Symptoms of Hearing Loss

Muffled Speech

Muffled Speech

If you've noticed it sounds like everyone is mumbling, you may have a hearing loss.

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Muffled Speech

If you constantly find yourself saying "if only people didn't mumble", you may have a hearing loss. It's a common complaint for many with hearing loss, particularly if the hearing loss is in the high pitches. High pitch speech sound like "s", "f", and "th" are already soft in volume so any change in hearing in those pitch regions makes it difficult to hear clearly.

Trouble Hearing in Background Noise

Trouble Hearing in Background Noise

Having difficulty understanding in background noise is one of the first signs of hearing loss.

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Trouble Hearing in Background Noise

Difficulty hearing in noise is a common issue, even with normal hearing, but it is a hallmark symptom for hearing loss. In fact, you may notice problems hearing in noise before we can detect the hearing loss during a traditional hearing evaluation. We are finally recognizing the impact of this problem and researchers are calling it "hidden hearing loss". 

Ringing in Your Ears

Ringing in Your Ears

If you've noticed ringing in your ears, it may indicate there's been damage to your ears.

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Ringing in Your Ears

Ringing in the ears, also known as tinnitus, affects 10-15% of the population. It commonly occurs in conjunction with hearing loss, particularly for those who have been exposed to high levels of noise. There's no known cure for tinnitus but it can be managed. If you have tinnitus, see your local audiologist to have a tinnitus assessment.

Turning the Volume Up

Turning the Volume Up

A common symptom of hearing is the need to turn up the volume on the TV or radio.

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Turning the Volume Up

This may seem obvious but it's not always easy to recognize that it's happening. Hearing loss can occur very gradually and with it, our adjustments to compensate occur gradually too. If you're wondering whether the TV is turned up too loud ask a friend or family member if the volume is a comfortable level for them.

Avoiding Social Outings

Avoiding Social Outings

Hearing loss can make social events stressful and may cause you to withdraw from your normal outings.

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Avoiding Social Outings

It can be frustrating asking people to repeat themselves all the time. Have you ever resorted to just nodding or laughing, hoping it was an appropriate reaction? This happens frequently with hearing loss and ultimately may lead to complete avoidance of social situations.

Misunderstanding

Misunderstanding

Hearing loss often makes it difficult to understand consonant sounds so it's easy to misunderstand.

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Misunderstanding

Hearing loss does not mean you can't hear. In fact, you might have perfectly normal hearing at some pitches, which can make it tricky to know if you have a hearing loss at all. Misunderstanding certain words is common, particularly when they start and end with consonants. 

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