Do I Have Hearing Loss? How to Know If You Are at Risk

Posted by Cecil Kimball on April 16th, 2021

Hearing loss affects approximately 1 in 5 people in the general population. This is an huge subset of the population, and although the degree of hearing damage can be very mild, it's fairly alarming to believe this statistic is rising. It's predicted that in Australia, by the year 2050 this number will have risen to 1 in the overall population.

Another alarming truth is that a large proportion of the affected by hearing loss are not aware that the issues they encounter in everyday communication and attention are a consequence of mild to moderate hearing loss.

Hearing problems can be caused by a number of factors. It can be the end result of chronic exposure to loud sounds, congenital defect, ototoxicity (as a long-term impact of prescription drugs) or disorder. But hearing loss need not stay undiagnosed. There are a range of ways that you may determine a hearing problem.

The first question to ask is are you frequently misunderstanding what others are saying? Would your friend and family always become annoyed with you responding inappropriately? One of the first noticeable signs of a hearing flaw is a problem in comprehending spoken conversation.

A different way to detect hearing loss would be to think about whether or not you have trouble following conversations when two or more people are talking at precisely the exact same time. You may not realise it, but the hearing impaired will unconsciously compensate for their hearing loss using different indicators to follow conversations (ie: body language, lip reading, context, etc). This is made much more difficult when multiple people are speaking, so these situations can highlight hearing problems.

Hearing problems will be very noticeable during telephone conversations. Do you notice you have a fantastic deal of difficulty in understanding what people are saying to you over the telephone? This is a great way to detect hearing difficulties as there's no way for you to transfer significance other than utilizing sound. Be aware that this isn't a fool-proof method; it could just be that you're talking over a bad phone .

In case you have difficulty hearing in situations where there is background noise, it might be an indicator that you've got some level of hearing loss. For instance; do you find it tough to understand what someone is saying while the TV or radio is playing at the background?

You also need to listen if you find your pals and/or family always asking that you turn down the TV or radio. Placing the volume too high on any appliance is a sign that you might be compensating to your hearing difficulties by making your appliances louder. See here ''mild hearing loss''.

Another hint that you might have some level of hearing damage is should you often think people are mumbling or speaking quite softly. Pay attention if you end up reprimanding different individuals for speaking too quietly.