Recognizing when you require some medical advice is usually fairly easy. You know you need to go see a doctor immediately if you break your leg, for example. With scenarios like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t a possibility. If you want your bones to heal correctly, you need to get them treated as soon as possible.
But in terms of hearing aids, it isn’t always so easy to recognize when it’s time to get some help. Hearing loss typically progresses really gradually over time. This means knowing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be tricky.
So keeping an eye out for indications that your hearing is going is a good idea. If you notice any, it may be time to talk to us about your first pair of hearing aids.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing aids are the main form of treatment for hearing loss. But everyone who has some level of hearing loss won’t necessarily need hearing aids. In situations where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be beneficial. Because of this, we may want you to wait before beginning to use them. It’s also feasible that we could instruct you to only use your hearing aids when you’re in certain situations.
In other words, the threshold for requiring hearing aids is not always a diagnosis of hearing loss.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal solution in many circumstances. Many people won’t have their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more severe because hearing loss develops slowly and frequently goes undetected for a while. Getting your hearing assessed 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 recognize these indicators
Instant communication problems can be the consequence of hearing loss. The interesting thing, though, is that you don’t always understand that those communication issues are caused by hearing loss. So, at what stage will a hearing aid help you?
Here are some of the common signs you should watch out for:
- You listen to the radio or TV at high volumes: If you’re continuously turning up the volume on your television or radio or smartphone, it might be because of hearing loss. This is particularly true if you keep moving that volume knob higher (and even more especially relevant if the people around you complain about how loud your media is).
- You can’t understand people on the phone: Voices usually sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. If you have hearing loss, this can make it even more difficult to understand conversations. Again, certain frequencies are missing and the result is that it’s really difficult to hear those voices.
- You have a tough time hearing conversations in loud places: This is probably one of the most prevailing symptoms of hearing loss. If you have difficulty hearing conversations in noisy places, that’s often a sure sign that you have hearing loss. That’s because your brain has trouble filling in the missing information that gets lost with hearing impairment. Lots of conversations get muffled because of this.
- When people speak, you can’t always make out what they said: Many people don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the total volume they perceive seems fine. But the thing about hearing loss is that certain frequencies of sound usually go before others. Which means that the great majority of sounds might seem normal but things in the high frequencies (like particular vowels) will be distorted. As a result, you might have a hard time understanding what people are saying to you.
So what can you do?
Obviously, you know exactly what you need to do when you break a bone! But what about when you detect these signs that you might need a hearing aid? How bad does hearing loss have to be to require a hearing aid? That’s not a really easy answer but you should make an appointment with us for a hearing assessment if you begin to notice any hearing loss symptoms. We’ll be able to assess the health of your hearing and find out just how serious your hearing loss may or may not be.
A hearing test will also help you get the optimal hearing aids for your requirements if you do indeed need hearing aids. Then you will be able to get back to enjoying good conversations with your friends and family members and doing the things you love.
Contact us to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you recognize if you’re suffering from hearing loss.