What are some of the early signs of hearing loss, and when should I see a hearing specialist?

 
Hearing loss is typically a slow, gradual onset disorder that silently (pardon the pun) affects the individual. The most common symptoms experienced by most (perhaps not all) patients are difficulty hearing in background noise, tinnitus, and thinking most people mumble or speak softly! Most people who experience the initial symptoms of hearing loss do not even realize it is happening. It is far easier to blame the acoustics of the room, the volume of the background noise, or the person speaking (i.e. “they mumble”) than it is to accept that it’s your hearing that is lacking. It is also difficult for many patients to rationalize the need for medical treatment of hearing loss because in some (ideal listening) situations (i.e. sitting at a table one-on-one in a perfectly quiet environment) may not be much of a challenge. But the truth is…
 
A Mild Hearing Loss is a Major Problem!
 
            The first symptom of hearing loss for most patients is difficulty hearing in complex listening environments. If you take the time to reflect truly and deeply on your communication breakdown, I believe you will begin to recognize some of the initial symptoms of hearing loss. Are you having any difficulty when there are a few people at the kitchen table? Or when the kids come over? Or when communicating with your grandchildren? Or when you are at a social gathering (i.e. sharing a meal with friends and you can’t seem to follow the conversation, yet all the other people seem to be enjoying themselves and following the conversation)? It is in these types of scenarios when hearing loss can really start to rear its ugly head and you realize that you are no loner an active part of the conversation. The result is a slow retraction from contributing to the conversation because you may feel embarrassed, and thus you continue to further isolate yourself and find yourself not truly engaging in conversations and relationships. And this is how even a mild hearing loss can really begin to impact your quality of life and relationships with others.
            In addition to the importance of maintaining an active, engaged life with family and friends, early treatment of mild hearing loss is important for maintaining proper brain health. Simply put: Hearing Care is Health Care. Your hearing drives your conception of everything and everybody around you; thus, hearing is essentially driving cognition at all times. It’s driving memory. It’s driving your image of the environment around you. You don’t turn hearing on or off; you can’t close your ears like you can close your eyes. There really isn’t a sense or portion of your brain that isn’t connected to your auditory system.
            And I believe this speaks to how important hearing is to live and to thrive. We are bombarded with sound at all times and the brain is constantly, in real-time, making decisions as to whether or not certain sounds are important, trying to figure out how to categorize the sound and if it is important to store away and remember it for reference at a later date. A mild hearing loss can take away significant portions of the auditory world around you- and is likely the reason behind why patients with untreated hearing loss are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing a devastating fall.
            The lack of cognitive stimulation that accompanies even a mild hearing loss is also associated with cognitive decline and dementia. Reports from Johns Hopkins Medical Center (and others) indicate that a mild hearing loss can increase the risk of developing dementia by 200% (up to a 500% increase for those with a severe hearing loss).
 
            Like every major medical condition, the key to successful management of the disorder is early intervention. “Catch it early and treat it early!”
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