The last time you had dinner with your family was a hard experience. It wasn’t because your family was having a tough time getting along. No, the source of the difficulty was simple: it was noisy, and you couldn’t hear a thing. So you weren’t able to have very much meaningful conversation with any of your family members. It was frustrating. You feel like the room’s acoustics played a big part. But you can’t totally dismiss the possibility that maybe your hearing is starting to go bad.
It isn’t generally advisable to try to self diagnose hearing loss because it generally isn’t possible. But there are a few early warning signs you should keep on your radar. When enough of these red flags surface, it’s worth making an appointment to get checked by a hearing specialist.
Hearing Loss Has Some Early Warning Signs
Not every sign and symptom of hearing loss is noticeable. But you might be experiencing some amount of hearing loss if you find yourself recognizing some of these signs.
Some of the most common early signs of hearing impairment may include:
- There’s a ringing in your ears: Ringing in your ears is called tinnitus (and, actually, tinnitus can be other sounds also: screeching, buzzing, humming, thumping, and so on). Tinnitus isn’t always related to hearing problems, but it is often an early warning sign of hearing loss, so a hearing test is most likely in order.
- It’s suddenly very hard to understand phone calls: People do a lot of texting nowadays, so you may not take as many phone calls as you once did. But if you’re having problems understanding the phone calls you do get (even with the volume cranked all the way up), you may be confronting another red flag for your hearing.
Next Up: Get a Exam
Regardless of how many of these early warning signs you may experience, there’s really only one way to know, with certainty, whether your hearing is going bad: get your hearing tested.
In general, even one of these early warning signs could be an indication that you’re developing some type of hearing impairment. A hearing examination will be able to tell what level of impairment, if any, exists. And then you’ll be better equipped to get the proper treatment.
This will make your next family gathering a lot smoother and more enjoyable.