Knowing when you need some medical advice is typically rather easy. When you break a bone, for instance, you know you should go to the doctor (or the emergency room, depending on the situation). With scenarios like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t an option. At least, not for very long (especially if you want your bones to repair themselves correctly).
But in terms of hearing aids, it isn’t always so simple to recognize when it’s time to get some help. Hearing loss is usually a developing condition. This means recognizing 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 plan. It’s likely time to call us for a consultation if you do detect any.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing aids are the main form of treatment for hearing loss. But that doesn’t mean everybody who has hearing loss will instantly need a pair of hearing aids. In cases where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be useful. We may want you to hold off on using hearing aids because of this. It’s also possible that we could instruct you to only wear your hearing aids when you’re in particular situations.
In other words, the threshold for requiring hearing aids is not always a hearing loss diagnosis.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal solution in many instances. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and gradual condition, lots of individuals don’t receive a diagnosis until there’s been considerable 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?
Indications you need a hearing aid
Hearing loss is one of those conditions that can produce immediate communication problems. But lots of times you don’t even realize that hearing loss is the cause of those communication issues. So, when is it time for a hearing aid?
Look out for these indicators:
- When you’re in very loud locations, you have a hard time following conversations: This is probably one of the most prevalent symptoms of hearing loss. One of the surest indications of hearing loss is that you have trouble following conversations in loud places, like bars or restaurants. That’s because your brain has difficulty filling in the missing information that gets lost with hearing impairment. Because of this, there’s a lot of muffled conversations.
- You have problems making out what people are saying: 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 certain frequencies before others. Which means that the great majority of sounds may seem ordinary but things in the high frequencies (like particular vowels) will be distorted. As a result, you might have a hard time making out what people are saying to you.
- Phone conversations sound muffled: Voices usually sound a bit flat on even high-quality phone speakers. If you have hearing loss, this can make it even more challenging to understand conversations. Again, specific frequencies are missing and the result is that it’s extremely difficult to hear those voices.
- The volume on your devices is getting really loud: If you’re constantly turning the volume up on your television or radio or smartphone, it may 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 should you do?
Obviously, you know exactly what you have to do when you break a bone! But what do you do when you start to experience the symptoms of hearing loss? What degree of hearing loss requires hearing aids? That’s not a very easy answer but you should make an appointment with us for a hearing exam if you start to experience any hearing loss symptoms. We will be able to let you know how serious your hearing loss is.
And if you do wind up needing hearing aids, a hearing assessment will help identify the best device for your hearing needs. 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.