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Woman Can't Hear Men's Voices Because Of Rare Condition

Woman Can't Hear Men's Voices Because Of Rare Condition

Only 1 in 13,000 people suffer from the condition

Rachael Grealish

Rachael Grealish

Stress is known to be bad for your health, but it hit one woman so badly she actually went deaf - well, to men anyway.

This isn't a selective hearing joke - Chen, from Xiamen in China, woke up one day and she was unable to hear her boyfriend when he spoke - or any men, as it turned out.

After Chen went to a specialist ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT) she was diagnosed with a condition called 'reverse-slope hearing loss'.

This condition hinders Chen's ability to hear low frequency sounds, such as the average grown man's voice.

The ENT specialist at Qianpu Hospital and female doctor, Dr. Lin Xiaoqing, said: "She was able to hear me when I spoke to her, but when a young male patient walked in, she couldn't hear him at all."

Woman Can't Hear Her Boyfriend's Voice Because Of A Rare Condition.
AsiaWire

This kind of low frequency hearing loss is said to be caused by a number of different things such as Wolfram Syndrome 1, Meniere's disease, Mondini dysplasi and sudden hearing loss.

But Dr Xiaoqing said Chen may have developed the condition duo to fatigue and stress after Chen said she'd been getting stressed and losing sleep over working too much.

'Sensorineural hearing loss' can result in a low frequency hearing loss - a type caused by inner ear hair cells getting damaged.

Any damage to the cells can impact a person's hearing because the hair cells make the sound travel from the outer ear to the brain.

Woman Can't Hear Her Boyfriend's Voice Because Of A Rare Condition.
AsiaWire

Anyone who suffers from low frequency hearing loss, generally, can't hear noises that have a frequency of 2,000 Hz or below.

High-frequency hearing loss is much more common and generally means people struggle to, or can't hear the voices of women and children.

Low frequency hearing loss can be very dangerous for people as it can affect their ability to hear things like the low hum of an oncoming car.

According to the World Health Organization, around 466 million people across the world are affected by some kind of hearing loss.

Featured Image Credit: AsiaWire

Topics: World News, Interesting, China, Health