The Power of Prevention: Why You Should Get a Hearing Test Every Year
Hearing is a sense that we often take for granted until it starts to fade. Unlike other health issues, hearing loss can happen gradually, so it’s easy to miss until it starts to affect your quality of life. That’s where annual hearing tests come in. Just like how you regularly visit your dentist and optometrist for your teeth and eyes, getting your hearing checked once a year should be just as routine.
Why Early Detection is Important
1. Prevents further hearing deterioration: Hearing loss can be gradual and worsen overtime if left untreated. Getting your hearing checked regularly helps catch any changes early, allowing you to take action like getting hearing aids, using noise protection, or making lifestyle adjustments before the problem worsens. Early intervention can protect your hearing and help you maintain a better quality of life.
2. Slows down cognitive decline: Hearing isn’t just about your ears, it’s also deeply connected to your brain. As hearing declines, the brain has to work harder to fill in the gaps of what you’re missing- taking extra mental energy which is normally used for thinking, remembering or focusing. Over time, this mental strain can lead to cognitive fatigue and auditory deprivation to accelerate cognitive decline. By detecting hearing loss early, management can be started before these changes take hold.
3. Prevents social isolation: As you strain to hear, you may withdraw from social situations or stop participating in activities you once enjoyed. Over time, untreated hearing loss can contribute to feelings of isolation, depression, and even memory problems.
Subtle signs of Hearing Loss You Might be Missing
1. Difficulty following conversation in noisy environments like restaurants or meetings.
2. Frequently asking people to repeat themselves.
3. Turning up the TV or radio volume louder than others prefer.
4. Feeling like others are mumbling when they speak to you.
5. Struggling to identify which direction sounds are coming from.
6. Feeling unusually tired after conversations due to the effort required to hear.
If you recognise these signs in yourself or someone you care about, consider reaching out for an assessment or a discussion with one of Knox Audiology’s qualified clinicians.
What a Hearing test Involves:
1. Physical examination of the ear to check for any wax build-up or signs of infection.
2. You’ll wear headphones and press a button every time you hear a sound. The sound will vary in pitch and volume to determine the quietest level at which you can hear each pitch. This will be followed by a speech discrimination test where you repeat a list of words to see how well you understand speech.
3. The entire test lasts around 30 minutes and at the end the Audiologist will explain your results and level of hearing to recommend the next steps.
In Conclusion
Hearing loss doesn’t just affect your ability to hear – it impacts your mental health, safety, relationships, and overall well-being. Getting a hearing test every year is a simple but powerful way to catch any issues before they become serious, so add hearing tests to your annual health checklist!