Do you have a hearing loss?
Answer these questions to find out:
- Do you have a problem hearing over the telephone?
- Do people complain that you turn the TV volume up too high?
- Do you have trouble understanding the speech of women and children?
- Do people get annoyed because you misunderstand what they say?
- Do you hear better through one ear than the other when you are on the telephone?
- Do you have trouble following a conversation with two or more people talking at the same time?
- Do you have to strain to understand conversation?
- Do you have trouble hearing in a noisy background, like in restaurants?
- Do you have dizziness, pain, or ringing in your ears?
- Do you find yourself asking people to repeat themselves?
- Do family members or coworkers complain that you keep missing what they said?
- Do many people you talk to seem to mumble (or not speak clearly)?
- Do you misunderstand what others are saying and respond inappropriately?
If you answered yes to more than two of these questions, you are not alone. These symptoms apply to 32 million Americans and are clear indications of needing a hearing evaluation.
But let’s go a step further and talk about symptoms that are often so subtle, they go unnoticed. How many of these statements apply to you?
I only have difficulty hearing in crowds.
This indicates a possible high-frequency hearing loss. With this type of loss, you can hear well in one-on-one situations and even in small groups. But any type of distracting noise becomes louder than the voices you’re trying to hear.
I only have difficulty hearing female voices.
Again, this indicates a high-frequency hearing loss. A majority of speech (especially female and children's voices) lie in this range.
I hear well, but have a problem understanding.
Did you realize that different letters all have unique frequencies when spoken? For example, most consonant sounds are high in pitch. When certain frequencies are filtered due to hearing loss, speech can become indiscernible.