Knowing when you need some medical advice is normally rather easy. You know you need to go see a doctor right away if you break a bone, for example. With situations like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t an option. If you want your bones to mend properly, you need to get them taken care of as soon as possible.
It isn’t always that obvious with regard to hearing aids, though. Hearing loss is typically a developing condition. That means it isn’t always easy to know when you may need to start wearing hearing aids or to delay finding treatment you know could be beneficial.
So watching out for indications that your hearing may be going is a good plan. It’s probably time to call us for a consultation if you do notice any.
Hearing aids and hearing loss
Hearing loss is primarily treated with hearing aids. But that doesn’t mean everybody who has hearing loss will instantly need a set of hearing aids. Hearing aids won’t always be helpful in cases of minor hearing loss. We might want you to hold off on using hearing aids as a result. It’s also feasible that we could instruct you to only use your hearing aids when you’re in particular situations.
Essentially, the threshold for requiring hearing aids isn’t always a diagnosis of hearing loss.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal answer in many situations. Many individuals won’t have their hearing loss diagnosed until it becomes more severe because hearing loss progresses slowly and often goes undetected 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 most likely thinking: how can I tell if I require hearing aids?
Indications you need a hearing aid
Instant communication problems can be the consequence of hearing loss. The interesting thing, though, is that you don’t always understand that those communication obstacles are due to hearing loss. So, at what point will a hearing aid help?
Look out for these indicators:
- When people speak, you can’t always understand what they said: Many people don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the total volume they hear seems fine. But hearing loss is funny, it tends to affect certain frequencies before others. Due to this, things like vowel sounds in the higher register can sound distorted. Consequently, you may have a difficult time making out what people are saying to you.
- You have a hard time following conversations in loud places: When people ask, “What are the signs of hearing loss?”, this one is almost always mentioned. One of the surest signs of hearing loss is that you have difficulty following conversations in noisy locations, like bars or restaurants. 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 muddled conversations.
- Phone conversations sound muddled: Voices typically sound a bit flat on even high-quality phone speakers. That can make it hard to understand, especially if you have hearing loss. It can be really challenging to hear voices as an outcome of the loss of these frequencies.
- You listen to the radio or TV at really loud levels: Hearing loss could be the cause if you continually need to crank the volume of your devices up. If you find people around you complaining about the high volume of your devices, this is especially true.
So what can you do?
Clearly, you know exactly what you need to do when you break a bone! But what about when you detect these signs that you might need a hearing aid? How bad does hearing loss have to be to require a hearing aid? Well, that’s difficult to answer, but when you begin noticing these signs, 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 end up needing hearing aids, a hearing exam 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 family members and doing the things you love.
Give us a call to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.
