Early Warning Signs of Hearing Loss

For many people, hearing health and hearing loss are not something they think about on a regular basis. But hearing loss doesn’t just effect babies and the elderly. Acquired hearing loss does happen gradually, typically why many people don’t know about it or address it until they are older, but it can happen to ANYONE at any age. Here are some early warning signs of hearing loss you should watch out for…

*Hearing loss can occur for different reasons and there are several types of hearing loss, but for our purposes, we will be discussing signs of gradual sensorineural hearing loss. This type of hearing loss is the most common and can occur due to noise exposure, genetics, and aging.

Warning Signs of Hearing Loss

These warning signs are not just about how you are hearing, but how you feel about your hearing. Here are a few early warning signs we hear from clients or ask regularly:

• Sounds and speech seem muffled
• Misunderstanding words in conversation
• You have difficulty understanding conversation, especially in crowds or with background noise
• Feeling lost in conversation, especially with a group
• You frequently ask others to repeat themselves, speak slower, or louder
• Needing to turn up music or TV; sometimes loud enough that others comment on the volume
• Having difficulty understanding women’s and children’s voice
• Difficulty hearing on the phone
• Avoiding social settings like parties, noisy restaurants, etc.
• Not participating in conversation
• Feeling physically and/or mentally exhausted after listening to people talk
• Feeling irritated, stressed, or overwhelmed by noise or voices
• Feeling frustrated or embarrassed to be in certain social situations or conversations

If a few of these hit close to home, this could be an indicator that your hearing has decreased below “normal.” Like mentioned earlier, hearing loss can happen for a number of reasons, some are temporary, like a wax blockage, others are permanent, like a noise induced hearing loss. In any case, at the earliest sign of hearing loss, have your hearing tested. Early intervention has show to help improve use with hearing aids and can potentially reduce further loss.

Prevention and Treatment of Hearing Loss

Although hearing loss can happen at any age, there are things you can do to help prevent hearing loss. Here are a few tips:

1. Wear hearing protection. When working in noise, using power tools, hunting, going to concerts, etc. use some kind of hearing protection. Noise induced hearing loss is the second most common type of hearing loss. It can only take one exposure to extremely loud noise to damage your hearing.
2. Take hearing breaks. If you are in groups frequently, always have music on (or wear headphones), etc. take some quiet time and reduce the noise around you.
3. Have your hearing tested regularly; especially if you work in noise or have family history of hearing loss. The earlier it’s caught the better outcomes with treatment.

Speaking of treatment, what is available for hearing loss treatment? The most common for all types and degrees of hearing loss is hearing aids. State of the art hearing aids are not like the ones even from 10 years ago. These hearing aids are sleek, stylish, and in most cases almost invisible. Check out the new hearing aids from Signia! They also have some pretty high tech built into them, between the microchip that processes sound within milliseconds and their Bluetooth capabilities. Additionally, with or without hearing aids, making small shifts to communication styles can make a big difference.

• Make sure someone has your attention
• Speak face to face
• Ensure a quiet environment to talk

All of these can help improve your ability to hear and understand conversation!

So What Now?

If you have early signs of hearing loss, do something about it. Most people wait because hearing loss is “an old person problem” when in reality, it’s not! Removing that stigma can not only help you improve your hearing, but in general improve your quality of life through easy of conversation. So, get your hearing tested regularly, wear ear protection, and advocate for what you need to have clearer conversations: you won’t regret it.

For more information or to schedule a hearing test call us at 705-749-0707. We’re here to help you hear conversation clearly.