You want to be polite when you’re talking to friends. At work, you want to look engaged, even enthralled with what your boss/co-worker/customers are saying. You frequently find yourself needing family to repeat themselves because it was less difficult to tune out parts of the discussion that you weren’t able to hear very well.
You have to lean in a little closer when you’re on conference calls. You pay attention to body language and facial cues and listen for verbal inflections. You read lips. And if everything else fails – you fake it.
Don’t fool yourself. You’re struggling to catch up because you missed most of what was said. Life at home and projects at work have become unjustifiably difficult and you are feeling aggravated and isolated due to years of cumulative hearing loss.
The ability for a person to hear is impacted by situational variables including background noise, competing signals, room acoustics, and how comfortable they are with their setting, according to studies. But for people who suffer from hearing loss, these factors are made even more difficult.
Some hearing loss behaviors to look out for
Here are some habits to help you determine whether you are, in truth, convincing yourself that your hearing loss is not affecting your social and professional interactions, or whether it’s simply the acoustics in the environment:
- Asking people to repeat themselves again and again… and again
- Cupping your ear with your hand or leaning in close to the person talking without realizing it
- Unable to hear others talking behind you
- Finding it more difficult to hear phone conversations
- Feeling as if people are mumbling and not talking clearly
- Pretending to comprehend, only to later ask others what you missed
Hearing loss probably didn’t happen overnight even though it could feel as if it did. Acknowledging and seeking out help for hearing loss is something that takes most people at least 7 years.
This means that if your hearing loss is a problem now, it has most likely been going unaddressed and neglected for some time. Begin by scheduling an appointment right away, and stop kidding yourself, hearing loss is no joke.
