Degrees of hearing loss

What are the degrees of hearing loss?

Degrees of hearing loss can range from mild to profound. To determine the severity, specialists look at two different factors:

• how loud the volume needs to be before you can hear sound adequately, and
• which frequencies are harder for you to hear (such as higher-pitched sounds). 

Loudness is measured in decibels (dB), while pitch or frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz).

The degree of hearing loss refers to the minimum volume level you need before sound becomes audible. For context, a whisper is around 30 dB, while a roaring motorcycle reaches about 95 dB.

In general, degrees of hearing loss are broken into the following categories:

Mild hearing loss (26-40dB)

People with mild hearing loss may hear fine in quiet, one-on-one conversations, but struggle in noisy environments. Soft sounds like whispering (around 30 dB), birds chirping, or a refrigerator running (around 40 dB) can be difficult to detect. Group conversations, especially with background noise, often make speech harder to follow. Slight hearing loss is around 20 dB.

Moderate hearing loss (41–69 dB)

At this level, you may find yourself asking others to repeat themselves during conversations. Everyday sounds like normal speech (around 50–60 dB), laughter, or a ringing phone (around 65 dB) may be hard to hear. Untreated, you may find yourself feeling easily fatigued after social interactions because of straining to understand what's being said.

Severe hearing loss (70–94 dB)

People with severe hearing loss cannot hear regular conversation without the help of hearing aids or other amplification. Sounds like a vacuum cleaner (around 75 dB), an alarm clock (around 80 dB), or busy traffic (around 85–90 dB) are often inaudible. Many people at this level may need to rely on lip reading and visual cues to understand speech.

Profound hearing loss (95 dB and above)

At this stage, even very loud sounds may be hard or impossible to hear. This includes a motorcycle engine (95 dB), construction work (100+ dB), or a live concert (110 dB or more). People with profound hearing loss often benefit from cochlear implants or may use sign language as their primary method of communication.

Treatment is based hearing loss severity

Standard hearing aids are the most common treatment for mild to moderate hearing loss. Depending your style and technology preferences, lifestyle and budget, you and your hearing specialist will work together to find the right pair of hearing aids to best meet your needs.

If your hearing loss ranges from severe to profound, power hearing aids or cochlear implants will likely be recommended instead.

It's important to treat hearing problems early

While people with more severe hearing issues are likely to seek treatment, many with milder forms often put off getting a hearing test.

Though it may be easy to dismiss, treating mild hearing loss is essential because it improves your ability to participate in everyday activities and stay connected to others, and maintain a high quality of life. Early treatment also reduces the cognitive strain that comes with struggling to process sounds, allowing your brain to function more efficiently.

Struggling to hear at low or medium frequencies?

Most cases of hearing loss involve struggling to hear high-frequency or high-pitched sounds (think birds chirping or children's voices). However, other people tend to have trouble with low or mid-range frequency sounds.

People with low-frequency or reverse-slope hearing loss often struggle with bass-heavy sounds, thunder, or vowel sounds in speech.

Mid-range or "cookie bite" hearing loss affects the ability to hear many consonants, which make speech sounds and music harder to hear.

Mild cases of low or mid-range hearing problems may not require any treatment. However, if it's impacting your ability to communicate, hearing aids can be custom-programmed to amplify the specific frequencies you struggle to hear.

What if hearing levels are different in each ear?

Generally, the degree of hearing loss is similar in both ears. When there is hearing loss present in both ears, but one ear is significantly worse, it's known as asymmetrical hearing loss.

This discrepancy between ears may indicate a medical condition and you should make an appointment with your medical provider to help determine the cause.

What do hearing test results look like?

The results of your hearing evaluation are charted on an audiogram, which is a graph of the softest sounds you heard during your test.

Here’s an example of an audiogram of someone with mild-to-moderately-severe high-frequency hearing loss. This person could easily hear thunder but not the sound of birds:

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