Everything About Your Hearing
How to notice hearing loss and how to protect your hearing. Plus a short look inside the ear itself.
15 Million People in Germany have hearing loss. The number is rising.
Recognizing Signs of Hearing Loss
Four situations in which hearing loss often shows first.
TV and Radio Turned Up Louder
Others in the room find the TV too loud, but to you it seems normal. With hearing loss, the middle and high frequencies usually go first. These are the very frequencies that make speech clear.
Conversations in a Restaurant
Dishes clatter at the next table, and suddenly the person opposite you is hard to understand. You ask people to repeat themselves more often. If you miss single words or whole sentences, that can point to mild hearing loss.
Speech Sounds Unclear
Consonants such as F or SH are high-pitched, vowels such as A or O are low. If your hearing declines in the high range, you still hear the vowels, but you no longer catch the consonants reliably. Then speech sounds blurred, even though it is loud enough.
Children's Voices
Children's voices are higher than adults' voices. That is why hearing loss often shows first with a grandchild telling you something on the phone.
How Does Our Hearing Work?
The ear does more than pick up sounds. It also helps us judge where a sound comes from and how large a room is.
A sound source sends out sound waves. The pinna catches them and passes them through the ear canal to the eardrum. From there they travel on into the inner ear, to the hair cells. These convert the vibrations into electrical impulses. Via the auditory nerve, the impulses reach the brain.
We hear best between 500 and 4,000 hertz. This range is called the speech range. Here we understand speech most clearly.
Types of Hearing Impairment
Conductive Hearing Loss
Here the problem lies in the outer or middle ear. Sound does not reach the inner ear properly, for example because the ear canal is blocked. Around 20% of all hearing impairments are caused by a problem with sound conduction.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
The cause lies in the inner ear or the auditory nerve. Often hair cells are permanently damaged. Then you hear some tones less well.
Preventing Hearing Loss
How to Protect Your Hearing
Avoid Noise
From about 120 decibels, sound hurts. But your hearing is damaged at far lower levels. At concerts, keep your distance from the speakers.
Wear Hearing Protection
In loud environments, hearing protection helps. The best fit comes from protection made from an impression of your ear canal. You can get this custom hearing protection from us, for example for the workshop or for band rehearsals.
Regular Hearing Tests
We recommend having your hearing tested once a year. The hearing test with us is free. Comparing it with the previous year shows you whether anything has changed.
Do Not Wait Too Long
Have hearing loss checked as soon as you notice it. Trial wearing shows whether a hearing aid helps you, and which one. With us, trial wearing is free.
Further reading
- Preparing for your hearing aid consultation: what we ask and whyThe first consultation is less about technology and more about you: where you struggle to follow, what your everyday life looks like and what matters to you. Here is what we ask, why we ask it, and what to bring.
- Hearing aid co-payment 2026: Festbetrag, 10 € and your own share explainedFestbetrag, statutory co-payment and own share get mixed up all the time. What you really pay in 2026, when a device costs nothing extra and what more technology costs in the subscription.
- Hearing aids for children: paediatric audiology in Horst, from the hearing test to schoolChildren need different hearing aids than adults and a hearing test that is a game. How parents notice a hearing loss, what the insurer pays and how our paediatric audiology in Horst works.
- Custom hearing protection: which filter for which noiseAn earmould made from an impression seals well and does not press, even after hours. Here you can read which filter suits which purpose and when the employer pays.
- Hearing aids and glasses: how both fit behind the earPressure marks, whistling, a hearing aid that comes off with the glasses: why it gets tight behind the ear, which order, style and temple help, and what we do differently at the fitting.
- Signs of hearing loss: when should you take a hearing test?Many people notice their hearing loss late. Learn which signs point to reduced hearing and why an early hearing test matters so much.
- How Does the Ear Work?The human ear is a fascinating organ. Learn how sound waves are converted into signals that our brain interprets as sound.
- Hearing in Old AgeAge-related hearing loss (presbycusis) affects nearly one in three people over 65. Learn what is behind it and how modern hearing aids can help.
- Tinnitus and hearing aids: how modern technology can helpFor most people with ringing in the ears, hearing loss lies behind it. What hearing aids with a noiser and notch setting can do, what they cannot, and when you need to see an ENT practice.
Free Hearing Test
The hearing test in our five branches is free and takes about 15 minutes. We explain the result to you straight away.
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