According to one recent survey, nearly 30% of people have gone more than ten years without getting a hearing test. Sofia is one of them. She knows to get her oil changed every 3000 miles, she sees the dentist every six months, and she checks in dutifully for her annual medical examination. But she hasn’t had a hearing test in quite some time.
Hearing assessments are beneficial for a wide variety of reasons, finding first symptoms of hearing loss is likely the most essential one. Sophia can keep her hearing healthy for a much longer period of time by determining how frequently to get her hearing checked.
How Frequently Do You Need to Get a Hearing Examination?
If the last time Sofia had a hearing test was a decade ago, we might be concerned. Or we may think it’s perfectly normal. Depending on how old Sophia is, reactions could vary. This is because hearing professionals have different guidelines based on age.
- It’s usually recommended that you undergo a hearing assessment around every three years. Certainly, if you think you should have your ears checked more often, that’s also fine. But once every three years is the bare minimum. You should absolutely get tested more often if you are frequently in a loud environment. It’s simple and painless and there’s truly no reason not to get it done.
- If you are over fifty years old: But if you’re above the age of fifty, the suggestion is, you get a hearing exam each year. As you age, the noise damage you’ve suffered over a lifetime can begin to speed up, meaning loss of hearing is more likely to start affecting your life. There are also several other variables that can affect your hearing.
If you would like to undergo hearing examinations or tests more often, 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 regular hearing tests could be helpful.
You Should Get Your Hearing Checked if You Notice These Signs
Obviously, your annual (or semi-annual) hearing exam isn’t the only good occasion to make an appointment with a hearing specialist. In some cases, you start to notice some signs of hearing loss. And in those circumstances, it’s typically a good plan to promptly get in touch with a hearing professional and schedule a hearing exam.
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.
- Having a very difficult time comprehending people when talking on the phone, mobile or otherwise
- When you’re speaking with people, you repeatedly need to keep asking people to repeat themselves.
- Trouble hearing conversations in loud environments.
- It’s common for hearing loss in the high pitched register to go first and because consonants are in a higher pitched register than vowels, they usually fail first.
- Turning your television or car stereo to excessively high volumes (if your neighbors start complaining, that’s a good indication you should see a hearing specialist soon).
A good sign that right now is the best time to have a hearing test is when the warning signs start to accumulate. You need to recognize what’s happening with your hearing and that means having a hearing exam as soon as possible.
What Are The Benefits of Hearing Testing?
Sophia may be late for her hearing exam for several reasons. Maybe she hasn’t thought about it. Perhaps thinking about it is something she’s just avoiding. But there are tangible benefits to getting your hearing examined per recommendations.
Even when your hearing is totally healthy, a hearing test can help create a standard reading, which makes variances in the future easier to detect. You can protect your hearing better if you catch it before it becomes a problem.
The point of regular hearing testing is that someone like Sofia will be able to detect issues before her hearing is diminished permanently. By detecting your hearing loss early, by getting your hearing tested when you’re supposed to, you’ll be keeping your ears healthier longer. Thinking about the impact of hearing loss on your general health, that’s essential.