Often dismissed as a natural part of aging, hearing loss is a very real condition that affects people from all walks of life. It affects your ability to communicate and your overall health and well-being.
Hearing loss can occur gradually and can be difficult to notice. Especially since hearing loss is unique to each individual. Some people experience hearing loss with low-pitched sounds, while others experience hearing loss with high-pitched sounds.
When Should I Visit a Hearing Specialist?
It’s important to get a baseline hearing test and yearly follow-up so you can get it diagnosed early and fitted with the best technology for your individual needs.
A hearing test is painless and easy and can help your doctor understand what kind of hearing loss you are experiencing. Whether it is conductive, sensorineural, or mixed. Your audiologist can determine the best way to respond to your hearing loss and develop an individualized plan for you.
Many people don’t notice the warning signs of hearing loss because they are so gradual. It’s important to get a baseline test to get treated as early as possible.
You may experience hearing loss if you have the following symptoms
- Difficulty understanding what people are saying.
- Missed out on conversations
- Have to ask people to repeat themselves
- People seem to mumble
- Your audio is playing louder than other people.
- You look at people so you can understand what they are saying.
- You don’t hear birds or other sounds in the environment
- You avoid social situations because you can’t understand what is being said
Many people over the age of 60 are most at risk for hearing loss. As well as people that work in high-noise occupations such as restaurants, bars, and construction sites.
How Should I Prepare for a Hearing Test?
Once you set up an appointment with your audiologist you will be asked for medical history. They will also ask you some questions about how you are hearing to help them understand your history and health. There are many likely causes of hearing loss, so your medical history will help with the diagnosis.
Allergies, colds, ear infections, and impacted earwax are medical conditions that can contribute to hearing loss. If you have experienced trauma to your head, that can cause hearing loss as well, which could be temporary or permanent.
Your audiologist will also ask you about exposure to loud noises or sound density in your work environment. Noise-induced hearing loss is very common in the workplace.
Be prepared to discuss the symptoms you are experiencing and how your daily life is affected. Your hearing specialist will want to understand your lifestyle, hobbies, and social life to help determine the best course of treatment. Hearing loss affects your cognitive ability, so fatigue and isolation may be symptoms as well.
Once your hearing health history is complete, your hearing specialist will give you an in-depth hearing test.
What is a Hearing Evaluation Like?
Hearing evaluations are painless and non-invasive. Most occur in a quiet sound-treated room or cubicle designed to minimize other noises that may affect the hearing exam.
Our comprehensive example identifies what type of hearing loss you have, the amount of hearing loss, and other key facts that basic screenings don’t cover.
A series of tests will be administered in the sound room to measure your hearing.
- Pure tone testing – A hearing specialist plays various tones. When you hear the tone, you will be asked to acknowledge that you heard the tone. The tones will be at different pitches and volumes to determine if you have frequency earthing loss.
- Bone conduction testing – assess how the sound-conducting bones behind your ears are working, A device is placed behind your ears, and like the pure tone test, you will be asked to acknowledge what you hear.
Next, the hearing specialist will give you a speech-hearing test.
Speech-hearing tests include
- Speech reception – This assesses your ability to hear speech and hear certain constant sounds.
- Word recognition – If your brain is damaged by hearing loss, it may make recognizing words difficult. This test assesses how well you are recognizing words by stating a series of words and asking you to repeat them. Sometimes an audiologist will ask your partner to repeat the words. To assess how well you understand their speech.
Diagnosis and Consultation
Once your hearing evaluation is complete, your hearing care professional will present the results to you. At this time, the consultation could simply confirm that you are hearing within the normal range, or the audiologist will recommend improving your hearing health.
If you are experiencing hearing loss, the audiologist will explain the nature of the hearing loss and the solutions.
Choosing the Right Hearing Aid
There are a variety of hearing aids today, each with its own advantages. Your hearing care professional can help you choose the style or device that best fits your needs and lifestyle. Also, hearing aid technology has advanced with many new options to choose from, including in-the-ear and behind-the-ear styles.
Many of the hearing aids available today are customized, compact, and innovative and offer a variety of solutions to every lifestyle. When selecting a style of hearing aid, you should make the following considerations and comparisons:
- Budget
- Cosmetics
- Anatomical restrictions
- Skin sensitivities
- Battery Life
- Life Style
- Level of hearing loss
If you or your loved one are experiencing hearing loss, visit our webpage about Treating Hearing Loss With Hearing Aids | Hearing Associates of Las Vegas. Set up an appointment with us and we will take care of you each step of the way. We are the experts in listening and the specialists in hearing.
info@hearingassociateslv.com
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