Why Get a Hearing Test?
Most people are the last one in their family to realize they have hearing loss. This is because hearing loss doesn’t usually happen all at once. Instead, slow changes over long periods of time are typically and just not noticeable enough day to day to recognize there’s a problem. Often, it’s a spouse that will notice effects of the hearing loss first.
Some Early Indicators of Hearing Loss
Certain letter combinations can become difficult to hear correctly on a consistent basis even with mild loss. The most common are “F”,”S” and ”Th”. The word “this” can become extremely difficult to understand with hearing loss. Just imagine how may times you use the work this in a conversation.
Similarly, people with higher pitched voices such as children and women often become more difficult to understand early on.
A common complaint from people with hearing loss is that other people are always speaking too low or mumbling.
Friends and family notice things like the TV or radio being turned up are too loud for their hearing comfort.
People begin to complain that the person suffering hearing loss is asking them to repeat themselves too often during a conversation.
Social settings such as restaurants with lots of background noise makes hearing conversations difficult. The individual may even begin avoiding social settings.
Hearing Testing Is Often Put Off Far Too Long
Even though a hearing test is painless and often free*, people delay getting their hearing tested even when they are starting to have problems. While there have been a lot of studies about why people put off getting their hearing tested we chalk it up to the fact that it’s easier to get by poor hearing or vision.
*Hearing test are often covered medical insurance companies or may be free of charge with a purchase.
