When should you have your hearing tested? You need a hearing test if you have any of these four signs.
Recently, my kids complained about how loud my television was. Do you know what my response was? I said, “What”? It was a joke. I thought it was amusing. But it also wasn’t. I have needed to turn the TV up increasingly louder as of late. And I began to wonder: should I have my hearing tested?
There aren’t all that many reasons not to make an appointment for a hearing exam. They aren’t invasive, there’s no radiation, you don’t have to worry about discomfort. You’ve most likely just been putting it off.
You should really be more vigilant about keeping track of your hearing because, if left untreated, it can affect your overall health.
Hearing assessments are important for a wide variety of reasons. Even slight hearing loss can have an impact on your health and it’s almost impossible to detect early hearing loss without a hearing examination.
So how can you recognize if you should make an appointment? Here are a few ways to tell if you need to consult with us.
Signs you should have your hearing tested
If you’ve recently encountered any of the signs of hearing loss, it’s definitely a smart plan to get a professional hearing exam. Clearly, it’s a strong indication of hearing loss if you’re having a hard time hearing.
But that’s not the only indicator, and there are some signs of hearing impairment that are much less apparent:
- You have a hard time hearing when you’re in a noisy setting: Have you ever had a hard time following along with conversations because of background noise in a crowded room? That could actually be an indication of hearing loss. Being able to isolate sounds is one indication of healthy hearing; this ability tends to wane as hearing loss advances.
- Ringing that won’t subside: Ringing in your ears, which is called tinnitus, is typically a symptom of hearing damage. Ringing in the ear may or may not indicate hearing loss. But it’s definitely a sign that you should schedule a hearing assessment.
- You’re always missing text messages: Mobile devices are manufactured to be loud enough for you to be able to hear. So if you’re continuously missing calls or text messages, it may be because you can’t hear them. And maybe, when you think about it, you’re failing to hear more common sounds.
- It seems as if people are mumbling when they speak: In some cases, it’s not loss of volume you have to worry about, it’s a loss of definition. Difficulty following along with conversations is one of the first signs that something is going wrong with your hearing. It may be time for a hearing screening if you detect this occurring more and more frequently.
Here are a few other circumstances that show you should make an appointment for a hearing evaluation:
- You have vertigo
- Your ears are not clearing earwax completely
- You can’t readily detect where particular sounds are coming from
- You take certain medications that can harm your hearing
- you’re experiencing an ear infection and it won’t go away
This list is by no means exhaustive. For example, if your TV’s volume is at max and you still can’t hear it. But any one of these symptoms is worth following up on.
Regular checkups
But how should you cope with it when you’re not certain if you have any signs of hearing loss. So how often should you have your hearing tested? There’s a guideline for everything, right, so there’s got to be a guideline for this. Well, yes, there are suggestions.
- Get a primary exam done sometime after you’re 21. Then your mature hearing will have a standard.
- If your hearing is healthy, undergo hearing screenings or tests every three years or so. But be sure you mark these appointments in your calendar or medical records because it’s easy to forget over these huge periods of time.
- You’ll want to get tested immediately if you detect any signs of hearing loss and after that once every year.
It will be easier to identify any hearing loss before any warning signs become apparent with routine screenings. You will have a better chance of protecting your hearing over time the sooner you get checked. So it’s time to give us a call and schedule a hearing assessment.