For a hearing person, slow loss of hearing due to aging can make it more difficult to carry on conversations, enjoy social situations, watch television, or even hear a warning. May is National Speech-Language-Hearing Month, and it’s a good time to get a hearing screening.
At SLENT, with locations in Mandeville, Slidell, and Hammond, Louisiana, our otolaryngology specialists can check your hearing and help identify if you need hearing aids. Getting hearing aids as soon as possible after hearing loss starts can make it much easier to adjust and can improve your quality of life as you age.
Repeated ear infections, diseases of the ear, and other health conditions like hypertension or diabetes can all be causes of hearing loss. However, the most common non-illness-related reasons for hearing loss boil down to two: aging, and exposure to loud noise.
Age-related hearing loss, or presbycusis, affects one in three adults over the age of 65. Most people don’t notice mild hearing loss at first, and it usually happens in both ears simultaneously.
Loud noise can affect one or both ears. Hearing loss due to noise can be caused by going to loud concerts without ear protection, listening to music too loudly on earbuds, working in an environment with extremely loud noise, or suffering an acute eardrum injury due to a percussive blast (like an explosion or car accident).
Most people get regular hearing screenings as a child, but it’s a good idea to get a baseline hearing screening as an adult, so you can use it to measure any hearing loss as you age.
Signs that you may need a hearing test include:
At SLENT, we determine if you have hearing loss, and if so, how significant the loss is and what’s causing it. Then we help you choose the right aids to improve your hearing.
If you’re concerned about your hearing, May is a terrific month for a hearing screening. You can schedule a consultation at SLENT by calling 985-327-5905, or visit our contact page today.
