Recognizing when you require some medical advice is normally pretty easy. When you break your leg, for example, you know you should go to the doctor (or the emergency room, depending on the situation). You could need a splint or a cast or supportive device, but the thing is that you’re not likely to try “toughing it out”. At least, not for that long (especially if you want your bones to repair themselves properly).
But in terms of hearing aids, it isn’t always so simple to identify when it’s time to get some help. Hearing loss is typically a progressive condition. This means it’s not always simple to know when you might need to begin using hearing aids or to delay finding treatment you know could be helpful.
That’s why it’s a good idea 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 consult us about your first pair of hearing aids.
Hearing loss and hearing aids
Hearing aids are the main method of treatment for hearing loss. But everybody who has some degree of hearing loss won’t automatically need hearing aids. In situations where patients have very slight hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be practical. As a result, we may want you to wait before beginning to use them. In addition, you may be advised to wear hearing aids only in specific situations.
In other words, the threshold for needing hearing aids isn’t always a hearing loss diagnosis.
However, hearing aids will be the best solution in many instances. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and slow condition, lots of individuals don’t receive a diagnosis until there’s been significant damage. But if you come in to see us regularly, you may be able to catch your hearing loss early, and, because of this, you may not require hearing aids immediately.
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 recognize these indicators
Immediate communication issues can be the result of hearing loss. The curious thing, though, is that you don’t always comprehend that those communication obstacles are due to hearing loss. So, when is it time for a hearing aid?
Watch out for these indicators:
- You can’t understand people on the phone: Voices typically sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. That can make it tough to understand, particularly if you have hearing loss. It can be very challenging to hear voices as a result of the loss of these frequencies.
- When you’re in noisy locations, you have a difficult time following conversations: This is probably one of the most common symptoms of hearing loss. One of the surest signs of hearing loss is that you have difficulty following conversations in loud settings, like bars or restaurants. This occurs because your ears aren’t 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 muffled as a result.
- When people speak, you can’t always understand what they said: Many individuals feel like the total volume of life is fine so they never imagine that they might have hearing loss. But hearing loss is curious, it tends to impact particular frequencies before others. Which means that the great majority of sounds could seem normal but things in the high frequencies (like particular vowels) will be distorted. Consequently, you may have a tough time making out what people are saying to you.
- The volume on your devices is becoming really loud: Hearing loss could be the cause if you continuously need to turn the volume of your devices up. This is especially true if you keep turning that volume knob higher (and even more especially true if the people around you complain about how loud your media is).
So what can you do?
Obviously, you know exactly what you need to do when you break a bone! But what about when you experience these indications that you might need a hearing aid? How severe does hearing loss need to be to call for a hearing aid? That’s not a really easy answer but you should schedule an appointment with us for a hearing test if you start to experience any hearing loss symptoms. We’ll be able to evaluate the health of your hearing and determine just how severe your hearing loss may or may not be.
And if you do end up needing hearing aids, a hearing test will help identify the best device for your hearing needs. Then you will be able to get back to enjoying good conversations with your friends and family members and doing the things you love.
Give us a call to schedule your hearing exam, we can help you understand if you’re suffering from hearing loss.
