hearing loss · 6 min read
Common Causes of Hearing Loss: Age, Noise, Medication & More
Age-related loss (presbycusis)
The single largest cause worldwide. High-frequency hair cells wear out first, so speech clarity fades before volume does. It is bilateral, gradual, and typically noticed by family before the person themselves. India has an estimated 60+ million people with disabling hearing loss, the majority age-related and untreated.
Noise-induced loss — the preventable epidemic
Sustained exposure above ~85 dB damages hair cells: traffic policing, manufacturing floors, generators, weddings and DJ events, and earphones at high volume. Damage is cumulative and painless until permanent. The 60/60 rule (max 60% volume, max 60 minutes at a stretch) plus hearing protection in loud workplaces prevents most of it.
Medication, infection and genetics
Certain drugs are ototoxic — aminoglycoside antibiotics, high-dose loop diuretics, cisplatin chemotherapy — as are untreated middle-ear infections, meningitis and measles. Genetic predisposition shapes both congenital deafness and how early presbycusis begins. Diabetes and hypertension, both prevalent in India, are independently associated with earlier and faster hearing decline — one more reason annual hearing checks after 55 belong beside the annual blood test.
Not sure where to start? Book a free hearing test — home visits available across India — or browse the full Signia range.
This article is educational and reviewed against published audiology guidance. It is not a medical diagnosis. Online screening indicates risk only — a clinical audiogram by a qualified audiologist is the diagnostic standard.