Connect with Your Loved Ones with Hearing Loss Treatment

As Better Hearing and Speech Month comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on how hearing loss treatment helps you connect with your loved ones.

For those unfamiliar, Better Hearing and Speech Month is a campaign that is invested in raising awareness about hearing loss and hearing solutions. Organized by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), this year’s theme is Connecting People which emphasizes the services and resources available to support hearing health. 

Hearing loss is the third most common chronic medical condition people experience today. Impacting over 48  million people, hearing loss is a pervasive health issue. Though it is common, hearing loss still remains undertreated. In fact, It is estimated that only a third of people who could benefit from treatment receive it. Learning about the vast amount of hearing healthcare services that are available can encourage taking the necessary steps to address hearing loss which Better Hearing and Speech Month is all about. 

Common Hearing Loss Symptoms 

It is important to be able to recognize early signs of hearing loss. Impairment to hearing typically happens gradually so it can remain unnoticed for quite some time. This contributes to a delay in treatment which can worsen hearing loss and lead to other health issues. Common hearing loss symptoms include: 

• Tinnitus: a buzzing or ringing like noise in one or both ears 
• Sounds are muffled, slurred, or distorted
• Finding yourself saying “huh” or “what” in response to what is being said
• Frequently asking others to speak louder, repeat themselves, or speak slower
• Missing parts of a conversations, having a tough time keeping up during a conversation
• Being able to hear more clearly out of one ear compared to the other
• Needing to move to a quieter space to hear
• Increasing the volume on the TV, phone, speaker etc. 
• Feeling fatigued or exhausted after social interactions 

These symptoms can be experienced mildly to severely, depending on the degree of impairment present. Symptoms often lead to social withdrawal as people avoid social settings and conversations because of strained communication. Untreated symptoms can worsen impairment and increase the risk of developing other health conditions including cognitive decline and depression. 

It is important to intervene as early as possible. Treatment not only alleviates these symptoms but also transforms hearing and overall health in important ways. 

Connecting to Hearing Healthcare Services

Fortunately, there are services you can access that provide comprehensive hearing support. It is important to find a hearing healthcare provider who can facilitate diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management. A few key services include: 

• Hearing evaluations: hearing tests are an essential tool used to identify your hearing needs. They involve a painless process that measures your hearing capacity in both ears. This identifies any hearing loss and the degree of impairment which informs the treatment options that would best meet your hearing needs. 
• Hearing aid services: the most common treatment for hearing loss is hearing aids. Hearing healthcare specialists offer several services that help select, fit, and maintain these devices. Your hearing healthcare provider will recommend the device that can best meet your needs and help fit the hearing aid, ensuring a comfortable fit. Hearing aid fittings also consist of programming your device with the proper settings that match your needs. Additionally, maintenance services help your device work optimally for as long as possible. 
• Tinnitus management: tinnitus is one of the most common symptoms of hearing loss. Hearing healthcare providers often provide tinnitus management services which help manage and alleviate its impact in daily life. This includes tinnitus retraining therapy which is a type of sound therapy that involves recruiting how the brain interprets tinnitus. 

These services are part of the comprehensive suite of services that treat and transform hearing health. 

Prioritize Your Hearing Health!

Let Better Hearing and Speech Month resonate year round with the reminder to prioritize and tend to your hearing health. You can do this with one single step: schedule an appointment for a hearing test. This will allow a hearing healthcare specialist to evaluate your hearing health and identify your hearing needs. Even if you don’t have hearing loss, getting a hearing test regularly helps you track your hearing health. This then makes it easier to identify changes you may experience. Contact us today to schedule an appointment for a hearing consultation. 

As Better Hearing and Speech Month comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on how hearing loss treatment helps you connect with your loved ones.

For those unfamiliar, Better Hearing and Speech Month is a campaign that is invested in raising awareness about hearing loss and hearing solutions. Organized by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), this year’s theme is Connecting People which emphasizes the services and resources available to support hearing health. 

Hearing loss is the third most common chronic medical condition people experience today. Impacting over 48  million people, hearing loss is a pervasive health issue. Though it is common, hearing loss still remains undertreated. In fact, It is estimated that only a third of people who could benefit from treatment receive it. Learning about the vast amount of hearing healthcare services that are available can encourage taking the necessary steps to address hearing loss which Better Hearing and Speech Month is all about. 

Common Hearing Loss Symptoms 

It is important to be able to recognize early signs of hearing loss. Impairment to hearing typically happens gradually so it can remain unnoticed for quite some time. This contributes to a delay in treatment which can worsen hearing loss and lead to other health issues. Common hearing loss symptoms include: 

• Tinnitus: a buzzing or ringing like noise in one or both ears 
• Sounds are muffled, slurred, or distorted
• Finding yourself saying “huh” or “what” in response to what is being said
• Frequently asking others to speak louder, repeat themselves, or speak slower
• Missing parts of a conversations, having a tough time keeping up during a conversation
• Being able to hear more clearly out of one ear compared to the other
• Needing to move to a quieter space to hear
• Increasing the volume on the TV, phone, speaker etc. 
• Feeling fatigued or exhausted after social interactions 

These symptoms can be experienced mildly to severely, depending on the degree of impairment present. Symptoms often lead to social withdrawal as people avoid social settings and conversations because of strained communication. Untreated symptoms can worsen impairment and increase the risk of developing other health conditions including cognitive decline and depression. 

It is important to intervene as early as possible. Treatment not only alleviates these symptoms but also transforms hearing and overall health in important ways. 

Connecting to Hearing Healthcare Services

Fortunately, there are services you can access that provide comprehensive hearing support. It is important to find a hearing healthcare provider who can facilitate diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management. A few key services include: 

• Hearing evaluations: hearing tests are an essential tool used to identify your hearing needs. They involve a painless process that measures your hearing capacity in both ears. This identifies any hearing loss and the degree of impairment which informs the treatment options that would best meet your hearing needs. 
• Hearing aid services: the most common treatment for hearing loss is hearing aids. Hearing healthcare specialists offer several services that help select, fit, and maintain these devices. Your hearing healthcare provider will recommend the device that can best meet your needs and help fit the hearing aid, ensuring a comfortable fit. Hearing aid fittings also consist of programming your device with the proper settings that match your needs. Additionally, maintenance services help your device work optimally for as long as possible. 
• Tinnitus management: tinnitus is one of the most common symptoms of hearing loss. Hearing healthcare providers often provide tinnitus management services which help manage and alleviate its impact in daily life. This includes tinnitus retraining therapy which is a type of sound therapy that involves recruiting how the brain interprets tinnitus. 

These services are part of the comprehensive suite of services that treat and transform hearing health. 

Prioritize Your Hearing Health!

Let Better Hearing and Speech Month resonate year round with the reminder to prioritize and tend to your hearing health. You can do this with one single step: schedule an appointment for a hearing test. This will allow a hearing healthcare specialist to evaluate your hearing health and identify your hearing needs. Even if you don’t have hearing loss, getting a hearing test regularly helps you track your hearing health. This then makes it easier to identify changes you may experience. Contact us today to schedule an appointment for a hearing consultation.