It’s normal to experience a decline in hearing as we get older. When you’re in your fifties, for example, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to hear as well as you did when you were twenty. That’s just a natural part of getting older. However, while this is the case, that doesn’t mean that you should accept all hearing issues as just a part of life. There’s a difference between normal hearing, and experiencing hearing loss. Taking care of the issue can lead to a much-improved quality of life.
Yet people often fail to take action, at least not as quickly as they could. Studies have shown that people normally wait for more than five years from the onset of their hearing loss before they seek help. In this article, we’re going to run through some advice relating to when you should get help for your hearing loss.
The symptoms
You can usually identify the presence of hearing loss yourself by checking for symptoms. For example, if you find that it’s increasingly difficult to follow conversations, especially when you’re in loud environments such as cafes and restaurants, then it could be that you’re experiencing hearing loss. There are a whole host of other things you can look for, too. For example, it could be that you’re sleeping through an alarm, or it’s becoming increasingly difficult to follow what people are saying when you’re on the phone.
It’ll be especially important that you’re seeking professional help if your hearing issues are influencing your decision whether to attend a social event or not. If you’re embarrassed about not being able to hear as well as you could, then take action.
Others recommend seeking help
Because the onset of hearing loss can be gradual, it can sometimes be difficult to identify it ourselves. In many cases, it’ll be the person’s friends and family that suggest it could be worth seeking treatment. This is because they’re the ones who will be spending the most amount of time with you, so they’ll know if you’re struggling to keep up with conversations, or if you’re listening to the television or radio at an increasingly loud volume. If more than one person says it to you, then it’s probably worth taking their advice!
Another factor relating to family members is if you suspect your hearing loss is beginning to impact the health of your relationships. The stress that can be caused by hearing loss can put a strain on our relationships. If you get a hearing aid fitted, then your quality of life will improve, and also the amount of stress or anxiety you feel related to your hearing will be reduced.
If you think you may be experiencing hearing loss, then be sure to get in touch with an experienced audiologist. They’ll be able to determine whether you have hearing loss, the extent of it, and offer a variety of treatment options that’ll help to minimize the impacts of the hearing loss and improve your overall quality of life.
