Our audiologists are fully qualified to give you the best hearing care possible, which includes being able to answer any questions you may have off the top of your mind! The world of hearing loss, hearing assessments and hearing aids can seem confusing, it’s our job to put you at ease and give you control of your care. Understandably, in your free hearing assessment a lot of information will already have been covered! But if you think you might have missed something, we’ve compiled a list of the most common questions asked in a hearing test, with the help of our audiologists.
Doesn’t hearing loss only affect old people?
Hearing loss is a natural part of ageing, but that doesn’t mean the younger generations are immune! Age can induce hearing loss due to the wear and tear of sensory hair cells in your ear, however there are many other causes of hearing loss, too. A build-up of ear wax can easily impair your hearing, as it blocks sound waves from reaching the inner ear. Infections or damage to the eardrum can also impact your hearing – and have nothing to do with how old you may be!
Can I wait for my hearing to get worse before I start wearing hearing aids?
Ideally, no. The sooner any form of hearing loss is diagnosed, the more of your natural hearing ability can be preserved. Auditory deprivation is a condition which occurs when the brain lacks stimulation over time, and affects the ability to interpret words. Hearing aids stimulate your auditory cortex (the part of your brain which recognises sound), which helps prevent, or sometimes even reverse, auditory deprivation.
Will I be able to tell if my hearing gets worse?
The symptoms of hearing loss are often more noticeable than the hearing itself. You can find yourself feeling tired and fatigued, as your brain is using extra effort trying to understand and listen to what’s going on around you. Social isolation can also subconsciously occur, as it’s an increasing struggle to follow conversation (especially in bustling social situations) you can feel less obliged to be out and about, even doing what you enjoy. In turn, this can lead to low mood, which when paired with fatigue is more recognisable than hearing impairment.
Does hearing loss affect all of my hearing?
This really depends on the kind of hearing loss you have. Natural hearing loss normally affects the higher frequency sounds first, which can affect your ability to hear conversations and alarms, and gradually increases over time. However, if your ear canal is blocked with wax, or you have a perforated ear drum, this can impact all frequencies of hearing.
I can’t do anything about tinnitus, can I?
Although tinnitus doesn’t have a ‘cure’, there are therapies that help ease the symptoms which many people find relief in. One of the most common forms is Sound Enrichment Therapy (SET), which is the method of producing a background noise such as waves and rain to combat tinnitus symptoms. Many hearing aids have this as a setting, including the Oticon Opn and Starkey Halo 2. As one of our many audiology services, we offer a free tinnitus consultation to find out the right care for you.
As always, all of our THCP audiologists are only a phone call away. If you want to talk about the hearing of you or a loved one, why not book an appointment online with your nearest practice, and become the expert of your hearing.