Recognizing when you need some medical advice is normally 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. At least, not for very long (especially if you want your bones to repair themselves correctly).
It’s not always that obvious when it comes to hearing aids, though. Hearing loss is normally a progressive condition. This means recognizing when to get treatment for hearing loss can be difficult.
That’s why it’s a good plan to watch out for some distinct signposts that you might be losing your ability to communicate. If you notice any, it might be time to consult us about your first pair of hearing aids.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing aids are the primary form of treatment for hearing loss. But everyone who has some degree of hearing loss won’t necessarily need hearing aids. In situations where patients have very mild hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be helpful. Because of this, we may want you to wait before beginning to use them. It’s also possible that we could instruct you to only wear your hearing aids when you’re in particular situations.
Essentially, the threshold for needing hearing aids isn’t always a diagnosis of hearing loss.
But in many cases hearing aids will be the best solution. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and slow condition, many people don’t receive a diagnosis until there’s been considerable damage. But if you come in to see us regularly, you may be able to catch your hearing loss early, and, as a result, you may not require hearing aids right away.
And if that’s the situation, you’re most likely thinking: how can I tell if I need hearing aids?
You need hearing aids if you experience these indicators
Instant communication problems can be the consequence of hearing loss. The interesting thing, though, is that you don’t always understand that those communication challenges are caused by hearing loss. So, when is it time for a hearing aid?
Here are some of the common signs you should watch out for:
- When people talk, you can’t always make out what they said: Many people 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 certain frequencies of sound tend to go before others. Because of this, things like vowel sounds in the higher pitches can sound distorted. This could cause you to have a tough time making out what people are saying.
- When you’re in very loud locations, you have a hard time following conversations: When people ask, “What are the signs of hearing loss?”, this one almost always comes up. If you have a hard time hearing conversations in noisy places, that’s often a sure sign that you have hearing loss. This occurs because your ears are not receiving as much information as they used to, and your brain isn’t really capable of filling in the gaps very easily. A lot of conversations get muddled because of this.
- The volume on your devices is becoming very loud: Hearing loss could be the cause if you continuously need to crank the volume of your devices up. If you find individuals around you complaining about the loud volume of your devices, this is especially true.
- You’re unable to understand people on the phone: Even the best phone speakers tend to flatten a voice. That can make it difficult to understand, particularly if you have hearing loss. It can be extremely challenging to hear voices as a result of the loss of these frequencies.
So what should you do?
Clearly, you know exactly what you have to do when you break a bone! But what about when you detect these signs that you may need a hearing aid? What level of hearing loss requires hearing aids? That isn’t a very easy answer but you should schedule an appointment with us for a hearing test if you start to detect any hearing loss symptoms. We will be able to inform you about how serious your hearing loss is.
A hearing evaluation will also help you get the best possible hearing aids for your needs if you do indeed need hearing aids. Then you will be able to get back to enjoying good conversations with your friends and family members and doing the things you love.
Call us to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.