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 scenario). With scenarios like this, simply “toughing it out” isn’t an option. At least, not for that long (particularly if you want your bones to mend themselves correctly).
It’s not always that clear cut with regard to hearing aids, though. Hearing loss is typically a developing condition. That means it isn’t always easy to know when you might need to begin wearing hearing aids or to delay finding treatment you know could be beneficial.
That’s why it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for some particular signposts that you might be losing your ability to communicate. If you notice any, it might be time to talk to us about your first set of hearing aids.
Hearing aids and hearing loss
Hearing aids are the main form of treatment for hearing loss. But everyone who has some level of hearing loss won’t automatically need hearing aids. In situations where patients have very minor hearing loss, hearing aids won’t always be practical. We might want you to hold off on using hearing aids because of this. In addition, you might be instructed to wear hearing aids only in particular situations.
In other words, the threshold for requiring hearing aids is not always a diagnosis of hearing loss.
However, hearing aids will be the ideal option in many situations. Because hearing loss can be a sneaky and gradual condition, lots of people don’t receive a diagnosis until there’s been substantial damage. But if you come in for a hearing exam regularly, you might be able to catch your hearing loss early, and, because of this, you might not need hearing aids right away.
So how will you know if you have hearing loss?
You need hearing aids if you detect these indicators
Immediate communication issues can be the result of hearing loss. The interesting thing, though, is that you don’t always comprehend that those communication obstacles are the result of hearing loss. So, at what point will a hearing aid help?
Here are a few of the typical signs you should look out for:
- You have a hard time hearing conversations in loud places: When people ask, “What are the signs of hearing loss?”, this one almost always comes up. If you have difficulty hearing conversations in loud places, that’s usually a sure sign that you have hearing loss. That’s because your brain has a hard time filling in the missing information that you lose when you have hearing impairment. Lots of conversations get muddled as a result.
- You have trouble making out what people are saying: Many individuals don’t think they have hearing loss or need hearing aids because the overall volume they perceive seems fine. But the thing about hearing loss is that particular 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 understanding what people are saying.
- You’re unable to understand people on the phone: Voices typically sound a little flat on even high-quality phone speakers. If you have hearing loss, this can make it even more challenging to understand conversations. Once again, certain frequencies are missing and the outcome is that it’s very difficult to understand those voices.
- You listen to the radio or TV at really loud volumes: Hearing loss could be the culprit if you constantly need to crank the volume of your devices up. If you find people around you complaining about the loud volume of your devices, this is especially relevant.
So what should you do?
Clearly, you know precisely what you need to do when you break a bone! But what do you do when you begin to detect the symptoms of hearing loss? What level of hearing loss requires hearing aids? Well, that’s difficult to answer, but when you begin experiencing these signs, it’s a good plan to make an appointment with us. We’ll be able to assess the health of your hearing and ascertain just how severe your hearing loss may or may not be.
A hearing screening 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 for a hearing test so we can help you improve your quality of life.