Determining if you have a hearing loss
You may or may not be aware that your hearing levels have deteriorated. Everyone has difficulty hearing in some situations – yes, this is true. Hearing in noisy environments, in the car, when someone talks to you from another room, can all be difficult for people with good hearing.
But when people around you notice that you are mishearing things, or asking for repeats more than usual, there could be something going on with your hearing. It’s usually those around us that notice changes in our communication ability, and that’s because changes in your hearing levels will be affecting them too.
What your family and friends are saying
“You need a hearing aid!” come the dreaded words from your partner or friends or kids. Along with those words is the underlying implication: You’re getting old and your body is beginning to wear out. It might be better to look at this way – your hearing isn’t at its optimal best.
And, to maintain good communication habits and stay connected with your loved ones, and the world around you, keeping your hearing optimal is paramount to good health and relationships.
What might be some of things your family and friends have noticed about your hearing? Perhaps your children are complaining you have the TV too loud. Or your friends have noticed you’ve stopped coming to the pub on Friday night and are wondering why.
Perhaps your partner has noticed you not following along in church like you used to, or that you are mishearing messages on the phone. All these could be warning signs your hearing isn’t as it used to be.
Are you missing out?
You tell yourself that if there’s no background noise you hear fine. You have great conversations when it’s just you and one or two others in a quiet room. But when you’re at the local bar, or in large meeting and there’s lots of extraneous noise, then problems occur.
Perhaps you catch some of the words, or part of them, but some seem to disappear into the room’s ambiance. If you’ve lost a bit of hearing in the high pitch range, (which is where hearing first tends to be affected), soft speech sounds often get lost when there’s background noise.
These soft high frequency sounds give words definition and clarity; they often occur at the beginnings and ends of words so can easily disappear in noisy environments. Is this happening to you? Perhaps it’s time to get your hearing checked to see if any of your hearing has deteriorated.
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