Hearing, one among the five senses that helps us understand and be aware of our surroundings is an ability that about 20% of the world does not have. Hearing loss is something that can be prevented or at least the onset process can be delayed with proper health care, and this is why World Health Day is celebrated every year.

World Hearing Day is a campaign organized by Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the World Health Organization (WHO) each year. It is an annual global event that advocates for raising awareness regarding hearing loss and promoting ear and hearing care, and calling for action to address hearing loss and related issues. Every year on 3rd of March World Hearing Day is celebrated with a specific theme related to hearing loss and its prevention and activities are conducted based on the theme.

The theme for World Hearing Day 2025 is “Changing Mindsets: Empower Yourself”. The theme stands for bringing hearing and ear care to light for all. It is a powerful call to action and it encourages people and communities to take control of their hearing health, by adopting preventive measures and advocating for better and easy access to care. Incorporating diagnosis and treatment into primary care will be a prime step in achieving the goal.

Understanding Hearing Loss

Before talking about causes of hearing loss or measures to prevent deafness it is important to know what hearing loss is and what are its types. Hearing loss is defined as the inability to hear as well as someone with normal hearing, which is defined as hearing thresholds of 20 dB or better in both ears. Mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe, or profound hearing loss are all possible. One or both ears may be affected, making it difficult to hear loud noises or conversational speech.

Types of Hearing Loss

• Sensorineural Hearing Loss - This is the most common type of hearing loss. It is caused by damage in inner ear nerve or the actual hearing nerve. Some of the common causes of this type of hearing loss is aging, exposure to loud noise, injury, disease, certain drugs or an inherited condition. Sensorineural hearing does not have any medical or surgical treatment but hearing aids are proven beneficial for them.
• Conductive Hearing Loss - Conductive hearing loss occurs because of issues in the middle or outer ear canal making the sound waves unable to reach the inner ear. This is most commonly found in children. Causes for this type of hearing loss is blockade in the canal due to earwax or some foreign object. The eardrum may have been damaged, or the middle ear space may be affected by fluid, an infection, or an irregularity of the bone. Conductive Hearing Loss can be cured by medical or surgical intervention.
• Mixed Hearing Loss - This is a combination of both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss. A person may already be suffering from sensorineural hearing and develop conductive symptoms overtime. This is why it is important to get a diagnosis to know exactly what type of hearing loss a person is suffering from and if there is any treatment for them.

Causes for Hearing Loss

There are several causes of hearing loss. Different ages have different reasons for onset of hearing loss.

Prenatal Period

• Genetic issues during pregnancy, such as hereditary and non-hereditary hearing loss.
• Intrauterine infections, including CMV and rubella.

Perinatal period

• Birth asphyxia during the perinatal period (a shortage of oxygen at birth).
• Severe jaundice in neonates due to hyperbilirubinemia.
• Other perinatal morbidities, including low birth weight, and how to treat them.

Childhood and Adolescence

• Chronic ear infections in children and adolescents (chronic suppurative otitis media).
• Ear fluid accumulation (chronic nonsuppurative otitis media).
• Infections, including meningitis.

Adulthood and Older ages

• Chronic diseases
• Smoking
• Otosclerosis
• Age-related sensorineural hearing loss
• Sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Factors across all age groups

• Cerumen impaction (impacted ear wax).
• Trauma to the ear or head.
• Loud noise/loud sounds exposure.
• Ototoxic medicines.
• Work related ototoxic chemicals.
• Nutritional deficiencies.
• Viral infections and other ear conditions.
• Delayed onset or progressive genetic hearing loss.

Why awareness for Hearing Loss is important

Hearing loss does not only affect a person physically but it also has an emotional and social impact. Hearing loss affects a person in multiple ways which is important to understand for them and the people surrounding them.

• Social Isolation - Hearing loss can lead to a person feeling very lonely and neglected. A huge number of places and activities are not hearing loss friendly which might make them feel left out.
• Mental Health - Because of the isolation and loneliness people suffering from hearing loss undergo a lot of stress which might hamper them physically as well as emotionally.
• Cognitive Function - Untreated hearing loss can lead to other medical conditions such as cognitive decline and dementia. The brain also has to work harder with hearing loss to process its surroundings.
• Occupational Hurdle - Hearing loss can affect communication which can lead to reduced productivity at work. There are limited career opportunities for people with hearing loss.

Prevention

Preventing hearing loss is crucial at every stage of life, from pregnancy and the perinatal years to old age. Almost 60% of hearing loss in children is caused by preventable factors that can be avoided by putting public health policies in place. Similarly, the majority of adult hearing loss causes, including loud noise exposure and ototoxic medications, may be avoided.

Here is a list of ways Hearing Loss can be prevented -

• Immunization.
• Good maternal and childcare practices.
• Genetic counselling.
• Identification and management of common ear conditions.
• Occupational hearing conservation programmes for noise and chemical exposure.
• Safe listening strategies for the reduction of exposure to loud sounds in recreational settings.
• Rational use of medicines to prevent ototoxic hearing loss.

Conclusion

Spreading awareness for Hearing Loss is crucial, the time to take action is now. Both communities and people as individuals need to come together to spread awareness about ear and hearing health care only then can the goal can be achieved.