Whether you or a family member have noticed a loss of hearing, it’s vital that you do something about it early.
By catching it earlier on, you’ll be able to take action before it completely changes your life. Your health is very important – so you need to know what to do in case hearing loss takes over.
Hearing loss can have a huge impact on your life – whether you’re elderly or younger. Yet so many people don’t notice it occurring as it can happen very gradually. Before it’s too late, it can start to affect relationships and your lifestyle.
Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay
Whether you’ve noticed it yourself or someone has pointed it out, it’s time to visit the audiologist. Although there are certain actions you can take yourself (such as downloading an app that tests your hearing), it’s better to seek professional advice.
People can react differently to their hearing changing. For some, they might begin to research online for symptoms, whereas others might start to avoid social situations as they feel anxious about it. If either of these sound familiar, an audiologist can clear up any questions that you might have about your hearing.
During a consultation with them, they could recommend that you have the following:
- A Physical Exam – the audiologist will look inside your ear and determine the possible causes of your hearing loss. Typically, this can be due to an infection, inflammation, a blockage, regular exposure to loud environments or age.
- A Tuning Fork Test – metal instruments with two forks, they produce a unique sound when they are struck. If you’re unable to hear the sound clearly, the doctor will be able to detect your hearing loss and where in your ear that the damage has occurred.
- A General Screening Test – this can be anything from asking you to cover one ear and see how well you can hear or make out words, how you respond to certain sounds or conduct the whisper test. Paired with various other tests, it can be an effective method of identifying the degree of your hearing loss.
- Audiometer Tests – known to be one of the most thorough tests, it involves you wearing earphones. Once fitted, you’ll hear particular sounds and words that are directed into one ear after the other. The sounds will be set at different levels to see the pitches/frequencies that you’re having difficulty in hearing.
Once you’ve undertaken these tests, it might be recommended that you have a hearing aid fitted. Although this might sound incredibly daunting, there are dozens of notable hearing aid benefits that you can reap if you’re suffering from hearing loss. Not only will it give you an increased level of awareness, but it will make social situations easier and it will enhance every experience that you have.
Final Thoughts
So, there you go! That’s what you should do if you’ve noticed a loss of hearing. As aforementioned, professional assistance and guidance with your hearing will help you to determine the extent of your hearing loss and encourage you to do something about it.
Without this, not only could your hearing loss deteriorate, but you might start to feel the physical and mental implications of the ailment.
