Recognizing when you require some medical advice is usually rather easy. When you break a bone, for instance, you know you should go to the doctor (or the emergency room, depending on the situation). You could need a splint or a cast or supportive device, but the thing is that you’re not likely to try “toughing it out”. If you want your bones to mend correctly, you need to get them taken care of as soon as possible.
But with regard to hearing aids, it’s not always so simple to recognize when it’s time to get some help. Hearing loss normally advances really slowly over time. 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 plan. If you notice any, it might be time to talk to us about your first set of hearing aids.
Hearing aids and hearing loss
Hearing loss is primarily treated with hearing aids. But everybody who has some degree of hearing loss won’t automatically need hearing aids. In cases where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be beneficial. We may want you to hold off on using hearing aids as a result. Likewise, you may be directed to wear hearing aids only in particular situations.
Essentially, the threshold for requiring hearing aids isn’t always a diagnosis of hearing loss.
However, hearing aids will be the best option in many circumstances. Many people won’t have their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more serious because hearing loss advances slowly and frequently goes unnoticed for a while. Getting your hearing examined regularly is the key to catching hearing loss early and possibly mitigating the need for hearing aids.
And if that’s the situation, you’re probably thinking: how can I tell if I need hearing aids?
You need hearing aids if you detect these indicators
Hearing loss is one of those conditions that can cause instant communication obstacles. But lots of times you don’t even comprehend that hearing loss is the cause of those communication issues. So, when is it time for a hearing aid?
Here are a few of the common signs you should look out for:
- Phone conversations sound muffled: Voices typically sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. If you have hearing loss, this can make it even more challenging to understand conversations. It can be really challenging to hear voices as a result of the loss of these frequencies.
- You listen to the radio or TV at high volumes: Hearing loss could be the culprit if you continually need to turn the volume of your devices up. This is especially true if you keep moving that volume knob higher (and even more especially true if the people around you complain about how loud your media is).
- When you’re in very loud settings, you have a difficult time following conversations: 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 difficulty following conversations in loud locations, like bars or restaurants. That’s because your brain has a hard time filling in the missing information that you lose when you have hearing impairment. Because of this, there’s a lot of muddled conversations.
- You have trouble understanding what people are saying: Many people don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the overall volume they perceive seems fine. But hearing loss is funny, it tends to affect specific frequencies before others. Because of this, things like vowel sounds in the higher register can sound distorted. This could cause you to have a hard time understanding what people are saying.
So what should you do?
Obviously, you know precisely what you need to do when you break a bone! But what about when you experience these signs that you might need a hearing aid? How bad does hearing loss have to be to call for a hearing aid? That isn’t a really easy answer but you should schedule an appointment with us for a hearing exam if you begin to experience any hearing loss symptoms. We’ll be able to evaluate the health of your hearing and ascertain just how severe your hearing loss may or may not be.
And if you do wind up needing hearing aids, a hearing assessment will help identify the best device for your hearing needs. This means you’ll be able to get back to communicating with your friends and family, you’ll hear your grandkids when they give you a call, your co-workers at your morning meeting, and your friends at happy hour.
Call us to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.