Cookie bite hearing loss, or trough hearing loss, is a rare form of sensorineural hearing loss that affects the ability to hear a very specific frequency range. It gets its name from the curve that the frequency sensitivity graph draws.
Hearing loss is one of the most common disabilities in the population. This particular disorder can make it difficult to understand everyday sounds, including speech.
Let's take a closer look at what hearing loss is and what are the essential things to know about cookie bite hearing loss.
Understanding hearing loss in general
Millions of people live with hearing loss, one of the most common disabilities. Many factors are involved, as it varies depending on individuals and the environments they are exposed to.
Genetic factors, for example, increase the risk of developing hearing loss if one of your parents also suffers from sensorineural hearing loss. Loud noises can degrade your ears' ability to perceive sound waves; moreover, trauma can also alter their natural functioning.
Let's take a moment to review the main types of hearing loss and precisely define what cookie bite hearing loss is.
Types of hearing loss
Many people don't realize right away that they suffer from hearing loss. They do notice that they no longer hear as well as at another time in their life, but the question of why often remains unanswered.
In short, your hearing threshold rises as your ability to hear decreases. But what does that mean? Sounds travel through the air as energy waves, which vibrate at different frequencies. Each wave has its own signature linked to its frequency level, which determines the sound that will then be interpreted. As they propagate, these waves exert a natural force on your ears. This force is measured in decibels.
Thus, a soft-spoken person talking to you in a crowded subway station will have to raise their voice to be heard over the ambient noise. When we suffer from hearing loss, we lose our natural ability to perceive low-intensity sound waves.
As our hearing declines, the decibel threshold at which we perceive a sound increases. Suddenly, sound waves that previously occurred at a low level must be pushed to a higher level to be heard.
In cookie bite hearing loss, the affected frequency range extends from 500 to 2000 Hz. Unfortunately, this range contains many common sounds, including speech. This is called mid-frequency hearing loss.
Conductive hearing loss
There are three main types of hearing loss. Each can have multiple causes, to which different treatment options correspond.
Conductive hearing loss refers to cases where sound waves are not properly "transmitted." It is due to some blockage within the ear.
The ear consists of three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. Each of them can suffer an obstruction that prevents the sound wave from circulating and interacting normally.
Our middle ear houses a tympanic cavity that contains three important ossicles: the stapes, the incus, and the malleus. These small bones are perfectly calibrated to react to the vibrations of the tympanic membrane, better known as the eardrum, when it vibrates under the effect of sound waves traveling through the ear canal.
These ossicles vibrate in a very specific way in response to the tympanic membrane, and these vibrations are transmitted to the inner ear.
An obstruction due to excess earwax is easily corrected. However, trauma with a foreign body lodged in the ear canal can have more serious consequences. In many cases, the eardrum or ossicles can be damaged, but also repaired.
While severe damage can result from trauma, this type of hearing loss is generally correctable. Moreover, it rarely corresponds to moderately severe to severe hearing loss.
Sensorineural hearing loss
This form of hearing loss generally corresponds to more significant deficits. As its name indicates, it directly concerns the neurological aspect of hearing.
In the inner ear, the cochlea is the area where these vibrations are converted into electrical signals that reach the brain to be interpreted as sounds.
When this process of translating vibrations from the middle ear into electrical impulses in the inner ear is disrupted, it is called sensorineural hearing loss.
Audiogram and cookie bite hearing loss
An audiogram is a graph that presents the results of a hearing test. If you suspect hearing loss and talk to your doctor about it, they will most likely refer you for hearing tests. These tests are non-invasive and painless: they simply evaluate the limits of your hearing abilities.
Several types of hearing tests are usually necessary. The audiologist is a certified specialist who can perform these tests and determine precisely the type of hearing loss you suffer from.
The five main tests you will undergo are:
Pure-tone audiometry
Speech audiometry
Middle ear tests
Auditory brainstem response
Otoacoustic emissions
These five types of tests make it possible to identify not only the nature of your hearing loss, but also its severity. When you consult your results on an audiogram, you see a graph with the decibel level on the y-axis and the frequency on the x-axis.
Normal hearing generally corresponds to a threshold close to zero. This means that a person with normal hearing can hear a slight whisper. These thresholds depend on the frequency at which the sound is emitted. Thus, when a person suffers from hearing loss, their results fall outside the normal range on the y-axis and move towards higher decibel levels.
Cookie bite hearing loss specifically refers to an audiogram on which a person's hearing drops to higher decibels in the 500 to 2000 Hz range. This results in an approximately straight line from 0 to 500 Hz, then a dip to around 2000 Hz, where the curve returns to normal.
This results in a curve that, according to some, resembles a bite taken out of a cookie, hence the English nickname cookie bite.
Treating cookie bite hearing loss
The general causes of cookie bite hearing loss are genetic, and it is a rare form of hearing loss. The good news is that treatment is very accessible. However, this mid-frequency hearing loss affects essential frequencies, such as those of everyday speech.
Some affected individuals only experience marked symptoms in the presence of high ambient noise levels. A person with cookie bite hearing loss can therefore learn to manage social situations likely to aggravate these symptoms.
Hearing aids are also a very practical treatment. These devices are designed to identify the frequencies you hear poorly, then amplify them to a perceptible decibel threshold.
Choose CLARIA hearing aids
You might think that any hearing loss is a disaster. Fortunately, cookie bite hearing loss can be managed with hearing aids. While these can sometimes be expensive, high-quality over-the-counter solutions can treat conditions like cookie bite hearing loss.
"No matter what type of hearing loss you have, CLARIA hearing aids offer an affordable solution that can meet almost everyone's needs." - Drew Sutton, MD, Board-Certified Otolaryngologist.
CLARIA has worked hard to develop an over-the-counter hearing aid that improves your daily life without breaking the bank. Our EV1 and EV3 hearing aids use technology that filters background noise and highlights the sounds you want to hear. To find out how our product can help you with hearing loss, click here.
Source:
Anatomy and Physiology of the Ear | stanfordchildrens.org
Types of Hearing Loss | ASHA
Cookie-bite hearing loss: What is it? | healthyhearing.com
Types of Tests Used to Evaluate Hearing in Children and Adults | ASHA
Types of Hearing Loss | hopkinsmedicine.org
What does my audiogram mean? | boystownhospital.org
Deafness and hearing loss fact sheet | WHO
Hearing loss and deafness: Normal hearing and impaired hearing | NCBI Bookshelf
