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Sensorineural Hearing Loss – Hearing loss caused by damage to the sensory cells and/or nerve fibers of the inner ear. The most common type of hearing loss in adulthood. Learn more about sensorineural hearing loss.

Serous otitis media – Inflammation of the middle ear with an accumulation of thin, watery fluid.

Severe hearing loss – A hearing loss ranging between 71 and 90 dB.

Sign Language – Method of communication for people who are deaf in which hand movements, gestures, and facial expressions convey grammatical structure and meaning.

Sudden Hearing Loss – Loss of hearing that occurs quickly due to such causes as an explosion or a viral infection.

Screening (Hearing) – An evaluation of the auditory system that is generally not as in–depth as a traditional hearing test and often does not include the actual assessment of an individual’s thresholds, but instead results in “pass” or “fail”.

Speech Audiometry – The portion of an audiological evaluation that uses speech stimuli to measure the auditory system. Speech audiometry testing often includes the measurement of Speech Reception Thresholds (SRTs) utilizing two–syllable spondee words and the assessment of Word Recognition / Speech Discrimination scores utilizing single syllable words in a carrier phrase. Some speech audiometry tests use sentence materials instead of single word materials.

Speech–language pathologist – health care professional who assess speech and language development and treats language and speech disorders.

Swim Plugs – Material used to keep water out of the ear canal. They can be custom or non–custom made and are often used to prevent infections that can result from water getting into the ear canal or middle ear cavity.

Swimmer’s ear (Otitis externa) – Inflammation or infection of the outer ear (pinna and ear canal). Sudden cases are usually infections; chronic otitis is often a skin condition (dermatitis).