Warning Signs You Should Get A Hearing Test

Your hearing is one of the most important tools you have for interacting with and experiencing the world. But hearing loss is surprisingly common. Over five percent of the world’s population have some form of hearing loss which can affect their ability to take in and understand sounds from the world around them.

This can have an impact on your conversations and social relationships, while also reducing your enjoyment of music, television shows and other forms of entertainment. But fortunately, there are ways you can slow down the progression of hearing loss and solutions for improving your hearing once loss has occurred.

If you think you may be losing your hearing, the most important thing to do is see an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor right away. They will be able to give you a comprehensive hearing test as well as examining the interior of your ear to determine its health. This will enable the ENT doctor to determine whether or not you do have hearing loss and identify any potential health issues that could lead to hearing loss down the line. They will also be able to advise you on the best ways to protect your hearing moving forward.

But how do you know if the time is right to consult an ENT? There are some warning signs of hearing loss to look out for, which may suggest you are losing your ability to hear. Here are some of the symptoms you may notice.

You Struggle to Make Conversation in Noisy Places

People with hearing loss often find it difficult to distinguish different sounds, which makes it hard to follow a conversation if there is a lot of background noise. If you’re in a busy shopping mall, a crowded party or a TV is on in the same room, you may find yourself struggling to understand what the other person is saying. You will probably have to ask them to repeat themselves multiple times.

High Pitched Voices are Harder to Understand

When hearing loss occurs due to age-related reasons, it is usually the cochlea that starts to lose its function. This is the inner ear organ that helps you hear, and the cells responsible for detecting high pitched sounds are often the first ones to fail. If this is the case, you may notice you are finding it more difficult to understand the voices of women or young children, while rarely having a problem speaking to grown men with deeper vocal registers.

You Feel Exhausted After Social Interactions

Hearing loss usually develops gradually, to the point where you may not even notice it is happening. Over time, your ability to hear clearly will slowly fade and you’ll have to strain more and more to understand what people are saying. This may result in fatigue or exhaustion after social events like parties or business meetings. You may also get headaches as a result of the intense concentration required to follow conversation.

You Are Focusing on People’s Lips

Usually in conversation, we make eye contact with whomever we are speaking. But if you are struggling to hear, you may find that concentrating on their mouth helps you understand. It’s possible that this lip reading is subconscious, and you don’t even realize you are doing it.

You Turn the Volume Up

Do you find yourself complaining that television shows or movies are too quiet? Perhaps the volume setting on your TV remote or radio is gradually creeping up. If so, the technology may not be the issue. It could be that you are slowly losing your hearing and finding it increasingly difficult to enjoy the show and films you love. The only way to know for sure is to get a hearing test.

You Avoid Talking on the Phone

Words form only a small part of our communication with others. Body language, gestures and facial expressions are also incredibly important for conveying meaning and getting our point across. If you are struggling to hear what someone is saying, you can at least rely on these visual cues to help you follow the conversation. But over the phone you only have your hearing to go on. If you are finding it increasingly stressful and upsetting to talk to people over the telephone, hearing loss may be the root cause.

Get in Touch

If you think you may be experiencing the early signs of hearing loss, the best thing you can do is book a hearing test. This will allow you to confirm or rule out hearing loss so you can follow the appropriate course of action. To book your hearing test, get in touch with Vero ENT Associates by calling (772) 408-9556.