That is why May has been declared Better Speech and Hearing Month. Hearing loss is nothing to be ashamed of, and 95 percent of those suffering from hearing loss could be helped by a hearing aid. The problem is that too few people are willing to admit that they have a problem. There are several risk factors in developing hearing loss. Some are inevitable, others can be prevented.
Age is the most common risk factor in developing hearing loss.
About 30 percent of people between 65 and 74 experience some difficulty in hearing. Conversations become more and more difficult to follow. Doorbells and telephones go unanswered. But hearing loss is not just an old person's condition. A recent nationwide study that tested 6,166 children aged 6 to 19 projected an estimate of seven million children with some hearing loss.