Our ability to hear can have a huge impact on our quality of life. But you don’t have to lose your hearing altogether to see negative effects on the way you interact with the world around you. Even a slightly degraded ability to hear can be cause to visit a hearing center in Nashville.
Our hearing can become damaged in seemingly normal scenarios. This ability for our hearing to get damaged in everyday life becomes exacerbated as we grow older.
However, paying attention to how we treat our hearing — as well as the state of our hearing capabilities — can help us to take better care of ourselves and keep from causing further damage.
Here are 6 signs of early hearing loss:
The Volume Levels Are Increasing
Difficulty Following Along in Noisy Areas
You Find Yourself Mentally Drained
Phone Calls Are Difficult to Understand
Ringing In Your Ears
Frequently Asking People to Repeat Themselves
1. The Volume Levels Are Increasing
We don’t often pay attention to the numbers on the volume controls of our televisions and stereos. We simply adjust the volume up or down depending on what we’re listening to and the environment we’re in.
However, the average volume levels of these items can be helpful indicators of the overall state of our hearing.
Do other people frequently comment that your television or stereo is too loud? Have you noticed the need to turn these items up after they’re used by another person? These are quick examples that might indicate a slight decline in your ability to hear.
You’re not going to notice as you slowly turn the volume up over time, but it can be used as a point of comparison.
2. Difficulty Following Along in Noisy Areas
Participating in conversations requires a detailed attention to what people around you are saying. Doing this in a noisy environment like a party or concert can be difficult for people with damaged hearing.
High-pitched noises are often the first areas of the spectrum to go for people with minor hearing loss. This puts a fair amount of speech in an area that can be difficult to hear. Children’s voices, for instance, might be harder to understand.
The general noise from a crowded area tends to be akin to a low rumble. These low sounds might be easier for a person with hearing loss to hear than the high-pitched aspects of speech.
Visit Otolaryngology Associates of Tennessee (OAT), a hearing center in Nashville, TN!
3. You Find Yourself Mentally Drained
There’s a reason people get tired from studying. Paying strict attention takes a lot of focus, which puts strain on your mind. Doing this for a prolonged period of time will leave the person feeling tired and foggy.
Someone struggling with their hearing will have to pay closer attention to absorb the information. Doing this for a long time can leave them mentally drained, just like a student studying for a test or attending a lecture.
Your brain works to fill in the gaps of conversation that you miss. And if you’re not able to hear everyone well, your brain is going to be doing this a lot.
4. Phone Calls Are Difficult to Understand
This is similar to how it can be difficult for people with hearing loss to hear people in crowded rooms. Background noise is very frequent on phone calls. This can come from static within the earpiece or taking the phone call in an otherwise noisy environment.
Do you find yourself plugging one ear while speaking on the phone? Do you often miss sections of a sentence? These could be signs that your hearing isn’t as great as it once was.
5. Ringing In Your Ears
There are many different reasons you might experience a ringing in your ears. So even though a ringing doesn’t point directly to hearing damage, it is often a symptom associated with it.
This ringing is called tinnitus, and most people will experience it at some point in their lives. It can be caused by innocuous things such as earwax buildup or too much caffeine. However, it can also be a result of overexposure to loud noises.
You should visit a hearing center if you have a continued ringing in your ear. They’ll either be able to find a way to stop it if it’s a result of a temporary issue, or diagnose any damage if it’s caused by noise.
6. Frequently Asking People to Repeat Themselves
Much like high volume levels on your TV and stereo, this is a sign that will be apparent to people around you. Frequently missing sections of the conversation and asking people to repeat themselves can be a sign of hearing loss.
Some people tend to mumble or speak in a low voice. However, not everyone does this. And if you find yourself asking multiple people to repeat things they just said, the problem most likely lies with you and not with the people speaking.
Visiting a hearing center is the best way to know for sure if your hearing is starting to degrade. Hearing aids help numerous people every day to regain the quality of life they once had before experiencing hearing loss.
