Early Signs of Hearing Loss and When to Get Tested

What the early signs of hearing loss look like in daily life

The National Institute on Aging lists the signs below. Try reading them with a specific week in mind: the last family meal, the last call with your doctor, the last time someone asked you to turn the TV down.

• Phone calls are harder. You have trouble understanding what people say over the telephone.
• Group conversations get lost. One person is fine, but it gets hard to follow along when two or more people are talking.
• You ask people to repeat themselves. "What did you say?" has become a regular part of your day.
• The TV keeps creeping up. Other people in the room complain about the volume.
• Background noise takes over. Restaurants, family parties and busy waiting rooms make speech hard to pick out.
• People seem to mumble. You can tell someone is talking, but the words are not clear.
• Higher voices are the hardest. Children and people with higher-pitched voices are harder to understand than others.

Why gradual hearing loss is easy to miss

Age-related hearing loss comes on slowly, so you may not realize it is happening, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). It is also common. The NIDCD says about one in three people ages 65 to 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than 75 have difficulty hearing.

Hearing loss often affects high-pitched sounds first. Many consonants, such as s, f and th, are soft and high-pitched, while vowels are lower and stronger. That is why speech can seem loud enough and still be hard to understand. You hear that someone is talking, and you miss the sounds that separate one word from another.

Ringing in the ears can be part of the picture too. The NIDCD says most people with tinnitus have some degree of hearing loss. If ringing is what you noticed first, our page on tinnitus treatment with hearing aids explains how a visit works.

A spouse or adult child may notice all of this before you do, since they are the ones repeating themselves. It can be hard to hear from family, but it is useful information, and a test will show how much of it comes down to your ears.

Some of these signs have a cause that can be fixed

Not every change in hearing is permanent. Ear wax can cause decreased hearing, a full feeling and ringing, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology. MedlinePlus notes that hearing loss from a wax blockage is often temporary. The academy also warns that fluid behind the eardrum, an ear canal infection and sudden inner ear hearing loss can all feel like wax, so it helps to have someone look.

At Mid Valley Hearing Technologies, Jordan Ortega, our licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist, starts with video otoscopy, which shows your ear canal and eardrum on a screen you can watch. Tympanometry then checks how your eardrum moves, which can point to fluid or a middle ear problem. If wax is the cause, Jordan can remove it with a curette and suction. You can read more about ear wax removal at our clinic. If something looks medical, he will refer you to a physician.

When to see a doctor before you book a hearing test

Gradual changes can wait for a regular appointment. See a doctor promptly for any of the following:

• Sudden hearing loss. This can happen all at once or over a few days, often in one ear. The NIDCD calls sudden deafness a medical emergency and says to see a doctor immediately. Treatment delayed by more than two to four weeks is less likely to help.
• Pain, drainage or bleeding from the ear. The academy says these need to be checked by a health care provider, since they can come from something other than wax.
• Dizziness along with a change in hearing. Call your doctor the same day.
• Hearing loss in only one ear, even if it came on slowly. Age-related hearing loss typically affects both ears, so one-sided loss is worth a doctor's opinion.

What a hearing test at Mid Valley Hearing shows you

A hearing test at our McAllen clinic takes about 45 to 60 minutes. Jordan measures the softest tones you can hear, how well you recognize words, and how well you follow speech in background noise. That last part uses a test called QuickSIN, and it speaks directly to the sign that bothers so many adults: trouble hearing in noisy places.

You leave with a printed audiogram, which is a chart of your hearing, along with an explanation of what it means. You do not have to buy anything. If your hearing is fine for now, you have a baseline to compare against later. If there is a loss, you can talk through options across the seven hearing aid brands Jordan fits.

There is no need to rush a decision, but it is worth getting an answer. The NIDCD reports that fewer than 1 in 3 adults age 70 and older who could benefit from hearing aids has ever used them. The National Institute on Aging adds that hearing problems left untreated can get worse.

If any of these early signs of hearing loss sound familiar, call Mid Valley Hearing Technologies at (956) 576-3593 to book a test. We are at 3711 N 10th St Suite 111 in McAllen, open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. Se habla español.