“I'm not deaf because I hear, the problem is that I don't understand.” It seems that behind this phrase hides a feeling of frustration due to the loss of hope in fixing the problem and recovering social life. This frustration may come from ignorance, lack of acceptance, complex... If this is your situation or that of a family member or acquaintance, we encourage you to continue reading, we are sure that this post will be helpful to you.

This feeling is very common, especially in losses caused by presbycusis. Hearing tends to degrade with age, especially affecting high-pitched sounds.

Below we attach some audiometries in which the impact of presbycusis is clearly seen. In the first photo we see an audiometry with values within normal parameters and in the second photo we can see an audiometry with loss, especially in high-pitched sounds:


The feeling we are talking about is mainly due to the fact that we are hearing the lowest sounds at a higher intensity than the highest sounds. This makes us have a perception of listening but not with sufficient clarity. 

By having this type of affectation, consonants such as “s”, “f” or “k” are more affected than vowels or other phonemes such as “b” or “d”, this is because these consonants are mainly acute, which is the one that we mentioned has the most impact. Let's say you are half-listening to the words and this is why you "listen but don't understand." Furthermore, it is also very possible that for this same reason you stopped hearing birds a long time ago.

After we have understood what your problem truly is, we will tell you the best part; and it is that your problem has a solution and it is hearing aids. ¿Can you imagine after some time reliving the experiences that you thought were lost due to your hearing problem? If you don't try it you won't believe it. Contact a hearing care professional to evaluate your case and recommend the best option.