Presbycusis causes, diagnosis and treatment

Presbycusis, also known as age‑related hearing loss, is a gradual decline in hearing that occurs with age. It is one of the most common types of hearing loss, particularly affecting people over the age of 60.

What is presbycusis?

Presbycusis is a gradual hearing loss that occurs as we get older. This type of hearing loss can affect how we hear conversations, as a lot of speech is made up of high‑frequency sounds, so certain words will be unclear or just sound like people are mumbling. It usually affects both ears at once (bilateral hearing loss).

Presbycusis causes

Presbycusis occurs naturally through the accumulated effect of loud noises we hear throughout our lives, including music, traffic, and machinery. Over time, this damages the hair‑like cells in the inner ear that are important for passing sound information on to the brain.

Other factors that can contribute to this include:

Family history
Existing health conditions, like high blood pressure and diabetes
Side effects of certain medications

Symptoms of presbycusis and when to see a specialist

The symptoms of presbycusis often develop slowly and may include:

Difficulty hearing conversations, especially in noisy environments
Sounds seem muffled or unclear
Struggling to hear high‑pitched sounds
Frequently asking people to repeat themselves
Turning up the volume on devices

You should consider seeing a hearing specialist if:

Your hearing difficulties are worsening
Conversations are becoming increasingly difficult
Hearing loss is affecting your daily life

Early assessment can help you access the right support sooner.

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Presbycusis treatment

As an age‑related condition, presbycusis cannot be cured. However, there are many effective ways to treat the symptoms and reduce the impact hearing loss can have on your daily life, including:

Wearing hearing aids – this is the most common treatment, and help to amplify the sounds you have trouble with
Using assistive listening devices – these can raise the clarity of sound from your TV, phone and other electronics, with or without a hearing aid
A cochlear implant – this might be necessary in more profound cases of hearing loss and involves placing a medical device behind the ear that does the same job as the damaged parts within
Learning to lip‑read – there are many support groups out there that can help you to cope with hearing loss and learn techniques to better understand speech

We’d advise that you should start getting your ears checked after the age of 55.

Presbycusis diagnosis

When diagnosing presbycusis, your audiologist will examine the inside of your ears and try to rule out any other possible causes of hearing loss.

They’ll also carry out a hearing test or audiogram to identify the type and extent of your hearing loss. This will usually confirm whether you have presbycusis.