You know you’re feeling moody these days but you’re not quite sure why. Well, it was aggravating earlier this morning when you felt left out of the meeting at work. Last night your daughter seemed irritated with you when you asked her to turn up the volume of the TV over and over again resulting in her abruptly leaving the house. What’s the deal with that?
Did you ever stop to think that maybe you could be suffering from hearing loss?
As you age hearing loss can sneak up on you and over 40 million individuals in the US suffer with it. And, the problem doesn’t end at your ears, either. Research shows that even slight hearing loss puts you at risk for memory problems, dementia, and even depression. You could have a manageable medical condition causing your hearing loss but you think it’s simply an indication of aging. Maybe, your co-workers didn’t leave you out of the conversation after all, maybe you missed critical conversational queues because you didn’t hear them. Honestly, it can be extremely aggravating when you can’t hear during your day-to-day life.
Get the facts about hearing loss
A good place to begin is finding out more about what you’re coping with. For many people, hearing loss is a normal side effect of getting older. But for other people, it might be caused by years of noise overexposure. Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by lots of noise sources, such as mowing the lawn and leaf blowing, listening to loud music, and driving in loud traffic with the window down. The world is full of potentially ear-damaging sound that can erode the delicate mechanisms that help you hear.
Another possible source of hearing loss is chronic disease that becomes more common as we grow older. When you have conditions that cause issues with your blood pressure, your inner ear can become damaged.
Recognize the signs
People usually take their hearing for granted, so when it begins to go they don’t notice the signs:
- You regularly feel like you are being excluded from the discussions
- You’re always asking people to repeat what they said or even worse, saying ‘what’ a lot
- Finding it difficult to hear words when there’s background noise like a fan or the AC
Naturally, you’d be grumpy if you’ve been struggling with any of these signs! Depression and social isolation can be the outcome of feeling detached from your world.
Managing hearing loss
One of the very first things you can do is ask family and friends if they have noticed you having a hard time hearing. It may seem like a challenging talk but it’s a very important one. A hearing exam should be the next thing that you do, especially if people have observed you having a hard time hearing. Ask your loved one to accompany you to your appointment. It can be helpful to have a calm and supportive person with you.
Your hearing test will not only help to establish your hearing loss but it will also gauge the degree of it. If hearing loss is established, we will advise the next strategy for you based on the results of the exam. Normally, hearing aids will be a principal part of the treatment plan. You’ll definitely be able to get a set of hearing aids that will best fit your lifestyle since there are so many styles and options to pick from.
Deciding on quality hearing aids
We’ll have suggestions that will be best suited for your individual type of hearing loss. Take some to time choose the right brand and model for your needs, this may require testing a few styles and models. Hearing aids don’t just amplify sound these days. They can determine the direction that sound is coming from, block out background noise, and even connect to smartphones and computers. Do some research to determine which brands and models have the features that will best fit your lifestyle and needs.
Think about the style you want for your hearing aids, too. Some models have no color and are virtually invisible and other models come in vibrant colors.
If you think you’re experiencing hearing loss, schedule an appointment with our qualified hearing specialists today. It’s time to get out of that grumpy mindset and we can help!
References
https://www.ncoa.org/adviser/hearing-aids/hearing-loss-america/