In some cases, it’s easy to identify when you need medical advice. You know you need to go to the doctor right away if you break your leg, for instance. With scenarios like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t a possibility. At least, not for that long (especially if you want your bones to repair themselves correctly).
But with regard to hearing aids, it isn’t always so simple to know when it’s time to get some help. Hearing loss is usually a progressive condition. This means knowing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be difficult.
That’s why it’s a good plan to keep an eye out for some particular signposts that you may be losing your ability to communicate. It’s probably time to call us for a consultation if you do notice any.
Hearing aids and hearing loss
Hearing aids are the primary method of treatment for hearing loss. But that doesn’t mean everybody who has hearing loss will instantly need a set of hearing aids. In situations where patients have very mild hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be useful. We might want you to hold off on using hearing aids as a result. Likewise, you might be directed to wear hearing aids only in specific situations.
This means that just because you are diagnosed with hearing loss doesn’t mean you will automatically need hearing aids.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal solution in many circumstances. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and slow condition, many individuals don’t receive a diagnosis until there’s been substantial damage. Getting your hearing examined 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 indicators
Hearing loss is one of those conditions that can produce immediate communication difficulties. But a lot 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 you?
Here are a few of the common signs you should look out for:
- You’re unable to understand people on the phone: Even the best phone speakers have a habit of flattening a voice. That can make it difficult to understand, especially if you have hearing loss. Again, particular frequencies are missing and the result is that it’s extremely difficult to hear those voices.
- You have a difficult time hearing conversations in noisy places: This is probably one of the most common 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. 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 muffled conversations.
- The volume on your devices is becoming really loud: If you’re always turning up the volume on your television or radio or smartphone, it might be the result of 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).
- When people speak, 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 the thing about hearing loss is that particular frequencies of sound often go before others. Which means that the vast majority of sounds could seem normal but things in the high frequencies (like certain vowels) will be distorted. Consequently, you may have a tough time understanding what people are saying to you.
So how should you deal with it?
Clearly, you know precisely what you have to do when you break a bone! But what about when you experience these signs that you might need a hearing aid? What level of hearing loss calls for hearing aids? Well, that’s difficult to answer, but when you start experiencing these signs, it’s a good idea to make an appointment with us. We will be able to inform you about how serious your hearing loss is.
And if you do wind up needing hearing aids, a hearing test 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 understand your grandkids when they call you on the phone, your co-workers at your morning meeting, and your friends at happy hour.
Call us to schedule your hearing test, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.