has started nevertheless to evolve/move for a few years. The new apparatuses now more powerful and are miniaturized (thus less indicators), which makes it possible to reduce the psychological reserves due to the port of equipment, and to change the image that one into A.

See too

• Acouphène
• Auditive acuteness
• Hyperacusia