By Simon Swindells, Director and Clinical Lead Audiologist at South West Hearing Care
Hearing loss generally develops slowly over many years and the effects become apparent only gradually. It can be quite easy for someone with hearing loss to not realise what sounds they are missing out on, or to find ways of adapting to compensate for what they are missing.
However, ignoring hearing loss can contribute to a variety of cognitive issues including dementia. Moreover, it reduces your overall quality of life as it is more difficult to interact with the world around you.
With World Hearing Day on the horizon (3rd March), I thought it was a good time to consider some of the warning signs that all point to this common problem. If any of the below points sound familiar for you or a loved one, it may be time to book a hearing test.
Finding it difficult to follow conversations, especially in a social group situation
Hearing only fragments of conversations can cause you to feel isolated, and as such, you're likely to sit back and not participate as actively in a conversation.
Feeling tired after listening in challenging environments
Participating in a conversation with multiple speakers or trying to hear something in a noisy environment can be mentally exhausting when you have a hearing loss.
Other people seem to mumble
Often those with hearing loss believe that those around them are mumbling or not speaking clearly enough, rather than acknowledging that it is their hearing loss that is causing the issue.
Often needing to turn up the volume of your television
The volume of your television is a good visual of the start of a hearing loss: the more your hearing levels decrease, the more you need to increase the volume of the television. Also those around you may complain that the television is too noisy, while for you it is the perfect volume.
What’s the next step?
You regularly make appointments to visit our dentist and optician, so why should your hearing care be any different? By prioritising your hearing health, you can catch hearing loss before it develops to a significant level that will make it harder to treat.
If you'd like to speak myself or the team for further advice or to book a free hearing assessment, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Appointments are available at our practices in Street and Westbury.
