Your ears are incredible – they help you hear conversations (and understand them), enjoy music, and basically stay aware of your surroundings. But when something doesn’t feel quite right with your hearing, it’s easy to brush off the potential problem and assume it’s just a temporary thing or not important – that’s a mistake. The truth is your ears often give you clues when they need some attention, and ignoring those signs could lead to much bigger problems that are far more long term. With that in mind, keep reading to discover some of the signs that your ears are telling you something and you shouldn’t ignore.
Trouble Following Conversations
If you find yourself struggling to keep up during conversations, especially in noisy places, it could be a sign of hearing loss, and that’s definitely not something to take lightly. Okay, missing words here and there might not seem like much of a big deal, but that’s easily something that can snowball and over time you’ll end up hearing less and less to the point where you might decide to avoid social situations altogether.
Remember, hearing loss doesn’t just affect your ears – it can also affect your relationships, mental health, and even right down to your confidence, so getting professional advice as soon as you notice an issue is vital.
Ringing In Your Ears
Tinnitus, which can be a persistent ringing or buzzing sound in your ears, is a big sign that there’s something wrong and that you need to book an appointment with a hearing professional to be checked over. The fact is that tinnitus can come from a variety of things, including loud noises, stress, and even underlying health issues, so although it can just be a temporary blip, why take the chance?
It’s good to bear in mind that tinnitus doesn’t always lead to hearing loss, but it’s still always worth investigating because working out what the cause is can help you work out how to deal with it, and that’s especially important if it’s linked to other parts of your health.
Turning Up The Volume
Something else that’s a big giveaway that you need to get some help when it comes to your hearing is if you’ve noticed the TV or music volume creeping higher than usual – or perhaps the people around you have mentioned that you’ve got the sound up high and you’ve not even noticed.
Gradual hearing changes are just that – gradual – which is why it’s worth listening when people point out that there might be a problem. True, you may not have noticed it, but if others have, then it’s time to make an appointment with a specialist.
Don’t DIY It
You’ll have read that we recommend going to see an audiologist or hearing specialist a number of times in this blog, and that’s because it’s totally the right thing to do. We know it’s tempting to look for answers online, but the risks of do-it-yourself hearing tests are worth considering; they might give you a snapshot of what’s wrong, but they can very easily give you inaccurate results, and then you’ll be in a tricky position.
If you want proper treatment for hearing loss and you don’t want to make the situation worse, don’t DIY it and get the professional help you need.
