Most hearing loss is subtle initially, and you might not even recognize a change. Often, it is loved ones who are the first to notice and bring awareness to a person’s hearing trouble. While children are routinely tested, many adults do not think about scheduling a hearing test like they would for their vision.
Indications That You Might Require a Hearing Assessment
There are a lot of daily situations where you might not be hearing everything and certainly not hearing what others are.
- Are you regularly asking people to repeat what they said?
- Are you noticing yourself turning up the volume on your TV?
- Is it difficult to understand everyone at a loud restaurant?
- Are miscommunications or misinterpretations in your personal or professional life leading to conflicts?
These kinds of situations can happen on a day-to-day basis and continue to affect relationships.
Specific Reasons to Have Your Hearing Tested Regularly
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association guidelines state that adults should get a hearing assessment every 10 years up until age 50, and adults over the age of 50 should get one every 3 years.
1. Genetics
If other members of your family have hearing issues, this is a very good reason to set up a hearing test with a hearing professional.
2. Establish a Reference Point for Your Present Hearing Level
Once you are aware of your hearing ability in each ear, you become aware of any issues.
You may be missing certain sounds or experiencing slight hearing problems that could signal the need for further evaluations or interventions.
3. Helps Measure Future Changes
Each new test will compare new information with past assessments. Some changes happen slowly, and the tests will identify any changes even if you can’t.
4. Helps in Recognizing and Addressing Issues at an Early Stage
Advanced diagnostic tools now monitor fluctuations and their rate of progression, enabling healthcare professionals to recognize and address problems, such as excessive earwax accumulation or noise-related hearing damage, at an early stage.
5. Identify Health Problems
Sometimes hearing loss is a symptom of an intrinsic medical condition including diabetes and high blood pressure (connected to hearing loss and tinnitus), plus cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. You might be able to alleviate hearing loss by treating the medical conditions causing it.
6. Minimize Additional Harm
When a patient is without treatment, they can become depressed and fear social situations, encouraging solitude and further depression. Seniors who have hearing problems can have increased accidents when they don’t hear warning signals like car horns, smoke alarms, and other sounds that indicate danger. Moreover, untreated hearing loss is linked to cognitive decline and falls.
Getting the Answers You Need
You may have wondered if you’re experiencing some degree of hearing loss. You now have the information you require, including the awareness that hearing aids can have a positive effect on numerous facets of your life, enhancing not only your ability to hear, but also your relationships with loved ones, colleagues, and social circle.
Once your hearing loss is managed with the suitable hearing aids, you’ll be able to hear more effectively during discussions or work meetings, or simply listen to your child’s laughter or a family member’s voice.
Contact us if you want to schedule a hearing exam or if you think you are experiencing hearing loss.
