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 annual 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 exam in a long time.
There are a number of reasons why it’s essential to get hearing evaluations, detecting initial symptoms of hearing loss is perhaps the most important one. Sophia will be able to keep her hearing healthy for a lot longer by recognizing how frequently to have her ears checked.
How Many Times Per Year Should my Hearing be Checked?
We might be alarmed if Sophia hadn’t had a hearing exam in ten years. Or perhaps it doesn’t phase us. Depending on Sophia’s age, reactions could vary. This is because hearing specialists have different suggestions based on age.
- If you are older than fifty: The general suggestion is that anybody older than fifty should get hearing checks every year. Hearing loss is more likely to affect your life as you grow older because noise damage begins to add up. Also, there are other health problems that can impact your hearing.
- It’s generally recommended that you undergo a hearing test around every three years. There’s no problem having your ears checked more frequently, of course! The very least is every three years. You should certainly get examined more often if you spend a lot of time in a noisy setting. There’s no reason not to do it, it’s painless and simple.
When it comes to your hearing, more often is certainly better. The sooner you detect any issues, the sooner you’ll be capable of addressing whatever hearing loss that might have developed since your last hearing exam.
You Should Get Your Hearing Checked if You Notice These Signs
There are definitely other occasions besides your yearly hearing exam that you may want to make an appointment with your hearing specialist. For example, if you recognize signs of hearing loss. And in those cases, it’s typically a good plan to immediately contact a hearing professional and schedule a hearing test.
Some of the signs that might prompt you to get a hearing test could include:
- Having a tough time making out consonants (generally speaking, consonants are spoken in a higher pitch than vowels, and it’s those high-frequency sounds that are usually the first to go as hearing loss takes hold)
- When you’re in a loud environment, you have trouble hearing conversations.
- Having a very difficult time understanding people when talking on the phone, any phone.
- Sounds become muffled; it starts to sound as if you always have water in your ears.
- Listening to your favorite tunes at extremely high volumes.
- When you’re speaking with people, you constantly have to keep asking people to speak up.
When these warning signs begin to accumulate, it’s a strong sign that the appropriate time to get a hearing test is right now. You need to recognize what’s happening with your ears and that means getting a hearing exam sooner rather than later.
Hearing Exams, What Are The Advantages?
Sophia may be late for her hearing exam for many reasons. Maybe she hasn’t considered it. Potentially she’s just avoiding dealing with it. But there are tangible benefits to having your hearing tested per recommendations.
And it will be simpler to identify hearing deviations in the future if you have your hearing examined by forming a baseline reading even if it seems like everything is normal. You can protect your hearing better if you detect it before it becomes problematic.
The point of regular hearing testing is that someone like Sofia will be in a position to identify problems before her hearing is permanently impaired. By catching your hearing loss early, by having your hearing checked when you should, you’ll be giving your ears their best chance of staying healthy. Considering the impact of hearing loss on your general health, that’s essential.
