Hearing Loss
Hearing loss isn’t always immediately evident. You can adjust to poor hearing over time when hearing loss is gradual. It’s similar to when you first realize you might need glasses. After you put your new glasses on you realize how much you’ve been missing but before you started paying attention to the warning signs you had no idea things weren’t as clear as they should be.
When you’re thinking about your hearing and possible hearing loss sometimes there’s a bigger intimidation factor. Buying and wearing glasses isn’t as bothersome to most people but going to buy a hearing aid is a much more in-depth process that often scares people away. It’s especially easy to put off having your hearing tested or buying a hearing aid if you aren’t entirely sure you’re losing your hearing in the first place.
If you’re wondering if you might be suffering from some hearing loss symptoms there are signs you can look for. Knowing what shouldn’t be ignored and really does require a trip to your doctor is the first place to start. Luckily there are plenty of tips from great sources for you to keep in mind. Here are five hearing loss signs you shouldn’t ignore.
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1. You Are Having A Harder Time Hearing Phone Calls
This is often one of the first things people will notice when it comes to hearing loss. They may start trying to turn up the volume on their phones only to realize it’s already maxed out. They may notice they’re frequently increasing their call volume before it gets to that point. Either way, this is something that often makes people start to wonder if their hearing is starting to decline.
Pay attention to how often you have to turn up the call volume on your cell or home phone. If you often find it’s impossible to clearly understand what’s being said to you on the phone it could be one of the signs you shouldn’t ignore. If it only happens once or twice it may just be the person calling or your phone glitching. If it’s consistent, that’s an issue.
The good news here is that a lot of hearing aids right now have Bluetooth capabilities which give you the chance to connect your phone to your hearing aid. You’ll be hearing calls more clearly than ever once you get things figured out. Don’t hesitate to get your hearing tested if you notice you’re constantly having to max out the call volume every time someone calls.
2. Group Settings Are Especially Difficult For You
Not being able to hear when there’s a lot of background noise going on is another common complaint that brings people in to see their doctors with hearing concerns. When you start to lose your hearing the ability to differentiate background noise and conversation right in front of you becomes less acute.
Maybe you haven’t consciously noticed it’s harder to hear in these settings but instead, have started avoiding noisy group settings because it’s just too loud for you. Feeling overwhelmed by background noise and finding it uncomfortable is another way this particular symptom manifests. You can experience both of these things or just one but either version is not something to ignore.
Again, it needs to be consistent. If you leave a party one time because it’s too loud that’s probably nothing to be concerned about. However, if you constantly can’t hear your friends while out and about, or you’ve started avoiding going out altogether, it’s time to go in.
3. You’re Oversleeping Constantly
You might not have connected this one with hearing loss but it is something a lot of people experiencing hearing loss will mention as something they have in common. If you’ve started to oversleep because you haven’t been hearing your alarm clock it’s time to start taking note.
This one might be easy to write off at first. You could think you’re just extra tired lately, or maybe just sleeping harder than you have before. It’s possible one or both of those things are true but if you’re oversleeping and having other symptoms in conjunction with this one take it as a sign you need to have your hearing checked. Your alarm clock is pretty loud so not hearing it is something you should pay attention to.
4. People Seem To Be Mumbling
A common thing people with hearing loss will say is that they can hear someone but they can’t understand what is being said. That’s something you should be noticing. Have the people you normally talked to suddenly started to mumble more than you’ve noticed before? It might not be them mumbling so much as your hearing becoming less sensitive.
Think about recent times you have gotten frustrated with someone for not speaking clearly. Is it isolated to one person? If it’s not just one person but many people around you and other people don’t have the same complaints about their speech take this as a sign. Talk to your doctor about this symptom and schedule a hearing test to see what’s going on.
5. Others Have Started To Correct You A Lot
If you’re having conversations where a lot of people have been correcting what you’ve heard lately, that’s a symptom you shouldn’t ignore. This goes back to hearing something is being said but not fully understanding exactly what. Sometimes this is one of the most frustrating signs that can bring someone to a doctor.
There are common ways this symptom shows up. Often you may mistake words that sound similar for each other (fog vs. frog) or answer a question incorrectly. If you aren’t sure if this is something you’re dealing with think about your recent conversations. As you think back if you realize a lot of the conversation has been spent correcting what you thought you heard it’s time to talk to someone.
Conclusion:
Hearing loss is a frustrating thing to experience, especially if you don’t realize the things you’re experiencing are symptoms of a bigger issue. It’s tempting to blame the phone, the loud environment or someone’s poor enunciation but if you’re doing this a lot, take note.
The sooner you seek out professional advice about these symptoms the sooner you can get some answers. There are plenty of hearing aid options on the market now so you don’t have to suffer through poor hearing unnecessarily.
Talk to your doctor and go from there. Hearing things more clearly is something that really will improve your daily life so don’t keep putting it off. It doesn’t have to be a frustrating process. Just make sure you’re paying to the symptoms and reaching out for help when it’s time.
