Hearing Loss

Hearing loss, impairment or deafness may be of two major types: one that develops some time in life, one that a baby is born with – or congenital deafness. Most commonly, hearing loss is seen with age or is caused by exposure to loud noises.

What is hearing loss?

More than 10 million people in the United Kingdom have some form of hearing loss. Of these about 688,000 are severely or profoundly deaf.

Symptoms and Diagnosis of Hearing Loss

Causes of Hearing Loss

Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)

What is Safe Listening?

Types of Hearing Loss

Treatment of hearing loss

Dealing with Hearing Loss

Newborn Hearing Screening

Recent Developments in Hearing Technology

Conductive Hearing Loss

Hearing Loss and Genetics

See more featured articles »

Preventing Noise-induced Hearing Loss

Hearing Loss Research

Age-Related Hearing Loss (ARHL) / Presbycusis

Latest Hearing Loss News and Research

Dual sensory loss affects confidence in navigation and sound localization

According to a recent multi-institute PLOS One study led by the Multisensory Research Lab at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine, time of hearing loss onset is a key determinant of patient confidence and self-reported sound localization abilities - the ability to perceive and locate objects in an environment - even in individuals who use hearing aids or who have received vision rehabilitation training.

11 Mar 2026

Mandated cCMV screening improves early identification of infant hearing loss

A new retrospective cohort study examining the impact of Minnesota's first-in-the-nation mandated universal newborn screening for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) shows that universal screening significantly decreased the age at first audiology visit and increased identification of mild hearing loss in infants.

2 Mar 2026

Toddler thrives after receiving newly FDA-approved cochlear implant system

Six months after becoming the first patient in the United States to receive a newly FDA-approved cochlear implant system, 18-month-old Nene Gudavadze is responding to sound, dancing to music, and saying her first words.

27 Feb 2026

Assessing long-term cognitive risks in ependymoma survivors

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital assessed cognitive and communication abilities in children treated for the brain tumor ependymoma to understand the impact of treatment better. They found that radiation was a significant contributor to hearing loss, a risk directly linked to cognitive health.

23 Feb 2026

AI model forecasts bone removal in cochlear implant surgery

Cochlear implant surgery helps people with severe hearing loss by placing an electronic device inside the inner ear. To reach the inner ear, surgeons must first remove part of a bone behind the ear, in a procedure called mastoidectomy.

23 Feb 2026

Study reveals unexpected role of TMC proteins in deafness

Proteins long known to be essential for hearing have been hiding a talent: they also act as gatekeepers that shuffle fatty molecules across cell membranes.

22 Feb 2026

Study reveals long-term health risks after chemotherapy for testicular cancer

A large, multi-center study recently published online in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN) provides new insight into the long-term health effects of contemporary chemotherapy regimens used to treat testicular cancer, highlighting differences in renal function, cardiovascular risk, and the overall burden of chronic health conditions among survivors.

19 Feb 2026

Musicians experience higher rates of tinnitus, hearing loss, and hyperacusis than non-musicians

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the official journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), reveals that musicians face substantially higher rates of tinnitus, hearing loss, and hyperacusis compared to non-musicians.

17 Feb 2026

Specific neurobiological link identified between hearing loss and cognitive decline

Presbycusis is a prevalent form of age-related hearing loss that also hinders speech recognition. While scientists have linked hearing loss to an increased risk of cognitive decline, the biological "bridge" between the two has remained unclear.

16 Feb 2026

Work productivity declines for adults living with tinnitus symptoms

A new study has revealed the significant effect tinnitus can have on people's working lives, with nearly one in five adults reporting they have had to cut their working hours or leave employment altogether because of the condition.

10 Feb 2026

Experts issue strong call for overhaul of UK dementia prevention strategy

A national panel of experts has issued the strongest call yet for the Department of Health and Social Care to overhaul how it approaches dementia prevention, pointing to vital evidence that dementia risk can be reduced and providing a framework for the development of new government policy that could improve brain health for millions.

16 Jan 2026

Hearing aid use has little impact on cognitive test scores

A new study has found that for people with moderate hearing loss, being prescribed hearing aids had little impact on cognitive test scores.

14 Jan 2026

Study shows AI can predict language success after cochlear implants

AI model using deep transfer learning – the most advanced form of machine learning – predicted with 92 % accuracy spoken language outcomes at one-to-three years after cochlear implants (implanted electronic hearing device), according to a large international study published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

30 Dec 2025

Interdisciplinary project aims reduce noise exposure for premature children in neonatal care

Premature babies are particularly susceptible to strong sensory impressions and high sound levels from the incubator. Now researchers will look at what can be done to protect children's hearing and development.

12 Dec 2025

Wheelchair? Hearing aids? Yes. ‘Disabled?' No way.

In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, "there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place."

11 Dec 2025

University of Iowa research finds an effective therapy for rare kidney disease in children

A rare and life-threatening kidney disease in children finally has an effective therapy, thanks in large part to pioneering research and clinical leadership from University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital.

4 Dec 2025

Hearing loss emerges as a key early warning sign for Alzheimer disease

Hearing loss also predicts a significantly higher risk of dementia, especially in APOE ε4 carriers, highlighting its value as an early risk marker.

23 Nov 2025

Low-intensity noise therapy shows how tuning sound to the brain can ease tinnitus

LINTS, a non-masking low-intensity noise tuned to each patient’s tinnitus frequency, produced statistically significant but modest reductions in tinnitus burden in a phase II clinical trial. Improvements were confined to the treatment-only group, with high individual variability and strong dependence on precise acoustic fitting.

16 Nov 2025

Income and social disparities found to influence dementia risk factors

People with lower incomes and people from racial and ethnic historically underrepresented groups in clinical studies are more likely to have modifiable risk factors for dementia, factors that could be changed to lower their risk, according to a study published November 12, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

12 Nov 2025

What the air you breathe may be doing to your brain

For years, the two patients had come to the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors and researchers follow people with cognitive impairment as they age, as well as a group with normal cognition.

12 Nov 2025