In order to know whether or not you need a hearing aid, you’ll need to talk to a hearing healthcare professional.
There are many different reasons why you may be losing your hearing, and also different types of hearing loss. The most common is called presbycusis which is loss due to ageing. This is largely dependent on genetics, how often you’ve been exposed to loud sounds throughout your life, and your health in general.
One thing to remember about hearing loss, is that it occurs very gradually (it’s not like one day you wake up and suddenly can’t hear). Because of this, you may not even notice that you have hearing loss at all.
We have millions of teeny tiny sensory hair cells inside our inner ears, giving us the ability to hear frequencies, from very high to very low. This means that hearing loss can vary by frequency and usually we lose the higher frequencies first, meaning that while you can often hear, you may not be able to completely understand or get every little sound.
However, there are a few signs that you’ll need to look out for to know whether or not it’s time to see a professional:
You Dislike the Phone
If you have trouble hearing people when you’re talking on the phone, this is a good sign that you may be suffering from hearing loss. Most phones have settings that control the volume, which means that you may not be having trouble hearing your friends talk if you’ve got the volume amped up to the maximum. If it’s at the max volume, you may need to talk to a professional.
You have trouble with many people
If you find that you have trouble following conversations when lots of people are talking at the same time, you may be having problems with your hearing.
Your TV is up loud
If your kids, neighbours or significant other is complaining that your TV is constantly too loud, you may have a problem with your hearing. While this was often a problem for older generations only, it turns out that hearing healthcare professionals are actually seeing younger patients than ever- even teens and young adults who are having hearing loss due to long-term loud music exposure.
You’re straining to hear conversations
If you feel exhausted or constantly have a headache at the end of the day, this could be due to fatigue from trying to follow conversations. For people with regular hearing, listening to friends or coworkers talk is simple, and it’s harder to tune them out, but when you’re having to spend all day focusing to hear a conversation you may need help. Once you find the right solution for you and have a hearing aid that can help you follow what’s going on, you’ll find that you’ve got a new lease on life and don’t get that same feeling of exhaustion every day.
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