Your Trusted, Independent Hearing Service — Est. 2009
Of all the five senses, our hearing is perhaps the most precious. Deprived of this, we may lose contact with the people we love and the world around us.
Why is hearing important?
Consider all the sounds you encounter, every single day: friends chatting, children laughing, a favourite song, a loving remark. It is this invigorating, informative symphony of sounds that makes life richer.
As well as helping us communicate and socialise, our sense of hearing helps to keep us safe. A fire alarm ringing, a car sounding its horn, or a child shouting “Help!” are just a few examples of vital signals that we need to be able to hear.
We rely on our hearing in so many ways, which is why we need to treasure and protect it.
Others may notice hearing loss first
Hearing loss can happen so slowly, that the person affected may be the last one to notice. Friends, co-workers or family members are likely to spot a hearing problem at an earlier stage, and may say things like, “You’re not listening to me”, or complain that the television is too loud or that they keep having to repeat themselves. They may question why you don’t react when a friend calls you, or when the doorbell rings.
The real problem is often not the condition itself. The fact that we we don't recognise hearing loss and rectify it sooner, is often the real issue. To avoid this from happening, you need to be able to recognise the signs of hearing loss and take the appropriate actions.
People get their eyes and teeth checked on a regular basis, so adding your ears to this regular self care list makes total sense! It takes less than an hour to assess your hearing health – and the sooner hearing loss is detected, the better.
What causes hearing loss?
Hearing loss is often associated with advancing age, but this is not always the case. Although it can strike people at any age, the condition most often appears after the age of 65; but it can also be caused by infections, injury or birth defects.
Age related hearing loss
Noise induced hearing loss
This is often caused by over exposure to excessive noise. It threatens the hearing of military personnel, police officers, construction workers, factory workers, farmers, dentists, teachers and many who work in the hospitality, entertainment and music industry, to name but a few. Hobbies such as motorsports, music concerts or streaming music via headphones, can also damage hearing.
Types of hearing loss
In general there are three types of hearing loss: conductive, sensorineural or mixed hearing loss.
Conductive hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss is caused by problems in the outer and middle ear, which can prevent sounds getting through to the inner ear. The most common cause can be build-up of wax in the ear canal, perforated eardrums, fluid in the middle ear, or damaged/defective ossicles.
Sensorineural hearing loss
This type of hearing loss occurs when the delicate sensory cells or nerve fibres within the inner ear get damaged. This damage prevents/hinders the transmission of sound. The most common causes of sensorineural hearing loss are the natural process of ageing or excessive exposure to noise. This condition, in most cases is permanent, and requires hearing aids.
How hearing changes
Even with hearing loss, you might feel that life sounds just as loud as ever. Some noises remain audible while other sounds become harder to hear. For example, a male voice may be easy to hear, whereas you may struggle to hear the voice of a woman or a child due to their softer higher pitch.
Our hearing deteriorates over time. Hearing loss starts during childhood; however, because it happens so gradually it can be difficult to recognise and often it is our family and friends who notice first.
By being aware of the causes of hearing loss, and knowing the signs to look out for, you can take a proactive approach to your hearing health. If you find yourself struggling to follow conversation, people are having to repeat themselves or the TV is creeping up, you will know it’s time to get your hearing tested.
How we hear sounds
Sounds can be described as loud or soft, high-pitched or low-pitched.
Speech can become difficult to follow with hearing loss because it involves so many different sounds in a rapid flow. The softer, high-pitched consonants such as ‘f’, ‘s’ or ‘t’ can be drowned out by the louder, low-pitched vowel sounds such as ‘a’, ‘o’ and ‘u’.
If someone says “statue” and all you can hear is “s_a_ue””, you will be forced to try and guess the rest – by which time the conversation will have moved on.
At meetings, family gatherings and social events there is nothing worse than having to ask people to repeat themselves over and over again. You may feel that people are mumbling, when it could be your hearing.
With hearing loss, communication will become increasingly difficult; you may even decide to withdraw from social situations completely. Research also suggests that people with mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia.
Hearing loss can make you feel isolated
We all want to feel in control of our lives. We all want close-knit families, loyal friends, active lifestyles and interesting pastimes. But when we allow hearing loss to go untreated, we can put these things at risk.
You may start to experience all sorts of emotions from worry and embarrassment to sadness and loneliness. You may often feel tired and irritable from having to concentrate harder.
Left unattended, hearing loss can lead to feelings of isolation and depression.
Luckily, things don’t have to get out of control. Surveys show that treating hearing loss has a positive impact on people’s physical, social and emotional wellbeing. There is no doubt that taking the responsibility to look after your hearing health can turn your life around - better hearing is better living!
Hearing loss affects others
Hearing loss does not only affect you; it affects the people around you - friends, family, colleagues - anyone with whom you interact. Whether it’s meaningful conversations or playful teasing, the exchange of ideas suddenly becomes slower and far more tedious and frustrating - it can be exhausting.
Imagine having your best friends over for dinner. You try to follow what they’re saying, but their voices sound muffled. When they’re sharing stories or telling jokes you strain to catch the punch line; you laugh when they do, but you didn’t really get it because you missed the vital part. In the end your attention drifts away and your enjoyment is reduced.
Your partner and family want to show compassion, care and consideration, but they may not really understand your problem, they don’t always know what hearing loss feels like and how it affects you. Rather than waiting for them to run out of patience or feel that they need to convince you to take action, why not take the initiative and set the pace yourself? Addressing hearing loss early is a proactive and positive act of self care.
Visiting one of our hearing specialists is an important step towards better hearing, and it is easier than you may think. A hearing test does not take long, is completely painless and gives you the information you need to make an informed decision about your next steps towards clearer hearing.
To get the most from your appointment, consider bringing a friend or family member with you. This can help them better understand your hearing experience, and they may have questions of their own.
Having someone with you can also make it easier to remember the information discussed during your appointment and give you someone to talk to as you consider your options and decide what feels right for you.