You’ve been told time and time again, the volume on that TV is just too loud. Well, at least you think you’ve been told time and time again. You couldn’t really hear what they were saying.
Hearing difficulties affect about 37.5 million adults in the US. And though hearing aids are really quite useful in many of these scenarios, a disappointingly low number of people with hearing loss are using them. In fact, statistics tell us that fewer than 1 in 3 adults aged 70 years and older who might benefit from hearing aids have ever used them. In the younger age group of 20- to 69-year-olds who could benefit from hearing aids, only 16% have ever used them.
There could be a number of reasons why these statistics are the case – the cost of hearing aids can be prohibitive for some, while others may be put off by the appearance and perceived stigma of wearing the device. Some may underestimate their own hearing impairment and have a lack of understanding or awareness of how hearing aids may be beneficial.
How Do I Know if I Need Hearing Aids?
If being unsure about whether you really need hearing aids or not is what’s holding you back, this list of 10 signs might help you out.
- You find yourself increasing the volume on the TV and radio (and you suspect other people have been telling you to turn it down but you can’t quite catch what they’re saying).
- You realize you often have to ask people to repeat themselves when talking to you.
- You have difficulty following conversation when background noise is present.
- You find it hard to hear a person talking unless they are facing you directly.
- You find yourself avoiding social situations because it’s too difficult to hear what’s going on and to follow the conversations.
- You can hear a phantom noise, such as ringing, buzzing, or clicking (spoiler alert: that’s tinnitus).
- Sounds often seem muffled (everyone is mumbling, why does everyone mumble!).
- You feel fatigued or stressed from the effort of concentrating on conversation.
- Your eyes are beginning to focus on the person’s mouth when they speak (you’re starting to lip read).
- Higher pitched sounds, such as children or women’s voices, are especially difficult to decipher.
It’s not unusual for someone with normal hearing to identify with a couple of items on this list. Maybe everyone around them does mumble. But if you’re nodding your head, however reluctantly, to more than just a few of these scenarios, now may be a good time to organize yourself a hearing test with an audiologist.
Hearing Tests
An audiologist is a healthcare professional with training in the diagnosis and management of hearing and balance disorders. A big part of their practice is fitting patients with hearing aids.
To assess whether hearing aids are suitable for you, they first need to identify your type of hearing loss. If your hearing is having a hard time because your ears are plugged up with wax, removing the wax would be the way to go, rather than investing in $6000 hearing aids.
In addition to a physical exam (looking for that earwax), the audiologist will most likely perform a test called audiometry. During audiometry, you’ll be tasked with responding to tones of varying pitch and volume presented through a pair of headphones. Your responses can then be graphed to represent which frequencies of sound are problematic and the severity of your hearing loss. These hearing assessments can tell your audiologist whether hearing aids will be effective for your type of hearing loss, and what sort of device might be the most suitable.
Taking the step into wearing a hearing aid may seem daunting but they really are quite useful little things. Untreated hearing loss is associated with social withdrawal, difficulties with tasks of daily living, depression, and cognitive decline, so anything that can help you avoid those may be well worth your while.