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 gets the oil changed in her car every 3000 miles. But she hasn’t had a hearing examination in a long time.
Hearing exams are important for a wide variety of reasons, the most notable of which is that it’s normally difficult for you to notice the earliest signs of hearing loss without one. Sophia can keep her hearing healthy for a lot longer by determining how frequently to have her ears checked.
How Many Times Per Year Should my Hearing Get Checked?
We might be alarmed if Sophia hadn’t had a hearing test in a decade. Or we might think it’s perfectly normal. Our response, and the reaction of her hearing specialist, likely will vary depending on her age. This is because hearing professionals have different guidelines based on age.
- It’s usually suggested that you have a hearing exam every three years or so. Obviously, if you feel you should have your ears checked more frequently, that’s also fine. The bare minimum is every three years. You should absolutely get examined more often if you spend a lot of time in a loud setting. It’s straight forward and painless and there’s truly no reason not to do it.
- If you are over fifty years old: But if you’re above the age of fifty, the recommendation is, you get 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. Plus, there are other health issues that can impact your hearing.
As far as your hearing is concerned, more often is certainly better. The sooner you recognize any problems, the more quickly you’ll be capable of addressing whatever hearing loss that might have developed since your last hearing exam.
You Should Get Your Hearing Checked if You Notice These Signs
Obviously, your annual (or semi-annual) hearing exam isn’t the only good occasion to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist. Sometimes, you start to notice some signs of hearing loss. And in those cases, it’s usually 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:
- Regularly asking people to repeat themselves or slow down during a conversation.
- Cranking your television or car stereo to excessively high volumes (if your neighbors begin to complain, that’s a good indication you should see a hearing specialist right away).
- Your hearing is muted as if there is water in your ears.
- It’s normal for hearing loss in the high pitched register to go first and because consonants are in a higher pitched register than vowels, they usually fail first.
- Having a very difficult time understanding people when talking on the phone, mobile or otherwise
- When you’re in a loud environment, you have difficulty hearing conversations.
A strong indicator that right now is the best time to get a hearing test is when the warning signs begin to add up. The more frequently you get your hearing tested, the more frequently you’ll know what’s happening with your hearing.
What Are The Benefits of Hearing Testing?
There are plenty of excuses why Sofia might be late in having her hearing exam. Perhaps she hasn’t thought about it. Maybe thinking about it is something she is just avoiding. But getting your hearing examined on the recommended schedule has concrete benefits.
And it will be simpler to identify hearing deviations in the future if you have your hearing checked by establishing a baseline reading even if it seems as if everything is normal. If you identify your loss of hearing before it becomes noticeable, you can safeguard it better.
The reason for regular hearing testing is that someone like Sofia will be in a position to identify concerns before her hearing is permanently diminished. By detecting your hearing loss early, by getting your hearing tested when you’re supposed to, you’ll be keeping your ears healthier longer. It’s essential to understand how hearing loss will impact your overall health.