It’s not as if you just wake up one day, and your hearing is gone. For most people, loss of hearing gradually over time, especially when it comes to aging. Age-related hearing loss affects about one in three people in this country. Usually, the change isn’t even noticed until after the age of 75. Some signs show up earlier, though, and you may not realize there is an issue immediately.
Early hearing loss has gradual and subtle symptoms. Recognizing them as soon as possible is essential to slow down the progression of hearing loss or other health problems related to hearing loss. However, if you’re not sure what the signs are, you can’t recognize them. You may be suffering from hearing loss if you have any of these eight barely noticeable signs.
1. Ringing in The Ears
Okay, this isn’t exactly a subtle sign, but it is something people tend to ignore unless it’s disruptive. Tinnitus, the medical name for the ringing, is a typical symptom of hearing loss.
Triggers are a considerable factor in tinnitus so it can be intermittent, too. Maybe the ringing only occurs when your tired or when you first get up for instance.
Tinnitus is a sign that something else is happening with your body so it should never be neglected. It could be hearing loss, but it could also be a sign of high blood pressure, circulatory problems or trauma. If you want to know for sure, you will need to consult your doctor.
2. Talking on The Phone is Stressful
Here are some common excuses for phone issues:
- It’s a new phone, and I’m just not used to it yet.
- I dropped my phone in water or on the ground.
- My phone is old.
If you dislike talking on the phone think about the reasons why. Get someone else to test the phone for you if the volume is all the way up and you still don’t hear it. If you can’t hear the conversation but they can then you have a hearing issue.
3. It Seems As if Everyone Mumbles These Days
Recently, it’s not only the kids, but also your neighbor, the news anchor, and even your spouse that have started to mumble to you. It’s hard to believe that everyone you deal with suddenly has poor enunciation.
It’s much more probable that you may not be hearing words in the same way. One of the first indications that your hearing is changing is when talking sounds like mumbling and consonants like “S” and “T” drop off.
4. What?
Only when someone calls you out for saying “what?” a lot do you begin to recognize that you can’t hear conversations as well anymore. Usually, the people you see every day like coworkers or family are the first to recognize you are having difficulties hearing. If someone comments on it, pay attention.
5. You Hear Some People Perfectly Fine But Not Others
Maybe you can hear the neighbor perfectly, but when his wife joins the conversation, everything gets messed up. It’s a common symptom of sensorineural hearing loss or damage to the nerves that send electrical messages to the brain.
Her voice is higher pitched, and that’s why it isn’t as clear. Your daughter or grandchild might present the same problem. Even things like the microwave or an alarm can throw a loop into things. Those sounds are high pitched, as well.
6. Going Out Used to be Much More Fun
Again, there are those mumbling people, and that’s not fun. Also, it’s much more difficult to understand what people are saying when it’s noisy. Something as routine as the AC coming on during dinner or the sound of people chatting around you makes it impossible to hear anything.
7. You Never Used to Feel so Tired
It’s can be exhausting struggling to comprehend what people are saying. You are more fatigued than usual because your brain is working harder to manage what it hears. Your other senses might also undergo changes. What’s left for your other senses when your brain is working at 110 percent of its energy to understand words? It’s time to have your ears checked if your eye examination came back okay.
8. You Can’t Hear The TV
Rather than accusing the service provider when you have to keep turning the TV up, consider getting a hearing exam. When you have hearing loss it can be difficult to follow dialog. For example, when the background music is playing, it makes everything sound unclear. And don’t forget about the AC, ceiling fan or other noises in the room. If the volume keeps going up, then your hearing could be faltering.
A professional hearing exam will tell you for certain and that’s the good news. Hearing aids should get things back to normal if it turns out that your hearing has declined.