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Hearing loss ranges in severity. For some, it may not be problematic, but for others it impacts their daily life and relationships.
If you get your hearing tested and wonder what category your hearing loss falls into, you can refer to the chart below.
You will be given an audiogram, which shows you how loud you need sounds to be for you to hear them, across different frequencies (pitches).
Audiologists lovingly refer to the image on the right as the “speech banana,” which shows where different sounds, particularly speech sounds, occur on the audiogram.
This can give you an idea of what sounds you might be missing.
Degrees of Hearing Loss Chart
dB HL | Severity |
|---|---|
0-25 | Normal |
26-40 | Mild |
41-55 | Moderate |
56-70 | Moderately-severe |
71-90 | Severe |
90+ | Profound |
Mild Hearing Impairment: Typically described as hearing speech between 26-40 decibels. Mild hearing loss can also be described as having trouble understanding different consonants while spoken such as “th” and “f”. Most conversations are relatively easy to decipher, however, it’s still a constant annoyance that might lead to moderate or severe hearing loss.
Moderate Hearing Impairment: You are able to hear most sounds between 40-70 decibels, but you need people you’re having a conversation with to constantly repeat what they’re saying.
Severe Hearing Impairment: Only hearing sounds between 70 and 90 decibels, people with severe hearing loss absolutely need a hearing impaired phone and will benefit from it 100%. With severe hearing loss, you probably wear hearing aids to understand others and be able to hear sounds in general.
