Knowing 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 scenario). With situations like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t an option. If you want your bones to heal correctly, you need to get them taken care of as soon as you can.
It isn’t always that clear cut with regard to hearing aids, however. Hearing loss usually advances very slowly over time. This means knowing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be tricky.
So watching out for signs that your hearing may be going is a good plan. If you observe any, it may be time to consult us about your first set of hearing aids.
Hearing aids and hearing loss
Hearing aids are the main method of treatment for hearing loss. But that doesn’t mean everybody who has hearing loss will immediately need a pair of hearing aids. Hearing aids won’t always be practical in cases of minor hearing loss. As a result, we might want you to wait before starting to use them. Likewise, you might be directed to wear hearing aids only in particular situations.
Essentially, the threshold for needing hearing aids is not always a hearing loss diagnosis.
However, hearing aids will be the best option in many situations. Many people won’t have their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more severe because hearing loss progresses slowly and often goes unnoticed for a while. Getting your hearing tested 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 require hearing aids?
You need hearing aids if you experience these signs
Instant communication issues can be the consequence of hearing loss. But a lot of times you don’t even realize that hearing loss is the cause of those communication issues. So, at what stage will a hearing aid help you?
Look out for these indicators:
- When people talk, you can’t always make out what they said: 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 impact 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 tough time making out what people are saying.
- You can’t understand people on the phone: Even the highest quality phone speakers have a habit of flattening a voice. That can make it tough to understand, particularly if you have hearing loss. It can be very difficult to hear voices as an outcome of the loss of these frequencies.
- You listen to the radio or TV at really loud volumes: Hearing loss could be the cause if you constantly need to crank the volume of your devices up. If you find people around you complaining about the loud volume of your devices, this is particularly true.
- When you’re in noisy locations, you have a hard time following conversations: This is probably one of the most prevailing symptoms of hearing loss. If you have a hard time hearing conversations in loud places, that’s usually a sure sign that you have hearing loss. That’s because your brain has trouble filling in the missing information that gets lost with hearing impairment. A lot of conversations get muffled as a result.
So what can you do?
When you break a bone, it’s obvious what to do: you go see the doctor! But what do you do when you start to experience the symptoms of hearing loss? How severe does hearing loss need to be to require a hearing aid? Well, that’s difficult to answer, but when you start experiencing these symptoms, it’s a good idea to make an appointment with us. We’ll be able to assess 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 exam will help determine the best device for your hearing needs. This means you’ll be able to get back to communicating with your friends and loved ones, you’ll hear your grandkids when they call you on the phone, your co-workers at your morning meeting, and your friends at the pub.
Call us for a hearing test so we can help you improve your quality of life.