According to one recent survey, nearly 30% of people have gone more than ten years without getting a hearing test. Sofia is one of those people. She goes to her yearly doctor’s appointments, she visits a dentist every six months, and she gets the oil changed in her car every 3000 miles. But she hasn’t had a hearing examination in a long time.
There are lots of reasons why it’s important to get hearing evaluations, finding first symptoms of hearing loss is likely the most important one. Sophia can keep her hearing healthy for a lot longer by recognizing how frequently to get her hearing checked.
How Frequently Should You Have a Hearing Test?
If the last time Sofia had a hearing examination was ten years ago, we might be concerned. Or maybe we don’t think anything of it. Our response, and the reaction of her hearing specialist, likely will vary depending on her age. This is because hearing professionals have different recommendations based on age.
- At least every three years, it’s suggested that you have a hearing test. Of course, if you think you should have your hearing examined more frequently, that’s also fine. But once every three years is the bare minimum. You should definitely get evaluated more frequently if you spend a lot of time in a loud environment. There’s no reason not to get it done, it’s painless and simple.
- If you’re older than fifty: But if you’re above the age of fifty, the suggestion is, you have a hearing exam annually. As you get older, the noise damage you’ve incurred over a lifetime can start to speed up, meaning loss of hearing is more likely to start affecting your life. Also, there are other health issues that can affect your hearing.
If you want to undergo hearing examinations or tests more frequently, there’s obviously no harm in that, at least in terms of your hearing. Since you last had a hearing exam, you might have new damage you should know about, so more frequent hearing exams could be practical.
You Should Get Your Hearing Checked if You Notice These Signs
There are definitely other times besides your annual hearing test that you may want to make an appointment with your hearing professional. For instance, if you notice symptoms of hearing loss. And in those instances, it’s usually a good idea to promptly contact a hearing professional and schedule a hearing test.
Some of the signs that might prompt you to get a hearing test could include:
- Your hearing is dull like there is water in your ears.
- Cranking your music to extremely high volumes (if your neighbors start complaining, that’s a good indication you should see a hearing specialist soon).
- Phone conversations are always difficult to understand
- It’s typical for loss of hearing in the high pitched register to fail first and because consonants are in a higher pitched register than vowels, they usually go first.
- When you’re in a noisy environment, you have problems hearing conversations.
- When you’re speaking with people, you constantly need to keep asking people to speak up.
A good indicator that right now is the best time to have a hearing test is when the warning signs begin to accumulate. You need to know what’s happening with your ears and that means getting a hearing exam as soon as possible.
What Are The Advantages of Hearing Testing?
There are plenty of reasons why Sofia could be late in having her hearing test. Denial is a top choice. Maybe thinking about it is something she is just avoiding. But there are concrete benefits to having your hearing tested per recommendations.
And it will be simpler to detect hearing deviations in the future if you get your hearing checked by forming a baseline reading even if it seems as if everything is just fine. You can safeguard your hearing better if you catch it before it becomes a problem.
The point of regular hearing assessment is that somebody like Sofia will be enabled to recognize issues before her hearing is impaired permanently. By catching your hearing loss early, by getting your hearing checked when you’re supposed to, you’ll be keeping your ears healthier longer. It’s essential to think about how hearing loss will influence your general health.