Recognizing the Signs of Hearing Loss

Recognizing the Signs of Hearing Loss

In Hearing Loss by Dr. Robert Hooper Au.D.

The signs of hearing loss can be subtle at first. Many older adults feel embarrassed or sensitive about their hearing difficulties, causing them to mask their problems from loved ones. Though one would suspect that hearing loss would be obvious to spot in yourself or others, it’s not as easy to recognize, as you may have previously believed.

Many people with hearing loss have difficulty only with specified sounds and in distinct scenarios.  If you can hear normally on some occasions, you’ll be inclined to blame other factors or other people for the times you do have a tough time hearing.

Hearing loss progresses slowly as time passes, so it’s difficult to detect the development. It’s simpler and easier to blame others for mumbling, or to turn up the TV volume a bit louder, than to acknowledge that you may possibly have hearing loss.

If you are suffering from hearing loss you are not alone. Nearly one quarter of people aged 65 to 74 suffer from disabling hearing loss; those figures jump to 50% in people over age 75, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Signs of Hearing Loss

Before you can get yourself treatment you must know what to look out and listen up for.  Once you know the signs of hearing loss you can then seek treatment and get on the path to clearer communication. While it is easy to disavow that you have hearing loss, you should be truthful with yourself about the warning signs.

Below are some of the most common signs of hearing loss to watch out for. If you detect the presence of any of these, it may be time to arrange a hearing test.

  • You experience ringing or buzzing in the ears – This might be an indicator of permanent hearing damage. Hearing aids not only make it easier to hear better, but they may additionally be able to relieve the ringing in your ears.
  • Regular household sounds are hard to hear – Hearing loss can make it hard to hear the doorbell, the telephone ringing, the washing machine finishing a cycle or a friend shouting your name from another room.
  • Television dialogue is difficult to follow – Speech is ordinarily much more challenging to hear than other types of sound. This often shows itself as trouble following movie or television show plots.
  • Cell phone, TV, or radio are turned up to the maximum volume – You can hear the television, phone, or radio much better than you can hear personal discussions.  Check out the volume settings on your devices. You may have these gadgets set at elevated volumes while simultaneously believing that everyone else speaks too softly.
  • You frequently request that people repeat themselves – You notice that you say “what?” a lot, or that you have to ask people to repeat themselves when you’re not facing them.
  • You frequently misinterpret what people are saying – Consonants are higher-pitched, and therefore more difficult to hear, than vowels. Seeing as consonants impart the majority of the meaning in a sentence, speech comprehension suffers.
  • You have difficulty hearing all the words in a conversation – Specific sounds and letters are more difficult to hear than others. Consequently, you can hear the majority of the words in a sentence, but that you have to many times try to fill in the blanks.
  • You have difficulty hearing when your back is to the speaker – You may depend on lip reading, body language, and other hints to meaning much more than you think. When you’re not facing the speaker, and can’t use these cues, you may have difficulty comprehending speech.
  • You have trouble hearing while there is allot of background noise – As hearing loss gets more serious, competing noise becomes more of a problem. You might have the ability to hear speech in quiet settings, but it becomes increasingly difficult to follow conversations in a loud setting like a restaurant.
  • People complain that you shout or have the TV volume too loud – People may notice that you have the TV volume too loud or that you have the proclivity to shout. It doesn’t seem this way to you because you’re compensating for your hearing loss.

Visit Us at Ear-Tronics

If you’ve recognized some of these signs of hearing loss in your daily experience, it could help to take a hearing test. Hearing tests are good indicators of whether a hearing loss is present. At Ear-Tronics, we provide comprehensive hearing tests, and if a hearing loss is detected, our team will work with you to find the best treatment option to meet your needs. Contact us today!