Hearing loss often starts out with mild, almost unperceivable changes that can be easy to overlook. In fact, it is usually family and friends who alert someone to their hearing issue. While hearing exams are a routine part of childhood, many adults tend to overlook this important checkup, unlike regular eye exams that are often prioritized.
Signs You May Need a Hearing Exam
There are a lot of daily instances where you might not be hearing everything and certainly not hearing what others are.
- Do you often request people to repeat what they said?
- Do you notice that you are increasing the volume on your TV?
- Is it difficult to hear everyone at a noisy restaurant?
- Are there misunderstandings at work or at home causing disagreements?
Such episodes can take place regularly and have a lasting impact on interpersonal relationships.
Specific Reasons to Have Your Hearing Checked On A Regular Basis
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association standards state that adults should get a hearing screening every 10 years up until age 50, and adults over the age of 50 should get one every 3 years.
1. Family History
If your family members are experiencing hearing difficulties, it is a good plan to book a hearing evaluation with a professional specializing in hearing health.
2. Set Your Baseline Hearing
Once you know your hearing capacity in each ear, you become aware of any problems.
You might be missing certain sounds or experiencing slight hearing problems that could indicate the need for further evaluations or interventions.
3. Helps Measure Future Changes
Every new test will compare new information with previous assessments. Some changes occur slowly, and the tests will recognize any changes even if you don’t.
4. Helps Diagnose and Treat Early Issues
Advanced diagnostic tools now keep track of changes and their rate of progression, allowing healthcare professionals to recognize and manage issues, like excessive earwax accumulation or noise-related hearing damage, at an early stage.
5. Diagnose Medical Conditions
Sometimes hearing loss is a symptom of an underlying medical condition including diabetes and high blood pressure (linked to hearing loss and tinnitus), plus cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. Treating the underlying medical conditions that are causing it could possibly alleviate hearing loss.
6. Prevent Further Damage
When a patient doesn’t get treatment, they can become despondent and fear social situations, encouraging seclusion and more depression. Seniors who have hearing issues can have increased accidents when they don’t hear warning signals like car horns, smoke alarms, and other sounds that indicate danger. In addition, untreated hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline and falls.
Getting the Answers You Need
Perhaps you have suspected you have a hearing loss. You now have the information you need, including the understanding that hearing aids can have a positive effect on multiple facets of your life, improving not only your ability to hear, but also your relationships with loved ones, colleagues, and social circle.
Once your hearing loss is treated 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 loved one’s voice.
Reach out to us to set up a hearing assessment or if you’re worried that you might be experiencing hearing difficulties.
