If you’re one of the hundreds of millions of people worldwide with auditory challenges, you know how inconveniencing it can be. The difficulty can range from minute hard-of-hearing symptoms to near-deafness, and it can advance from one stage to the next as we age. I can speak from experience — at 29, I’ve already begun to face daily hardships and the need to ask people to speak up multiple times. I worry for what’s next, but I keep a positive outlook and gladly discuss the need for rehabilitation with anyone who will — pardon the pun — listen.
Know Who To Speak WIth
The first thing you need to consider is who to get in contact with for more information. If you’re suffering from hearing loss of any kind, it can be tempting to ignore it and put off help for many years, especially if you’re uncertain what your options are. According to David Sack M.D., “Most people can benefit from therapy at at least some point in their lives. Sometimes the signs are obvious—but at other times, something may feel slightly off and you can’t figure out what it is.” This is a mistake; procrastination is rarely the best course of action, and it’s certainly unwise when it comes to our health. Be proactive! Seek out aid in a variety of ways, starting with the world wide web. A simple Google search for “local hearing loss help” will bring up as many as dozens of health centers featuring qualified professionals who can quickly and keenly diagnose the cause of your trouble.
Once you’ve scheduled an appointment, steel yourself for intensive testing. Hearing, like vision, involves a ton of tests. There are literally hundreds of possible reasons our sound comprehension can suffer, from obvious triggers like prolonged exposure to loud noises to more subtle and insidious triggers like white noise. Right now, what you need to know is that your new doctor will ask you all about your daily routine, so take some time before the appointment to think critically about it. Ideally, you’ll want to chart your activities from awake to in-bed for the week before your first check-up. This will give your doctor plenty to work with and help him or her to diagnose you. (And you’ll impress them with your resolve, too!)
Understand The Need
Now for the bulk of today’s blog post. It’s a little bit preachy, but you really do need to understand how vital it is that you get this looked into. Whether you face hourly struggles parsing sound or you’re just starting to notice a lack of complete auditory clarity, it’s never too late to get help. The simple truth is that hearing, like anything else physiological, gets worse with age. That’s not to say there aren’t newborn babies with hearing problems, because there absolutely are, and it’s a terrible shame. But you’re more likely to run into hardship the older you get. “People often avoid seeking medical care even when they suspect it may be necessary,” Jennifer M. Taber, Ph.D. and co-authors wrote. “Reasons for avoiding medical care were nuanced and highly varied. Understanding why people do not make it through the clinic door is critical to extending the reach and effectiveness of patient care.”
Along a similar note, early symptoms can and will increase with time. So no matter how young you are, if you’ve begun to realize that you can’t hear as well as you used to, you can bet that things will be worse five and ten years down the line. This is where my personal story comes into play. As I mentioned earlier, I’m only 29. A few years ago, a friend of mine was speaking to me in my house and I thought that he was whispering. I asked him to speak up. He looked at me, blank-faced and confused, and raised his voice. This happened again a few days later, and he finally said something about it. He told me that to the best of his knowledge he hadn’t been speaking any lower than usual that week and that I should get my hearing checked. He said it out of kindness, but I dismissed it out-of-hand. Over the course of the next year, this situation occurred numerous times with numerous people. I was in college at the time, and I found myself increasingly likely to sit closer to the front of the class because I couldn’t understand the instructor from farther back. I continued to ignore the telltale signs until a free medical examination was offered at my school.
Get Help Today
I was shocked by what I’d learned. My hearing ability had decreased by over 30% and I was firmly informed that I should have sought medical help the moment I realized something was amiss. We implore you to do the same. “More than 90% of newborns in the United States are now being screened for hearing loss,” Danielle S. Ross, PhD and co-authors said. Once a loss has begun, depending on the circumstances you can expect the issue to amplify relatively quickly. It’s a terrifying prospect, but what’s scarier is the thought of not doing anything about it until a great deal of damage has occurred. You have a better choice, so don’t let that happen. Even if you’re in a rut because you’ve already suffered a large amount of damage to your hearing, it isn’t too late. Schedule an appointment and start down the path to renewed clarity!