Knowing when you require some medical advice is typically rather easy. When you break your leg, for example, you know you should go to the doctor (or the emergency room, depending on the scenario). With scenarios like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t a possibility. If you want your bones to heal properly, you need to get them taken care of as soon as you can.
It isn’t always that obvious with regard to hearing aids, though. Hearing loss normally progresses very gradually over time. This means recognizing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be tricky.
That’s why it’s a good plan to watch out for some particular signposts that you may be losing your ability to communicate. If you detect any, it might be time to talk to us about your first pair of hearing aids.
Hearing aids and hearing loss
Hearing loss is mainly treated with hearing aids. But everyone who has some level of hearing loss won’t automatically need hearing aids. Hearing aids won’t always be beneficial in cases of mild hearing loss. We might want you to hold off on using hearing aids because of this. Likewise, you may be instructed to wear hearing aids only in particular situations.
This means that just because you’re diagnosed with hearing loss doesn’t mean you will automatically require hearing aids.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal answer in many instances. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and gradual 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?
Indications you need a hearing aid
Instant communication challenges can be the result of hearing loss. But lots of times you don’t even realize that hearing loss is the reason for those communication issues. So, at what stage will a hearing aid help you?
Watch out for these indicators:
- The volume on your devices is becoming very loud: If you’re constantly turning up the volume on your television or radio or smartphone, it might be the result of hearing loss. If you find people around you complaining about the loud volume of your devices, this is particularly relevant.
- Phone conversations sound muffled: Even the highest quality phone speakers tend to flatten a voice. If you have hearing loss, this can make it even harder to understand conversations. It can be really difficult to hear voices as an outcome of the loss of these frequencies.
- You have trouble understanding what people are saying: Many individuals don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the overall volume they hear seems fine. But the thing about hearing loss is that specific frequencies of sound usually go before others. Due to this, things like vowel sounds in the higher register can sound distorted. Consequently, you might have a hard time making out what people are saying to you.
- When you’re in very loud settings, you have a difficult time following conversations: When people ask, “What are the signs of hearing loss?”, this one is almost always mentioned. If you have trouble 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 gets lost with hearing impairment. Lots of conversations get muffled as a result.
So what should you do?
Clearly, you know precisely what you need to do when you break a bone! But what about when you notice these signs that you might need a hearing aid? How severe does hearing loss need to be to call for a hearing aid? Well, that’s hard to answer, but when you begin experiencing these symptoms, it’s a good plan to make an appointment with us. We’ll be able to assess the health of your hearing and find out just how serious 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. 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.
Give us a call to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.