Why is it important to have your hearing screened regularly? That’s because your general health can be substantially affected by hearing loss. Your quality of life will be improved, your health will be enhanced, and you will get proper treatment faster if you get screened regularly.
Who should get a hearing exam?
A loss in hearing ability can produce effects that can significantly impede your health and well-being. For instance, hearing loss can result in intense social isolation. Conversations with family and friends can become more challenging, and people with hearing loss might be less likely to reach out to others, even during routine activities like shopping or going to work. It might not be shocking that this kind of social isolation can lead to mental health issues, but it might come as a surprise to find out that it can be harmful to your physical health too.
Hearing loss can trigger other issues as well. Numerous chronic conditions, including depression and dementia, have been associated with untreated hearing loss. It’s also been associated with a number of comorbidities, including diabetes, heart issues, and high blood pressure.
As a result, it’s generally a good idea for just about anybody to schedule a routine hearing test.
Four reasons to monitor your hearing
Getting your hearing examined can be helpful to your overall health for four distinct reasons.
1. You can discover the baseline for your healthy hearing
It may seem silly to get your hearing tested while your hearing is still healthy, right? Well, getting a hearing test early is a good idea for a number of reasons. The most significant is that a hearing test will give us a detailed picture of your present hearing health. This will make it much easier to diagnose any changes in the future. Early symptoms of hearing loss usually go undetected because hearing loss often progresses slowly over time.
Getting a baseline hearing test will help detect problems well before you observe them.
2. Diagnose and treat issues earlier
Hearing loss is typically a progressive condition, meaning it often gets worse over time. As a result, catching hearing loss early frequently means a better prognosis. This is because you’re able to treat the condition at the earliest possible juncture.
When you get treatment early it will mean doing things like using ear protection or possibly wearing hearing aids. Treatment can help you avoid many of the associated issues listed above, such as cognitive decline, depression, and social isolation.
3. Future changes will be easier to measure
Even if you’re diagnosed with hearing loss, that doesn’t mean your hearing will remain static for the rest of your life. Regular hearing exams can help you identify changes as you go along, and make changes to your treatment plan as necessary.
4. Additional damage can be avoided
Hearing loss that develops gradually over time is usually caused by damage. Your hearing specialist is a significant resource and seeing us regularly will help you identify any hearing loss as early as possible. We can give you information, treatments, and best practices that can help keep your hearing as healthy as possible.
For instance, we can help you determine ways to protect your ears from day-to-day damage or establish strategies designed to help you keep sounds around you quieter.
What should my hearing exam routine look like?
Generally speaking, it’s recommended that adults get a hearing test sometime in their 20s or 30s, on the earlier side. Unless we suggest more frequent visits or if you notice any hearing issues, at least every ten years will be the advised interval for hearing tests.
What should I expect my hearing exam to be like? Hearing exams are usually completely non-invasive. Frequently, all you do is wear special headphones and listen for a specific sound.
We will be able to help you get the treatment you require, whether you need a set of hearing aids or you just need to protect your ears. And we can help you determine what your hearing test schedule should be.
