Your Hearing & Your Health

Hearing loss usually develops gradually, making it difficult to notice in many cases. People often suffer from impaired hearing for years before receiving the treatment they need. The average patient, in fact, waits seven years before seeking help. Untreated hearing loss leads to a number of potentially serious mental and physical health problems, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, anxiety and deteriorating physical health.

It’s important to understand the links between your health and your hearing. Detecting hearing loss early allows an audiologist to treat your hearing loss more efficiently and effectively.

Following the Signs

In order to recognize a hearing loss in you or a loved one, you need to know the signs and symptoms. If you are unsure if your hearing loss warrants treatment, here are four key signs you need to take action.

1. You Have Difficulty Following Conversations

Those with hearing loss can usually get by with visual cues, such as lip-reading. If you have difficulty following conversations using only your sense of hearing, you may have hearing loss.

2. You Think Others Are Mumbling

People with hearing loss lose high-frequency sounds, including consonant sounds, first. This leaves them mostly with vowels, which can sound like someone is mumbling.

3. You Can’t Hear in a Crowded Environment

Those with hearing loss have a hard time struggling to distinguish speech from background noise.

4. You Turn the Television Up Too Loud

It’s common for those with hearing loss to listen at an uncomfortably loud volume.

There are also a few health problems that may indicate a hearing problem:

• A ringing in the ears—This symptom, called tinnitus, affects approximately 50 million Americans. It can indicate a number of health problems and is often a sign of hearing loss.
• Depression—As hearing loss develops, it becomes harder and harder for the person affected to connect with the world around them. As hearing and communication abilities decline, it can cause withdrawal, sadness, stress, anxiety and self-doubt.

Knowing Your Risk

Get your hearing tested regularly; yearly testing is best so your audiologist can catch any signs of hearing loss early.

To schedule a test with our top-notch audiology team, please call (248) 920-8113 today.