Signs You May Have a Hearing Loss

2020-11-03 How do you know you have a hearing loss? This is a very common question that is asked daily by many people. Consider these questions:

 * Do you find yourself constantly asking for people to speak up?
 * Do you have more problems hearing women or children, those with high pitched voices, speak as opposed to men, those with low pitched voices?
 * Do you find yourself talking louder to the point of shouting because you cannot hear yourself even in quiet environments?
 * Do you find yourself having a very hard time hearing people in loud environments such as a restaurant or pub?
 * Do you find yourself constantly having to turn up the volume on the TV even though nothing has changed in the room you are watching TV in?
 * Do you find yourself constantly having to turn up the volume or car stereo?
 * Do you notice that you cannot hear things that you once used to be able to hear?
 * Do you have a ringing in your ears?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you may have a hearing loss. You will want to consider a few factors prior to booking an appointment with a hearing health professional. Consider these factors:

 * Do you work in a loud environment?
 * Do you wear hearing protection at work?
 * Have you ever worn hearing protection at work?
 * What environments do you notice the most problems in? Loud? Soft? All environments?
 * Do you have a cold or flu?
 * Do you have a family history of hearing loss or hereditary hearing or ear diseases?
Depending on your answers to the above questions you may want to book an appointment with a hearing health professional as soon as possible. If you work in a loud environment and do not wear hearing protection you may have hearing loss. However, at the same time if you didn’t previous wear hearing protection at work but you do now that previous exposure may have still caused hearing loss.

Pay close attention to what environments you have problems hearing in. Most people have problems hearing in loud environments but it is how the background noise affects you that can be an indicator that you may have hearing loss. But if you have constant problems hearing in quiet environments to speech then you might definitely have a hearing loss, though your ears may also be impacted with wax which will need to be cleaned out by a doctor.

Check your family history with hearing loss and degenerative diseases to the ear and hearing. This could be hereditary and could be causing problems with your hearing.

Having a cold or flu can cause temporary hearing loss so be sure to wait until you are well before booking an appointment with a hearing health professional for a hearing test to check your hearing. Having a cold or flu can greatly affect your hearing test results.