Knowing when you require some medical advice is usually rather easy. You know you need to go to the doctor right away if you break your leg, for example. You may need a splint or a cast or supportive device, but the point is that you’re not likely to try “toughing it out”. If you want your bones to heal properly, you need to get them treated as soon as possible.
But with regard to hearing aids, it’s not always so easy to know when it’s time to get some assistance. Hearing loss typically advances really gradually over time. This means knowing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be tricky.
So keeping an eye out for signs that your hearing is going is a good idea. If you observe any, it might be time to consult us about your first pair 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 necessarily need hearing aids. Hearing aids won’t always be beneficial in cases of mild hearing loss. We might want you to hold off on using hearing aids because of this. Likewise, you might be directed to wear hearing aids only in certain situations.
This means that just because you’re diagnosed with hearing loss doesn’t mean you will automatically require hearing aids.
But in many instances hearing aids will be the best option. Many individuals won’t have their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more severe because hearing loss progresses gradually and frequently goes undetected for a while. Getting your hearing assessed regularly is the key to catching hearing loss early and possibly mitigating the need for hearing aids.
And if that’s the case, you’re probably thinking: how can I tell if I need hearing aids?
You need hearing aids if you experience these signs
Immediate communication issues can be the consequence of hearing loss. The interesting thing, though, is that you don’t always comprehend that those communication issues are the result of hearing loss. So, when is it time for a hearing aid?
Watch out for these indicators:
- You can’t understand people on the phone: Voices typically sound a bit flat on even high-quality phone speakers. That can make it difficult to understand, especially if you have hearing loss. It can be extremely difficult to hear voices as an outcome of the loss of these frequencies.
- You have a difficult time hearing conversations in noisy places: This is probably one of the most prevalent symptoms of hearing loss. If you have a hard time hearing conversations in loud places, that’s often a sure sign that you have hearing loss. This happens because your ears are not receiving as much information as they used to, and your brain isn’t really able to fill in the gaps very easily. As a result, there’s a lot of muddled conversations.
- You have problems making out what people are saying: Many individuals feel like the total volume of life is fine so they never imagine that they may have hearing loss. But the thing about hearing loss is that specific frequencies of sound tend to go before others. Which means that the great majority of sounds may seem normal but things in the high frequencies (like particular vowels) will be distorted. As a result, you might have a difficult time making out what people are saying to you.
- You listen to the radio or TV at really loud levels: If you’re always turning the volume up on your television or radio or smartphone, it might be because of hearing loss. If you find individuals around you complaining about the loud volume of your devices, this is especially relevant.
So what can you do?
When you break a bone, it’s obvious what to do: you go to the doctor! But what about when you detect these signs that you may need a hearing aid? What level of hearing loss calls for hearing aids? That’s not a really easy answer but you should schedule an appointment with us for a hearing assessment if you start to detect any hearing loss symptoms. We’ll be able to evaluate the health of your hearing and ascertain just how serious your hearing loss may or may not be.
A hearing screening will also help you get the best possible hearing aids for your requirements if you do indeed need hearing aids. This means you’ll be able to get back to spending quality time with your friends and loved ones, you’ll hear your grandkids when they give you a call, your co-workers at your morning meeting, and your friends at the pub.
Call us for a hearing exam so we can help you improve your quality of life.