In some cases, it’s easy to know when you require medical advice. When you break a bone, for example, you know you should go to the doctor (or the emergency room, depending on the scenario). You could need a splint or a cast or supportive device, but the point is that you’re unlikely to try “toughing it out”. At least, not for very long (particularly if you want your bones to mend themselves correctly).
But in terms of hearing aids, it isn’t always so simple to identify when it’s time to get some assistance. Hearing loss usually advances very gradually over time. This means recognizing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be tricky.
So keeping an eye out for indications that your hearing may be going is a good idea. It’s probably time to call us for a consultation if you do notice any.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing loss is mainly managed with hearing aids. But everyone who has some level of hearing loss won’t automatically need hearing aids. In situations where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be practical. Consequently, we may want you to wait before starting to use them. It’s also feasible that we could direct you to only wear your hearing aids when you’re in specific situations.
Essentially, the threshold for needing hearing aids is not always a hearing loss diagnosis.
But in many cases hearing aids will be the best option. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and gradual condition, many individuals don’t get a diagnosis until there’s been considerable damage. 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?
Indications you need a hearing aid
Instant communication issues can be the result of hearing loss. But a lot of times you don’t even comprehend that hearing loss is the reason for those communication problems. So, at what point will a hearing aid help?
Here are a few of the typical signs you should watch out for:
- You’re unable to understand people on the phone: Voices typically sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. That can make it difficult to understand, particularly if you have hearing loss. It can be really challenging to hear voices as an outcome of the loss of these frequencies.
- You have difficulty making out what people are saying: Many individuals don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the total volume they hear seems fine. But hearing loss is funny, it tends to impact specific frequencies before others. Which means that the great majority of sounds could seem ordinary but things in the high frequencies (like particular vowels) will be distorted. This could cause you to have a difficult time understanding what people are saying.
- You have a hard time hearing conversations in loud places: When people ask, “What are the signs of hearing loss?”, this one is almost always mentioned. One of the surest signs of hearing loss is that you have trouble following conversations in loud settings, like bars or restaurants. This happens because your ears aren’t receiving as much information as they used to, and your brain isn’t really able to fill in the gaps very easily. Because of this, there’s a lot of muffled conversations.
- The volume on your devices is getting very loud: Hearing loss could be the cause if you continually need to crank the volume of your devices up. This is particularly true if you keep turning that volume knob higher (and even more especially relevant if the people around you complain about how loud your media is).
So how should you deal with it?
Clearly, you know exactly what you need to do when you break a bone! But what do you do when you start to experience the symptoms of hearing loss? How bad does hearing loss need to be to call for a hearing aid? Well, that’s hard to answer, but when you start detecting these symptoms, it’s a good plan to schedule an appointment with us. We’ll be able to evaluate the health of your hearing and find out just how severe your hearing loss may or may not be.
And if you do end up needing hearing aids, a hearing exam will help determine the best device for your hearing needs. 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.
Give us a call to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.