Approximately 48 million Americans have hearing loss, and you may be one of them. Hearing loss is a progressive condition that develops slowly over time, meaning you may not notice you have it until it has advanced beyond a stage that is easily treatable.
Because untreated hearing loss is linked with feelings of loneliness, depression, anxiety and cognitive decline, it’s important to seek treatment early. Below are some of the most common signs of hearing loss.
You Feel that Others Are Mumbling
It’s true that sometimes people mumble and are difficult to hear, but if you feel that everyone around you is mumbling all the time, this is a good sign you have hearing loss.
The reason it seems as though people are mumbling is because hearing loss tends to affect higher-frequency sounds first, like consonants. When you can only hear vowel sounds, you still can hear that someone is speaking but can’t make out the words.
You Have Trouble Talking on the Phone
Talking on the phone is one of the most challenging listening situations for people with hearing loss. Whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, many people with hearing loss rely on visual cues like lip reading, facial expressions and gestures to understand what is being said. When those visual cues aren’t there, it’s difficult to understand speech.
Conversations with Background Noise Are Hard
It’s also the case that people with hearing loss tend to have trouble having conversations in environments with lots of background noise, like Serafina. This is because your conversation partner’s voice tends to blend in with the other conversations happening around you.
You Turn Up the TV Too Loud
One of the most common complaints among families of somebody with hearing loss is that the TV is always too loud. This is no surprise given that TV shows and movies tend to layer dialogue over sound effects and background music, which makes it hard to hear what is being said.
For more information about the signs of hearing loss or to schedule an appointment for a hearing test, call the experts at San Francisco Audiology today.