Helpful Hearing Loss Simulator available at Better Hearing Institute

Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common type of hearing loss and most often caused by damage to the inner ear, for a variety of reasons.  Obviously extreme noise exposure can be the culprit, but more often problems arise from certain medications, diseases, and most especially aging - all of which can damage parts of the inner ear and wind up causing permanent hearing loss. 

If a sound is loud enough, a person with inner ear damage will still be able to hear it, as the relatively undamaged parts of the cochlea can still transmit sound to the auditory nerve, and on to the brain. However, the high frequencies are often very difficult to determine, which can make it hard to notice differences in consonant sounds - such as in the words "sit" and “fit”. 

The Better Hearing Institute has created a simulator for Sensorineural hearing loss, so that everyone may discover how inner ear damage can affect hearing.  The simulator can be found here:

http://www.betterhearing.org/hearing_loss/hearing_loss_simulator/index.cfm

The simulation includes numerous sounds, from basic two-way dialogue and crowds, to environmental noises and Beethoven music.  It also includes two distinct types of hearing loss:

Mild Hearing loss: People with mild hearing loss are unable to hear soft sounds and have difficulty understanding speech clearly in noisy environments.

Moderate hearing loss: This simulation reflects a typical high frequency moderate hearing loss. People with this type of hearing loss are unable to hear soft and moderately loud sounds and have considerable difficulty understanding speech particularly in background noise.

Most sensorineural hearing losses can be treated effectively with hearing instruments, If suspected, do not hesitate to talk to an audiologist.