It’s often said that hearing loss is a slow-moving process. It can be rather insidious for this exact reason. Your hearing gets worse not in big leaps but by little steps. And that can make the progressive decline in your hearing hard to keep track of, particularly if you aren’t watching for it. Because of this, it’s important to be familiar with the early signs of hearing loss.
Even though it’s difficult to detect, dealing with hearing loss early can help you prevent a wide variety of associated conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and even dementia. Timely treatment can also help you maintain your present hearing levels. Observing the early warning signs is the best way to ensure treatment.
Initial signs of hearing loss can be difficult to identify
The first signs of hearing loss tend to be elusive. It isn’t like you get up one morning and, very suddenly, you can’t hear anything lower than 65 decibels. The symptoms, instead, become folded into your everyday lives.
You see, the human body and brain, are extremely adaptable. Your brain will start to compensate when your hearing begins to go and can make use of other clues to figure out what people are saying. Likewise, if your left ear starts to fade, perhaps your right ear starts to compensate and you unconsciously begin tilting your head just a bit.
But there’s only so much compensation that your brain can achieve.
First signs of age-related hearing loss
If you’re worried that your hearing (or the hearing of a family member) may be failing due to age, there are some familiar signs you can watch out for:
- Consonant sounds like “s” and “th” are difficult to distinguish.: These consonant sounds tend to vibrate on a wavelength that becomes progressively tough to discern as your hearing fades. You should pay particular attention to the “s” and “th” sounds, but other consonant sounds can also become confused.
- Boosted volume on the TV, radio, or cell phone: This sign of hearing loss is perhaps the most widely known. It’s classically known and cited. But it’s also very obvious and trackable. If you’re constantly turning up the volume, that’s a sign that you’re not hearing as well as you used to.
- You’re asking people to repeat themselves frequently: This one shouldn’t come as much of a shock. In most situations, though, you will do this without realizing that you are doing it at all. When you have a challenging time hearing something, you may request some repetition. When this begins to happen more often, it should raise some red flags about your ears.
- A difficult time hearing in busy spaces: Picking out individual voices in a crowd is one of the things that the brain is quite good at. But your brain has progressively less information to work with as your hearing gets worse. Hearing in a crowded space can quickly become a chore. If hearing these conversations is more difficult than it used to be (or you find yourself opting out of more conversations than you previously did), it’s worth having your ears checked.
You should also be on the lookout for these more subtle signs
There are a few signs of hearing loss that don’t seem to have much to do with your hearing. These are subtle signs, without a doubt, but they can be a leading indicator that your ears are struggling.
- Trouble focusing: It may be difficult to achieve necessary levels of concentration to accomplish your day-to-day tasks if your brain has to invest more resources to hearing. As a result, you might experience some difficulty focusing.
- Restless nights: Insomnia is, ironically, an indicator of hearing loss. You probably think the quiet makes it easier to fall asleep, but the strain puts your brain into a chronic state of alertness.
- Persistent headaches: When your hearing starts to decrease, your ears are still straining to hear sounds. They’re doing hard work. And that prolonged strain also strains your brain and can translate into chronic headaches.
It’s a good plan to give us a call for a hearing assessment if you’re noticing any of these age related signs of hearing loss. Then, we can formulate treatment plans that can safeguard your hearing.
Hearing loss develops gradually. With the correct knowledge, you can stay ahead of it.
References
https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/46306-Hearing-loss-auditory-deprivation
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20373072
