According to one recent survey, nearly 30% of people have gone more than ten years without getting a hearing test. One of those people is Sofia. She goes to her yearly doctor’s appointments, she visits a dentist every six months, and she has an oil change in her car every 3000 miles. But she can’t remember the last time she took a hearing test or underwent any type of accurate hearing assessment.
There are lots of reasons why it’s essential to have hearing exams, the most important of which is that it’s normally difficult for you to discover the earliest signs of hearing loss without one. Sophia can keep her hearing healthy for a lot longer by recognizing how often to get her ears tested.
How Many Times Per Year Should my Ears Get Checked?
We might be alarmed if Sophia hadn’t had a hearing examination in ten years. Or we may think it’s completely normal. Our reaction, and the reaction of her hearing specialist, most likely will vary depending on her age. That’s because hearing specialists have different guidelines based on age.
- If you’re older than fifty: But if you’re over fifty, the suggestion is, you have a hearing exam annually. Hearing loss is more likely to impact your life as you grow older because noise damage begins to add up. Also, there are other health issues that can affect your hearing.
- It’s usually recommended that you have a hearing assessment around every three years. There’s no harm in having your ears checked more often, of course! The bare minimum is every three years. If you are exposed to loud noise regularly or work at a job where noise is common, you should decide to get screened more frequently. There’s no reason not to get it done, it’s painless and easy.
When it comes to your hearing, more often is certainly better. The sooner you detect any problems, the more quickly you’ll be able to address whatever loss of hearing that may have developed since your last hearing test.
Signs You Should Get Your Hearing Checked
Obviously, your annual (or semi-annual) hearing exam isn’t the only good occasion to make an appointment with a hearing specialist. For instance, if you notice symptoms of hearing loss. And in those situations, it’s often a good idea to promptly get in touch with a hearing professional and schedule a hearing exam.
Some of the signs that might prompt you to get a hearing test could include:
- Having a hard time making out consonants (in general, consonants are spoken in a higher wavelength than vowels, and it’s those high-frequency sounds that are often the first to go as hearing loss sets in)
- Trouble hearing conversations in loud environments.
- Sounds become muffled; it’s starting to sound as if you constantly have water in your ears.
- Listening to your favorite tunes at excessively high volumes.
- Regularly asking people to slow down or repeat themselves during a conversation.
- Having a very difficult time comprehending people when talking on the phone, any phone.
When these warning signs start to accumulate, it’s a good indication that the appropriate time to have a hearing test is right now. The sooner you have your hearing screened, the sooner you’ll know what’s going on with your ears.
What Are The Benefits of Hearing Testing?
Sophia may be late for her hearing exam for many reasons. Denial is a top choice. Perhaps she’s just avoiding thinking about it. But getting your hearing checked on the recommended schedule has actual advantages.
Even when your hearing is completely healthy, a hearing exam can help create a baseline reading, which makes variances in the future easier to detect. You can protect your hearing better if you catch it before it becomes an issue.
That’s the reason why Sophia needs to show up for scheduled hearing exams before any permanent injury happens. Early diagnosis by a hearing examination can help your hearing stay healthy for a long time. It’s important to think about how hearing loss will influence your overall health.