Your last family get-together was disheartening. It wasn’t because of family crisis (this time). No, the problem was that you couldn’t hear anything over the boisterous noise of the room. So you didn’t hear the details about Nancy’s raise, and you didn’t have a chance to ask about Todd’s new dog. And that was really irritating. You try to play it off as if the acoustics of the room are the problem. But you can’t totally dismiss the idea that perhaps your hearing is beginning to go bad.
It can be especially challenging to self-diagnose hearing loss (that’s why, generally, it’s not suggested). But you should watch for certain warnings. When enough red flags appear, it’s time to contact us for a hearing test.
Early signs of hearing impairment
Most of the symptoms of hearing loss are subtle. But if you happen to see your own experiences reflected in any of the items on the following list, you just may be experiencing some level of hearing loss.
Here are some of the most common early signs of hearing loss:
- You have difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds. Maybe you find your tea kettle has been whistling for five minutes but you didn’t notice it. Or perhaps, you never even notice the doorbell ringing. Hearing loss generally impacts specific frequencies normally higher pitched frequencies.
- When you’re in a crowded loud setting, you have trouble hearing conversations. This is exactly what occurred during the “family dinner” example above, and it’s often an early indication of trouble with hearing.
- Somebody observes that the volume on your media devices is getting louder. Maybe you keep turning the volume up on your cell phone. Or maybe, you have your TV volume cranked up to max. Usually, you’re not the one that observes the loud volume, it’s your children, possibly your neighbor, or your friends.
- Normal sounds seem unbearably loud. It’s one of the more unusual early warning signs linked to hearing loss, but hyperacusis is common enough that you might find yourself encountering its symptoms. If specific sounds become oppressively loud (especially if the issue doesn’t resolve itself in short order), that could be an early hearing loss symptom.
- Certain words are hard to understand. This red flag frequently appears because consonants are beginning to sound alike, or at least, becoming more difficult to differentiate. The “sh” and “th” sounds are the most prevalent examples. In some cases, it’s the s- and f-sounds or p- and t-sounds that get lost.
- Your ears are ringing: Ringing in your ears is known as tinnitus (and, technically, tinnitus can be other noises as well: screeching, buzzing, humming, thumping, and so on). Tinnitus isn’t always associated with hearing issues, but it is frequently an early warning sign of hearing loss, so a hearing test is probably needed.
- It’s suddenly very challenging to make out phone calls: You might not talk on the phone as often as you used to because you use texting pretty often. But you may be experiencing another early warning sign if you’re having difficulty understanding the calls you do take.
- You often need people to repeat what they said. If you find yourself asking numerous people to talk slower, talk louder, or repeat what they said, this is particularly true. This early sign of hearing impairment could be occurring without you even noticing.
Get a hearing exam
No matter how many of these early red flags you may encounter, there’s really only one way to know, with confidence, whether your hearing is going bad: get a hearing exam.
Generally speaking, any single one of these early warning signs could be evidence that you’re developing some type of hearing loss. And if any impairment you may have, a hearing examination will be able to identify how bad it is. Once we identify the level of hearing loss, we can determine the best course of treatment.
This will help you have a much more enjoyable time at that next family gathering.
