Is Your Auditory Health As Good As It Used To Be?
There are many activities you partake in without considering your health. Although you are keen on living healthily, you do not pay attention to various aspects of your health, such as your hearing. For most people hearing loss is only an issue older folks need to worry about. However, hearing loss can creep on you (no pun intended) without realizing it, regardless of your age. It has been reported that 1 in 8 people in the US aged 12 and older has hearing loss in both ears. So what are some of the early tell-tales of declining hearing health? Here are a few of them.
Exhaustion from social events
If the background noise in busy restaurants, malls, and social events always leaves your brain exhausted, you could be experiencing an early sign of hearing loss. When your inner ear fails to process background sounds, the brain finds ways to fill in the gap. This demands immense focus, especially when your brain needs to process different background sounds at the same time. This leads to hearing or listening fatigue and can leave you feeling tired after spending time in busy restaurants and other social places. If this is a regular occurrence for you, speak to your audiologist to conduct a hearing aid evaluation to see if your hearing loss level requires hearing aids. Your audiologist may prescribe professionally fit hearing aids to help reduce the strain on your brain.
Your ears always feel clogged
Clogged ears usually happen when there’s too much fluid or wax buildup in your ears. It’s always good to visit your doctor if your ears always feel clogged for the right examination. But if your doctor informs you that your inner ears look clear, then getting a hearing test is the next best decision. Hearing loss can make sounds seem muffled or dull and usually feels a bit similar to a clogged feeling. That’s why it’s important to always visit your doctor to be sure.
Ringing sensation
Aside from your inner ears feeling clogged, you may have tinnitus if you also experience a ringing sensation in your ears. Tinnitus is a medical term for ringing in the ears and is also one of the first warning signs that your hearing health may be declining. Besides the ringing sensation, you may also experience a hissing, clicking, or roaring sound in your ears. These sounds may be high-pitched, low-pitched, high, or soft. And if these sounds seem to be more pronounced in quiet surroundings, you need to visit your doctor immediately.
You strain to listen
Hearing normal conversations in loud places is difficult, but if you find yourself constantly straining to listen during conversations, you may be experiencing hearing loss. And this can make it very hard to follow conversations. When the auditory system becomes compromised, your brain then needs to put in extra shifts to process the sounds it receives from the inner ear. That is usually an indication that the signal between your brain and inner ear is broken. So, if you constantly strain to hear normal conversations, you should visit your doctor.