Sometimes, it’s easy to identify when you need medical advice. When you break a bone, for instance, you know you should go to the doctor (or the emergency room, depending on the situation). You may need a splint or a cast or supportive device, but the thing is that you’re not likely to try “toughing it out”. At least, not for very long (especially if you want your bones to repair themselves correctly).
But when it comes to hearing aids, it’s not always so simple to identify when it’s time to get some help. Hearing loss is typically a developing condition. This means recognizing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be difficult.
So watching out for signs that your hearing is going is a good idea. It’s probably time to call us for a consultation if you do detect any.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing loss is primarily managed with hearing aids. But that doesn’t mean everybody who has hearing loss will instantly need a pair of hearing aids. In situations where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be beneficial. Consequently, we may want you to wait before starting to use them. It’s also possible that we could advise you to only use your hearing aids when you’re in particular situations.
This means that just because you are diagnosed with hearing loss doesn’t mean you will necessarily need hearing aids.
But in many situations hearing aids will be the best option. Many individuals won’t get their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more serious because hearing loss develops gradually and frequently goes unnoticed for a while. Getting your hearing tested regularly is the key to catching hearing loss early and possibly mitigating the need for hearing aids.
So how will you know if you have hearing loss?
You need hearing aids if you experience these indicators
Hearing loss is one of those conditions that can produce instant communication issues. The curious thing, though, is that you don’t always realize that those communication challenges are due to hearing loss. So, when is it time for a hearing aid?
Here are some of the typical signs you should watch out for:
- You listen to the radio or TV at high levels: If you’re continuously turning up the volume on your television or radio or smartphone, it might be the result of hearing loss. If you find people around you complaining about the loud volume of your devices, this is particularly true.
- When people talk, you can’t always make out what they said: Many individuals don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the total volume they perceive seems fine. But hearing loss is funny, it tends to affect certain frequencies before others. Which means that the great majority of sounds might seem normal but things in the high frequencies (like certain vowels) will be distorted. This could cause you to have a tough time understanding what people are saying.
- Phone conversations sound muffled: Voices typically sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. That can make it tough to understand, especially if you have hearing loss. It can be really difficult to hear voices as a result of the loss of these frequencies.
- When you’re in very loud locations, you have a hard time following conversations: This is probably one of the most prevailing symptoms of hearing loss. One of the surest indications of hearing loss is that you have difficulty following conversations in noisy settings, like bars or restaurants. That’s because your brain has a hard time filling in the missing information that gets lost with hearing impairment. As a result, there’s a lot of muffled conversations.
So how should you deal with it?
Obviously, you know exactly what you need to do when you break a bone! But what do you do when you begin to notice the symptoms of hearing loss? How bad does hearing loss need to be to require a hearing aid? That’s not a really easy answer but you should schedule an appointment with us for a hearing exam if you start to notice any hearing loss symptoms. We will be able to let you know how severe your hearing loss is.
A hearing screening will also help you get the best possible hearing aids for your requirements if you do indeed need hearing aids. Then you will be able to get back to taking pleasure in good conversations with your friends and loved ones and doing the things you love.
Call us for a hearing test so we can help you improve your quality of life.