Top Signs You Need a Hearing Test

To have good hearing is something that many people take for granted, and hearing loss is not something they ever contemplate having to deal with. This is why, if it does start to happen, it can be somewhat frightening. However, the good news is that there are several ways to manage hearing loss, and it all starts with taking a hearing less conducted by a professional audiologist. 

Of course, before you can take a test, you need to know that you need one, and this can be difficult, especially if your hearing loss is happening very gradually. Here are some of the top signs that you need a hearing test so you’ll know what to listen out for and so you can get help sooner rather than later. 

You Have to Turn Up the Volume on Your TV or Radio

If you’ve noticed that you have to turn the volume on your TV, radio or perhaps your smartphone or laptop, then this is a good sign that you need a hearing test. If it’s not something that is happening all the time, and you also have to turn the sound down, it is probably not a hearing issue but is instead a recording problem. However, if you have to keep raising the volume, and over time it has been very loud, then a hearing test should be considered. 

Struggling to Understand Speech 

It’s usual for people to have to ask someone to repeat what they’ve said every now and then; maybe they were distracted or the room was particularly noisy. However, if this is something you are doing almost all the time, if the people who talk to you are ready to repeat themselves before you’ve even had to ask because they know that’s why you do more often than not, then it is a good indication that your hearing is affected and that a hearing test is needed. 

Twisting Your Head to Hear Better

If your hearing is good, it shouldn’t matter what direction your head is facing; you’ll be able to hear if someone is talking to you. When someone is experiencing hearing loss, they may begin to unconsciously move their heads so that they can hear better; if they have one ear that hears better than the other, they will move their head so that this ear is closer to the conversation.

Is this something you are doing? You may not even realize it is happening, but once you start to look out for it, you won’t be able to ignore it if it’s part of your life. Alternatively, you might find that you are cupping your ear to block out background noise when you’re trying to hear something. 

Conversations Tire You Out 

Struggling to hear will affect you physically as well as mentally. When you have to work hard to hear what people are saying, and you have to concentrate fully on the conversation taking place, by the time it’s done, you’ll feel extremely tired. If you have to converse with people all day, you’ll end up being completely exhausted.