Hearing & Balance Doctors

5 Early Indications Of Hearing Loss

5 Early Indications Of Hearing Loss

by | Aug 9, 2021 | Hearing Loss, Patient Resources

Hearing loss symptoms are easy to identify, right? They are harder to recognize than you might think, especially in the early stages.

Similar to deteriorating eyesight, hearing loss worsens when it remains untreated.

Correcting the condition earlier, rather than later allows your audiologist more options to treat your condition and protect you from further hearing damage.

To help encourage residents in Southwest Utah and Southern Nevada to seek the help they need before the condition gets worse, we have created a list of five early indicators of hearing loss:

“Huh? Could You Repeat That?”

A clear sign of a hearing problem is frequently asking people to speak up, speak more clearly, or repeat themselves.

Although some people mumble, if you often ask family, friends, and colleagues to repeat what they said, it could be an early indicator of hearing loss.

An additional indicator is the need to turn up the volume on the television because it sounds muffled.

Ongoing Ringing In Your Ears

A constant ringing, buzzing, hissing, or humming sound in your ears is another early warning sign of hearing loss.

Known as tinnitus, this condition can lead to increased stress and fatigue along with reduced productivity and a decreased capacity to concentrate.

A major cause of tinnitus is exposure to an extreme noise event or ongoing exposure to loud noise that can cause permanent damage to your hearing.

Isolating From Social Events Or Family Gatherings

Keeping up with multiple conversations is both frustrating and exhausting when you don’t hear well.

This causes many people to avoid community social events and family gatherings, which is another of the early signs of hearing loss.

Isolation becomes a way to cope with the discomfort, but missing out on social interaction can bring on depression and anxiety, leading to other serious cognitive and physical health issues.

Help-with-your-hearing-button

“Why Does The Phone Line Always Sound Fuzzy?”

Difficulty understanding conversations while talking on the telephone is another common sign of hearing loss.

Even with the volume on the receiver turned up, the conversation sounds garbled or unintelligible.

Although you may not know it, you rely on visual cues during a face-to-face conversation to help understand, but those cues are not present during a phone conversation, making you depend on your hearing alone.

It’s Impossible To Understand Some People

An inability to understand conversations with certain people is another warning sign.

Women and children usually speak in higher-pitched frequencies, which are the first to deteriorate as you lose your hearing.

Certain accents and the way different people pronounce soft consonants, such as C, S, T, P, Sh, and Ch, can make them disappear or sound like a different letter, making it quite a challenge to follow a conversation where words with these sounds are missing or confused with other sounds.

Schedule A Hearing Assessment From Hearing And Balance Doctors

Hearing is an important part of your capacity to communicate with others, enjoy an active social life, engage in rewarding relationships, and live an independent lifestyle.

Your quality of life deteriorates as your capacity to hear decreases.

The sooner you schedule a hearing assessment with Hearing and Balance Doctors, the sooner you can return to enjoying the quality of life you value and the broader range of treatment options we have available.

Contact us at the Southwest Utah or Southern Nevada location nearest you to schedule a hearing assessment right away.

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Dr. Richard Luekenga

Dr. Luekenga opened Hearing & Balance Doctors of Utah in 2005. Since that time he has been dedicated to creating state-of-the-art facilities filled with the latest technology along with the most qualified and caring hearing healthcare team. He received his Doctor of Audiology from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. His doctorate is supported by his B.A. at Utah State University, clinical fellowship at Bountiful Hearing Center and further clinical experience at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, IHC Hearing and Balance Center, The Kosair Children’s Hospital, Heuser Hearing Institute (Deaf Oral School), and Avada Hearing and Balance Center, to name a few. With this long list of experience, it is clear that Dr. Luekenga is very passionate about good hearing and is well-versed in the advances of hearing aid technology. He is equally as passionate about helping patients that feel off-balance, dizzy, lightheaded, or unsteady, and understands the need these patients have to get back on their feet! Additionally, he provides counseling and therapy for patients who experience tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in their ears).

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