Your last family dinner was discouraging. It wasn’t because your family was having a hard 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 enjoyable conversation with any members of your family. It was frustrating. For the most part, you blame the acoustics. But you can’t entirely dismiss the possibility that maybe your hearing is starting to go bad.
It isn’t typically recommended to attempt to self diagnose hearing loss because it usually isn’t possible. But you should pay attention to some early warning signs. If some of these warning signs show up, it’s probably time to have your hearing examined.
Hearing Loss Has Some Early Warning Signs
Not every sign and symptom of hearing loss is evident. But you may be going through some level of hearing loss if you find yourself recognizing some of these signs.
Here are some of the warning signs of hearing loss:
- You notice it’s difficult to comprehend particular words. When consonants become hard to differentiate this red flag should go up. The th- and sh- sounds are very commonly muffled. It can also commonly be the p- and t- sounds or the s- and f- sounds
- Phone calls suddenly seem muffled and hard to comprehend: Nowadays, because of texting, we use the phone much less than we once did. But if you’re having trouble comprehending the phone calls you do get (even with the volume cranked all the way up), you may be dealing with another red flag for your hearing.
- You have a tough time following interactions in a noisy or crowded place. This is exactly what happened during the “family dinner” illustration above, and it’s typically an early sign of hearing problems.
- Someone observes that the volume on your media devices gets louder and louder. Maybe the volume on your phone keeps getting louder and louder. Or maybe your TV speakers are as loud as they will go. Usually, it’s a friend, neighbor, or a member of your family that makes you recognize the increasing volumes.
It’s Time to Get a Hearing Test
You still can’t be certain whether you’re confronting hearing loss even if you are encountering some of these early warning signs. You will need to get a hearing test to know for sure.
Broadly speaking, even one of these early warning signs could be an indication that you’re developing some kind of hearing loss. A hearing evaluation will be able to tell what level of impairment, if any, exists. And then you’ll be better equipped to find the correct treatment.
This means your next family gathering can be far more enjoyable.