Most people with hearing loss struggle with high-frequency sounds, such as birds chirping or children talking, first. However, some people have a less common form of hearing loss known as low-frequency hearing loss.
What Is It? 
Low-frequency hearing loss means that you have a reduced ability to hear lower-pitched sounds. It is also referred to as reverse-slope hearing loss. This is because of how low-frequency hearing loss shows up on an audiogram, which is a chart that audiologists use to measure your hearing during a hearing test. For those with low-frequency hearing loss, their results will slope low to high when plotted on an audiogram, whereas, in most cases of hearing loss, the pattern is usually the opposite.
How Low-Frequency Hearing Loss Affects Your Hearing Ability
Like any hearing loss, low-frequency hearing loss can range from mild to profound. If you have the condition, you will struggle to at least some degree to hear sounds like men’s voices, thunder and bass sounds in music, among other lower-pitched sounds.
Low-frequency hearing loss can also impact your ability to understand speech in several different ways:
- It can make it harder to hear vowel sounds
- You may find it easier to hear women’s and children’s voices as opposed to men’s
- You need people to talk louder to understand them
Other things you may notice are that music sounds tinny or that you can’t hear rumbling noises from the engines of cars and planes.
What Causes Low-Frequency Hearing Loss?
Low-frequency hearing loss can be caused by several different factors. Sometimes, it’s genetic or can be acquired after being sick in childhood.
However, studies have shown that “Meniere’s disease, autoimmune-mediated inner ear disease, and steeply sloping hearing loss in the ipsilateral ear are risk factors” for developing low-frequency hearing loss.
Diagnosis and Treatment Options
Because low-frequency hearing loss is rare, it can be underdiagnosed. However, rigorous testing and an accurate audiogram will show the reverse-slope pattern and lead to an accurate diagnosis. If you’ve experienced any signs of low-frequency hearing loss, whether at work, home or out for coffee with friends at Café Flore, schedule an appointment for a hearing test.
Hearing aids can help by being set to amplify lower sounds without also over-amplifying the frequencies you hear just fine on your own. Because this type of hearing loss is less common, there may be more trial and error during the fitting process when it comes to the right amplification. Working with a knowledgeable and patient audiologist can make all the difference in finding the treatment that works best for you.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Gulf Coast Audiology today.