Wouldn’t my family doctor have told me if I had a hearing loss?
Only about 13% of physicians routinely screen for hearing loss. Since most people with hearing impairments hear just fine in quiet environments (like your doctor's office), it can be very difficult for your physician to recognize this problem. Only a trained hearing professional can determine the severity of your hearing problem, whether or not you could benefit from a hearing aid, and which type would be best for you.
How many people have hearing loss?
About 800 million people around the world are affected by hearing loss. It is estimated, that this number will rise to 1.1 billion by 2015 – about 16% of the world’s population. Only about a third of all people with hearing loss are of retirement age. The majority is of school or working age. Studies also showed that only one in five people who would benefit from a hearing aid actually uses one.
How can I recognize a hearing problem?
Most of the time hearing loss begins gradually, without discomfort or pain. What's more, family members often learn to adapt to it, without even realizing they are doing it. Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine whether hearing loss is present:
- Do I often ask people to repeat themselves?
- Do I have trouble following conversations with more than two people?
- Do I have difficulty hearing what is said unless i'm facing the speaker?
- Does it sounds like other people are mumbling or slurring their words?
- Do I struggle to hear in crowded places like restaurants and in meetings?
- Do I have a hard time hearing women or children?
- Do I prefer the TV or radio volume louder than others?
- Do I experience ringing or buzzing in my ears?
Doesn’t hearing loss only affect older people?
Hearing loss can occur at any time, at any age. In fact, most people with hearing loss (65%) are younger than age 65! There are six million people in the U.S. ages 18-44 with hearing loss, and around one-and-a-half million are school age.
Are there any medications or operations I can take for hearing loss?
Only 5% of hearing loss in adults can be improved medically or surgically. The vast majority of Americans with hearing loss (95%) are treated with hearing aids.
Exactly how will a hearing aid improve my quality of life?
Receiving treatment for hearing loss can literally transform your life. Research on people with hearing loss and their significant others has shown that hearing aids play a significant factor in a person's social, emotional, psychological and physical well-being.
More specifically, treatment of hearing loss has been shown to improve:
- Communication in relationships
- Intimacy and warmth in family relationships
- Ease in communication
- Earning power
- Sense of control over your life
- Social participation
- Perception of mental functioning
- Emotional stability
When you consider all the benefits of better hearing, you can see that hearing aids hold great potential to positively change your life.
Will I be able to hear in noisy places?
While no hearing aid can filter out all background noise, hearing aids can reduce some types of background noise so that you can enjoy conversation and improve communication in places like restaurants, business meetings and social gatherings.
Will I need a hearing aid in one ear or two?
Two-ear hearing is better than one. If you have hearing loss in only one ear, you may be fine with one hearing aid. Age- and noise-related hearing loss tend to affect both ears, but your hearing profile for each ear is probably different. If there is a loss in both ears, you will probably benefit more with a binaural solution. Today, about two-thirds of new users opt for dual hearing instruments, and as a group they report a higher level of satisfaction than purchasers of a single instrument.
What about the hearing aids I see advertised on T.V. for around $40?
These inexpensive models are simply amplifiers that will make everything louder (including all the ambient noises around you). They will not, for example, separate human voices from background noises, or hear directional sounds like the more sophisticated hearing instruments available today.
