You know you’re feeling cranky these days but you’re not really certainly why. Well, it was frustrating earlier this morning when you felt left out of the meeting at the office. Your daughter got up and abruptly left the house after becoming frustrated when you kept asking her to turn the volume on the TV up. What’s the deal with that?
Perhaps the real problem is hearing loss!
Hearing loss is a problem for roughly 40 million individuals in the US and can sneak up on you with age. And the problem goes beyond just your ears. Even minor hearing loss puts you at risk of depression, memory problems, and even cognitive decline, according to some research. You might have a treatable medical condition causing your hearing loss but you think it’s simply an indication of aging. Perhaps, you missed significant conversational cues and your coworkers didn’t actually exclude you from the meeting after all. Honestly, it can be extremely aggravating when you can’t hear during your day-to-day life.
Learn more about hearing loss
Learning a little bit more about what you’re struggling with is a useful place to begin. For many individuals, hearing loss is a normal side effect of growing older. But years of exposure to excessively loud noise can also be the cause for others. Everything from the music you listened to when you were 16, to driving with the window down in heavy traffic, to mowing lawns and cleaning up leaves with that noisy leaf blower could contribute to hearing loss. The delicate mechanisms in your ear can be damaged by lots of noises in the world.
Chronic diseases that become more common as one grows older are a possible factor as well. High blood pressure, for example, or diabetes can both affect blood flow, which causes harm to the inner ear.
Recognize the signs
People often take their hearing for granted, so when it starts to fail they don’t detect the signs:
- When individuals are having discussions, you continually feel excluded
- You regularly say “what” and often need people to repeat themselves
- Struggling to understand words when there is background noise like a fan or the AC
Obviously, you’d be grumpy if you’ve been struggling with any of these symptoms! Feeling detached from your world can cause depression and even social isolation.
Treating hearing loss
Start by asking a family member or a loved one if they have seen you working hard to keep up with conversations or if you say “What?” a little too often. It may seem like a challenging discussion but it’s a very worthwhile one. If the answer is ‘yes’ then scheduling a hearing exam should be your next move and will simplify things for you. Ask your loved one to accompany you to your appointment. It can be helpful to have a calm and supportive friend with you.
Your hearing exam will not only help to verify your hearing loss but it will also gauge the extent of it. If hearing loss is determined, we will advise the next course of action for you based on the results of the test. Normally, hearing aids will be a principal part of the treatment plan. You’ll certainly be able to get a pair of hearing aids that will best fit your lifestyle since there are so many styles and options to choose from.
Deciding on quality hearing aids
We’ll have recommendations that will be best suited for your unique type of hearing loss. Take some to time determine the correct brand and model for your needs, this may require testing a few styles and models. Hearing aids don’t just amplify sound these days. They can block out background noises, link to smartphones and computers, and even determine the direction of a sound. Do some research to determine which brands and models provide the features that will best fit your lifestyle and requirements.
Think about the style you want for your hearing aids, too. They come in many fashionable colors or with no color at all, so they’re nearly invisible.
Schedule a hearing assessment with our qualified hearing specialists today if you think you could be suffering with hearing loss. Don’t you think it’s time to take action and end your grumpy state of mind?
References
https://www.ncoa.org/adviser/hearing-aids/hearing-loss-america/