In some cases, it’s easy to recognize 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 point is that you’re unlikely to try “toughing it out”. At least, not for that long (especially if you want your bones to mend themselves correctly).
But when it comes to hearing aids, it’s not always so easy to know when it’s time to get some assistance. Hearing loss is typically a developing condition. 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 likely time to call us for a consultation if you do notice 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 immediately need a pair of hearing aids. In situations where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be practical. As a result, we might want you to wait before beginning to use them. In addition, you might be advised to wear hearing aids only in certain situations.
In other words, the threshold for requiring hearing aids isn’t always a hearing loss diagnosis.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal option in many cases. Many people won’t have their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more severe because hearing loss advances gradually and often goes unnoticed 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 detect these signs
Instant communication issues can be the result of hearing loss. But lots of times you don’t even comprehend that hearing loss is the reason for those communication problems. So, at what stage will a hearing aid help?
Here are some of the typical signs you should look out for:
- Phone conversations sound muffled: Voices usually sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. If you have hearing loss, this can make it even harder to understand conversations. It can be very challenging to hear voices as a result of the loss of these frequencies.
- The volume on your devices is getting very loud: If you’re constantly turning the volume up on your television or radio or smartphone, it might be due to hearing loss. 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).
- You have a difficult time following conversations in loud places: This is probably one of the most prevalent symptoms of hearing loss. If you have trouble hearing conversations in noisy places, that’s often a sure sign that you have hearing loss. That’s because your brain has difficulty filling in the missing information that gets lost with hearing impairment. A lot of conversations get muddled as a result.
- You have trouble making out what people are saying: Many people don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the overall volume they hear seems fine. But hearing loss is curious, it tends to impact certain frequencies before others. Because of this, things like vowel sounds in the higher register can sound distorted. Consequently, you might have a difficult time understanding what people are saying to you.
So how should you deal with it?
When you break a bone, it’s clear cut what to do: you go to the doctor! But what about when you notice these signs that you may need a hearing aid? How severe does hearing loss need to be to call for a hearing aid? Well, that’s hard to answer, but when you begin noticing these signs, it’s a good plan to make an appointment with us. We’ll be able to evaluate the health of your hearing and ascertain just how severe your hearing loss may or may not be.
A hearing screening will also help you get the most effective 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.
