According to one recent survey, nearly 30% of people have gone more than ten years without getting a hearing test. Sofia is one of those people. She knows she has to get her oil changed every 3000 miles, she sees the dentist every six months, and she checks in punctually for her annual medical exam. But she hasn’t had a hearing examination in a long time.
Hearing exams are important for a wide variety of reasons, finding first symptoms of hearing loss is likely the most important one. Sophia can keep her hearing healthy for a lot longer by recognizing how frequently to have her ears checked.
How Frequently Should You Have a Hearing Test?
We may be alarmed if Sophia hadn’t had a hearing examination in ten years. Or maybe we don’t think anything of it. Our response, and the reaction of her hearing specialist, likely will vary depending on how old she is. That’s because hearing specialists have different guidelines based on age.
- It’s usually suggested that you take a hearing assessment around every three years. There’s no harm in having your ears checked more frequently, of course! The bare minimum is every three years. You should certainly get tested more often if you spend a lot of time in a loud environment. It’s easy and painless and there’s really no reason not to get it done.
- If you’re older than fifty: But if you’re above the age of fifty, the recommendation is, you have a hearing exam every year. As you age, the noise damage you’ve suffered over a lifetime can begin to accelerate, which means loss of hearing is more likely to begin affecting your life. Also, there are other health issues that can impact your hearing.
If you would like to undergo hearing screenings or tests more frequently, there’s certainly no harm in that, at least in terms of your hearing. Since you last had a hearing assessment, you may have new injury you should recognize, so more frequent hearing tests may be practical.
Signs You Should Get Your Hearing Checked
There are definitely other occasions besides your annual hearing test that you might want to make an appointment with your hearing specialist. Occasionally, you start to notice some symptoms of hearing loss. And in those situations, it’s typically a good plan to immediately contact a hearing specialist and schedule a hearing exam.
Some of the signs that might prompt you to get a hearing test could include:
- Having a very hard time comprehending people when talking on the phone, any phone.
- Difficulty hearing discussions in loud surroundings.
- Having a difficult time hearing consonants (in general, consonants are spoken in a higher wavelength than vowels, and it’s those high-frequency sounds that are generally the first to go as hearing loss sets in)
- Your hearing is dull as if there is water in your ears.
- When you’re speaking with people, you constantly have to keep asking people to repeat themselves.
- Listening to your favorite tunes at extremely high volumes.
A strong indicator that right now is the best time to get a hearing test is when the warning signs start to accumulate. The sooner you have your hearing screened, the sooner you’ll know what’s going on with your ears.
Hearing Exams, What Are The Advantages?
Sophia may be late for her hearing exam for many reasons. Perhaps she hasn’t thought about it. Perhaps thinking about it is something she is just avoiding. But getting your hearing tested on the recommended schedule has tangible advantages.
And it will be simpler to diagnose hearing deviations in the future if you get your hearing examined by establishing a baseline reading even if it seems as if everything is normal. If you catch your loss of hearing before it becomes noticeable, you can safeguard it better.
That’s why Sophia needs to go to her scheduled hearing exams before any permanent damage happens. By detecting your hearing loss early, by having your hearing examined when you’re supposed to, you’ll be keeping your ears healthier longer. Considering the impact of hearing loss on your overall health, that’s essential.