Hearing loss may appear in many forms, and can appear either suddenly, as the result of injury or trauma, or over time, due to the aging process. Hearing loss may range between mild instances of not hearing conversations correctly to severe periods of total deafness, and may be either permanent or temporary. Either a single ear can be affected by hearing loss, or both ears.
You will find many symptoms linked to hearing loss, one of the most common of which is a growing difficulty hearing or understanding conversations. You may experience other’s speaking voices as if they were speaking too softly or are too distant to be heard properly, or their voices may seem to be muffled and indistinct. Or alternatively, you might be able to hear folks speaking but discover that you are having trouble distinguishing individual words; this could become more noticeable when multiple people are speaking simultaneously, or when you are in noisy locations.
Other common signs of hearing loss include increasing the volume on your TV or radio, having more difficulty hearing women’s voices than men’s, and not being able to differentiate sounds such as ‘th’ and ‘s’ from one another. If you experience pain, irritation, or itching in your ears, have instances of vertigo or dizziness, or hear a constant buzzing or ringing sound, these symptoms may also be indications of hearing loss.
Because it can occur gradually, many people with hearing impairment don’t realize it. This can sometimes lead to habits or behaviors intended to hide their hearing loss from other people. Examples of these types of symptoms include having to ask people to repeat themselves often, avoiding dialogues and social situations, pretending to have heard stuff that you really didn’t, and emotions of isolation or depression.
If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, it’s time to make an appointment with one of our hearing specialists. They will give you a hearing test to determine if you have experienced hearing loss, and if so, can help you do something about it.