DIAGNOSING HEARING LOSS

If you’re worried about your hearing, get it checked. Your doctor will examine your ears and can treat conditions such as ear infections or a build-up of wax. You may be referred to an audiologist or ear, nose and throat specialist for expert help and advice.

How good is your hearing?

The following questions can help you determine if you have a hearing loss problem.

■Do people complain that you have the television turned on too loud?

■Do others accuse you of not paying attention?

■Do you frequently have to ask people to repeat what they’ve said?

■Do you seem to hear the words but not understand them?

■Do you have difficulty following a group conversation?

■Do you have difficulty following speech when there’s background noise?

■Do you find people complain about unanswered telephones and doorbells?

■Can you hear better with one ear than the other on the telephone?

■Do you avoid social occasions or noisy situations because you feel uncomfortable?

■Do you have a history of ear infections or earache?

What hearing loss really means

It’s a common belief that being hearing impaired simply means not hearing overall sound well, but it’s more complicated than that. It can mean:

■Soft sounds can’t be heard

■Key parts of particular speech sounds may not be heard

■Sounds are difficult to separate, so voices become jumbled with background noise SA reduced range of hearing may make loud sounds intolerable.

How is hearing tested?

Hearing tests measure what sounds you can and can’t hear and show how loud sounds need to be before you can hear them. Pure tone audiometry This involves listening to a range of beeps and whistles, called pure tones, and indicating when you can hear them. The loudness of each tone is reduced until you can just hear the tone. The softest sounds you can hear are your hearing thresholds. Tympanometry A small rubber tip is placed in the ear and a little air is pumped into the outer ear canal. If there’s a problem in the middle ear, it may show up on this test. A tympanometry test can locate a blockage that’s causing hearing loss and indicate if medical treatment may help. Speech discrimination tests With hearing loss the quality of sound is often also distorted. The amount of distortion can be measured using speech discrimination tests. Poor speech discrimination means voices are distorted and not loud enough.

Do you need help to hear?

Hearing aids aren’t the only solution for hearing loss. Sometimes you just need to give your hearing a boost in specific situations, like when you’re watching television or in a meeting.

Assistive listening devices can help make everyday activities easier. Examples of these would be:

SAlerting devices – alarm clocks, portable doorbells, phone alerting systems and specialised smoke alarms. SPhones with easy-to-read displays.

SWireless headphones to use with smart TVs enable you to listen at a volume that suits you without bothering family and friends.

SWireless communication devices such as sound amplifiers, microphones and FM systems that cut out distracting background noise.