The last time you had dinner with your family was a hard experience. It wasn’t because your family was having a tough time getting along. The problem was the noise, which was making it hard to hear anything. So you weren’t able to have very much meaningful conversation with any of your family members. It was frustrating. You feel like the room’s acoustics played a big part. But you’re also willing to admit that your hearing could be starting to wane.
It can be extremely challenging to self-diagnose hearing loss (that’s why, generally, it’s not advisable). But you should pay attention to some early warning signs. If some of these warning signs appear, it’s probably time to get your hearing examined.
Early Signs of Hearing Loss
Not every sign and symptom of hearing loss is noticeable. But you might be going through some level of hearing loss if you find yourself detecting some of these signs.
Some of the most prevalent early signs of hearing impairment may include:
- Someone makes you realize that you keep turning up the volume on your media. Maybe you keep turning up the volume on your mobile phone. Maybe it’s your TV that’s at max volume. Usually, it’s a friend, neighbor, or a member of your family that makes you recognize the escalating volumes.
- Certain words seem harder to hear than others. This warning sign often appears because consonants are beginning to sound similar, or, at least, becoming harder to differentiate. The th- and sh- sounds are very commonly muffled. At times, it’s the s- and f-sounds or p- and t-sounds that become conflated.
- There’s a ringing in your ears: This ringing, which can also be the sound of thumping, screeching, buzzing, or other sounds, is technically called tinnitus. Tinnitus isn’t always linked to hearing problems, but it is frequently an early warning sign of hearing loss, so a hearing test is probably in order.
- High pitched sounds are difficult to hear. Things like a whistling teapot or ringing doorbell frequently go unnoticed for several minutes or more. Particular frequencies (frequently high pitched) will usually be the first to fade with early hearing loss.
- You frequently need people to repeat what they said. If you find yourself repeatedly asking people to talk louder, repeat themselves, or slow down when they talk, this is particularly true. You may not even recognize you’re making such frequent requests, but it can definitely be an early sign of diminishing hearing.
- When you’re in a noisy crowded place, conversations tend to get lost. This is exactly what happened during the “family dinner” illustration above, and it’s typically an early sign of trouble with hearing.
- Certain sounds seem so loud that they’re intolerable. This early warning sign is less prevalent, but hyperacusis is common enough that you may find yourself encountering its symptoms. It can be an early sign of hearing loss if certain sounds seem really loud especially if it lasts for an extended period of time.
- Phone calls suddenly seem muffled and hard to comprehend: Nowadays, due to texting, we use the phone much less than we used to. But if you’re having difficulty understanding the phone calls you do get (even with the volume turned all the way up), you might be facing another red flag for your hearing.
Next Up: Take a Test
No matter how many of these early warning signs you may experience, there’s really only one way to know, with certainty, whether your hearing is fading: get a hearing test.
Generally speaking, even one of these early warning signs could be evidence that you’re developing some type of hearing loss. A hearing assessment will be able to tell what level of impairment, if any, is present. Then it will become more clear what has to be done about it.
This means your next family gathering can be far more enjoyable.
