Recognizing when you need some medical advice is typically fairly easy. You know you need to go to the doctor immediately if you break your leg, for instance. With situations like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t an option. If you want your bones to mend correctly, you need to get them taken care of as soon as possible.
But when it comes to hearing aids, it’s not always so simple to know when it’s time to get some assistance. Hearing loss typically progresses really gradually over time. This means it’s not always easy to know when you may need to start wearing hearing aids or to put off finding treatment you know could be helpful.
That’s why it’s a good idea to watch out for some particular signposts that you might be losing your ability to communicate. It’s probably time to call us for a consultation if you do detect any.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing aids are the primary method of treatment for hearing loss. But everyone who has some level of hearing loss won’t necessarily need hearing aids. In situations where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be useful. We might want you to hold off on using hearing aids because of this. In addition, you might be instructed to wear hearing aids only in specific situations.
This means that just because you are 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.
And if that’s the case, you’re most likely thinking: how can I tell if I require hearing aids?
You need hearing aids if you detect these indicators
Hearing loss is one of those conditions that can produce immediate communication challenges. But a lot of times you don’t even comprehend that hearing loss is the cause of those communication problems. So, at what stage will a hearing aid help you?
Look out for these signs:
- You have trouble understanding what people are saying: Many people don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the total volume they perceive seems fine. But hearing loss is funny, it tends to impact specific frequencies before others. Which means that the vast majority of sounds may seem ordinary but things in the high frequencies (like certain vowels) will be distorted. This could cause you to have a tough time making out what people are saying.
- Phone conversations sound muddled: Even the highest quality phone speakers have a habit of flattening a voice. That can make it tough to understand, particularly if you have hearing loss. It can be extremely difficult to hear voices as a result of the loss of these frequencies.
- When you’re in noisy locations, you have a tough time following conversations: This is probably one of the most common symptoms of hearing loss. If you have a hard time 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 you lose when you have hearing impairment. As a result, there’s a lot of muddled conversations.
- You listen to the radio or TV at really loud levels: If you’re continuously turning up the volume on your television or radio or smartphone, it may be because of hearing loss. This is especially true if you keep moving that volume knob higher (and even more especially relevant if the people around you complain about how loud your media is).
So what can you do?
Clearly, you know exactly what you have to do when you break a bone! But what do you do when you begin to detect the symptoms of hearing loss? What degree of hearing loss requires hearing aids? Well, that’s hard to answer, but when you begin experiencing 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.
A hearing screening will also help you get the optimal hearing aids for your requirements if you do indeed need hearing aids. Then you will be able to get back to enjoying 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.
