Experiencing some form of hearing loss is relatively common as we get older. But the question as to whether you need hearing aids or not is something different altogether. If you are experiencing some form of hearing loss, it may not become apparent until you are in a group or someone else points it out to you. But this is where hearing aids can help. 

What are the signs of hearing loss?

There are some early signs that you or people close to you may wish to be aware of. For instance, you may find the people are speaking too softly or you are asking them to repeat what they have said. In addition, you may gradually turn the volume up on the television or the radio louder than what is comfortable for others. 

You may also find yourself having difficulty understanding people in public gatherings. This is worth noting because in a group setting it can gradually cause an individual to become frustrated. If you find yourself becoming more frustrated or irritable because you are not able to understand people when there is excess background noise, you may start to become more withdrawn.

Why can I hear people but cannot understand them?

This is another key question to ask yourself. It is a very common form of hearing loss. Someone that has normal or almost normal hearing may have difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds. For example, lower-pitched sounds in human speech consist of vowels. 

But people can have difficulty understanding consonants because they are higher pitches, but they are also softer. It is these that are crucial for people to gain clarity in conversations. The problem becomes more amplified when you are a further distance away between the speaker and yourself.

Are you experiencing ringing in your ears?

Ringing in the ears also known as tinnitus is a widely experienced condition. There are many causes of tinnitus, and when the hearing is damaged, the brain tries to fill in the gaps and invents its own sound from the missing cells in the ear that was damaged by hearing loss. This results in a ringing in your ears, but can also be a buzzing, whooshing or hissing. The fewer cells you have, the more profound your tinnitus or hearing loss can be.

Will hearing aids work? 

Hearing aids do not work to correct your hearing but they function to amplify sounds. If you are unable to hear sounds in a certain hearing range, this is where modern hearing aids can amplify noises you are missing in your everyday speech. It is important to note that hearing aid technology serves as an aid. If you are experiencing hearing loss or ringing in your ears but are also reeling from a recent accident such as a blow to the head, the way the brain perceives the sounds can change. But this is where a hearing test conducted by an audiologist can help you understand if you are experiencing some form of hearing loss.