Why is getting routine hearing assessments important? Well, the fact is that hearing loss can have significant and long-term effects on your overall wellness. Getting your hearing screened regularly can help you detect hearing loss early, get care sooner, and, improve your health, wellness, and quality of life.
Getting a hearing exam – who should do it?
A loss in hearing capability can create effects that can significantly impede your health and wellness. For instance, hearing loss can lead to extreme social isolation. Conversations with family and friends can become more challenging, and those with hearing loss may be less likely to reach out to others, even during normal activities like shopping or going to work. This sort of social isolation can be detrimental to your mental health and, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, your physical wellness.
Other health concerns can be the result of untreated hearing loss also. Numerous chronic conditions, including depression and dementia, have been associated with untreated hearing loss. It’s also been associated with various comorbidities, including diabetes, heart problems, and high blood pressure.
So scheduling a routine hearing exam will be a good plan for pretty much everybody.
You should get your hearing checked for these four reasons
Getting your hearing examined can be helpful to your general health for four distinct reasons.
1. You can determine the baseline for your healthy hearing
Why would you want to have your hearing tested if it seems healthy? Well, there are several good reasons to get a hearing exam early. Your present level of hearing can be determined by a hearing test and that’s probably the most significant thing. This will make it far easier to identify any changes in the future. This is particularly true because hearing loss tends to develop gradually, the first symptoms are not always obvious.
Before you observe any symptoms, a hearing exam will help detect hearing loss in its early stages.
2. Diagnose and treat issues earlier
Hearing loss is typically a gradual condition, meaning it often gets worse over time. Consequently, identifying hearing loss early frequently means a better prognosis. This is because you’re able to treat the condition at the earliest possible time.
When you get treatment early it will mean doing things like using ear protection or possibly wearing hearing aids. Treatment can help you avoid many of the related issues listed above, such as dementia, depression, and social isolation.
3. Future changes will be easier to assess
Even if you are diagnosed with hearing loss, that doesn’t mean your hearing your hearing won’t continue to get worse as you get older. Regular hearing exams can enable early detection and your treatment plan can be modified as needed.
4. You can prevent further damage to your ears
The majority of hearing loss is caused by damage, the type of damage that happens gradually and over time. Visiting us regularly to get your hearing assessed helps you detect that damage as early as possible, and it also gives you access to a significant resource: your hearing specialist. We can give you information, treatments, and best practices that can help keep your ears as healthy as possible.
For instance, we can help you identify ways to protect your ears from day-to-day damage or develop strategies designed to help you keep sounds around you quieter.
What should my hearing exam routine look like?
In general, it’s suggested that adults undergo a hearing test sometime in their 20s or 30s, on the earlier side. Unless we recommend more frequent visits or if you notice any hearing problems, at least every ten years will be the advised interval for hearing exams.
But perhaps you’re thinking: what should I expect at my hearing test? Hearing exams are usually totally non-invasive. Typically, you simply listen for some tones in a special pair of headphones.
We will be able to help you get the treatment you require, whether you need a set of hearing aids or you just need to protect your ears. And a hearing exam can help you figure out when the best time to get your care might be.