Why is it essential to have your hearing examined regularly? Well, the reality is that hearing loss can have significant and long-term impacts on your overall wellness. Your quality of life will be improved, your health will be enhanced, and you will get proper treatment quicker if you get evaluated regularly.
Who should get a hearing exam?
A loss in hearing ability can create effects that can significantly impede your health and well-being. For example, hearing loss can lead to extreme social isolation. Conversations with family and friends can become more challenging, and individuals who suffer from hearing loss may 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 type of social isolation can result in mental health issues, but it might come as a surprise to discover that it can be harmful to your physical health too.
Hearing loss can trigger other problems as well. Numerous chronic conditions, including depression and dementia, have been associated with untreated hearing loss. Comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease have also been linked to hearing loss.
So scheduling a routine hearing test will be a good plan for pretty much everyone.
Four reasons to monitor your hearing
There are four significant reasons why checking your hearing can be worthwhile to your general health.
1. Establishing a baseline for your hearing is important
Why would you want to get your hearing checked if it seems healthy? Well, there are a number of good reasons to get a hearing test early. The most important is that a hearing test will give us an accurate picture of your present hearing health. If your hearing changes in the future, this will make it easier to identify. Early symptoms of hearing loss often go undetected because hearing loss often develops slowly over time.
Getting a baseline hearing exam will help identify problems well before you notice them.
2. Early diagnosis and treatment is important
Hearing loss is normally a gradual condition, meaning it often gets worse over time. You’ll have a better prognosis, as a result, if you catch your hearing loss early. This is because you’re capable of treating the condition at the earliest possible juncture.
When you get treatment early it will mean doing things like using hearing protection or possibly wearing hearing aids. Treatment can help prevent many of the related problems listed above, such as cognitive decline, depression, and social isolation.
3. It’s easier to assess future changes
Your hearing loss will continue to progress even after you get diagnosed. Routine hearing tests can help you detect changes as you go along, and make changes to your treatment plan as needed.
4. You can avoid additional damage to your ears
Hearing loss that develops slowly over time is usually caused by damage. Visiting us regularly to get your hearing checked helps you detect that damage as early as possible, and it also gives you access to a considerable resource: your hearing specialist. We can help you keep your hearing as healthy as possible by providing you with treatments, best practices, and information.
For instance, we can help you figure out ways to safeguard your ears from day-to-day damage or develop strategies designed to help you keep sounds around you quieter.
What should my hearing test routine look like?
In general, it’s recommended that adults get a hearing test sometime in their 20s or 30s, on the earlier side. It’s usually standard best practice to get a hearing exam every ten years thereafter unless you observe signs of hearing loss or we recommend something more frequently.
But maybe you’re thinking: what should I expect at my hearing exam? Hearing tests are generally totally 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 care you require, whether you need a set of hearing aids or you just need to safeguard your ears. And a hearing test can help you figure out when the best time to get your care may be.
