Question: How do I know if I have hearing loss?

Most people lose hearing as they age but there are other causes, too. Hearing loss can be due to aging, but also from exposure to loud noise, medications, infections, head or ear trauma, congenital or hereditary factors, disease processes and other causes. Very few hearing problems require medical or surgical intervention. Instead, about 90 to 95% of all people with hearing loss can be served through hearing aids.

There are some 31.5 million people in the USA with hearing loss (as of 2005 according to the MarkeTrak survey through the Better Hearing Institute). Hearing loss is the single most common birth "defect" in America. Age plays a part, as approximately 1/3 of all seniors 75 years and older have significant hearing loss. About 14% of all people aged 45 to 64 years have demonstrable hearing loss. Studies show that this level of hearing loss adversely impacts quality of life, personal relationships and ability to communicate.
Some signs of hearing loss include the following:

• You hear people speaking but you strain to understand their words.
  
• You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.
  
• You don’t laugh at jokes because you miss the story or the punch line.
  
• You frequently complain that "people mumble."
  
• You ask others about details of a meeting you just attended.
  
• You play the TV or radio louder than friends, spouse and relatives.
  
• You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone.
  
• You find that when people look directly at you while they speak to you, it makes it easier to understand.

If you have any of these symptoms, you should see an audiologist for an "audiometric evaluation," also called a diagnostic hearing test. An audometric evaluation (AE) is not just pressing the button when you hear a "beep." Rather, an AE allows the audiologist to determine your exact type and degree of hearing loss, and it tells the audiologist how well/poorly you understand speech. Speech is the most important sound we listen to, and the ability to understand speech is extremely important in many situations everyday. The audiologist will test your ability to hear and understand speech in quiet and noisy situations. The AE also includes a thorough case history (interview) as well as visual inspection of the ear canal and eardrum. The results of the AE are also useful to the ear, nose and throat doctor, in the event the audiologist refers you for medical or surgical alternatives.
Written hearing tests, "dial a hearing test" and other online hearing tests are not 100% accurate and are not diagnostic, but they may be utilized as screening tools. Screenings are usually free and can be scored within seconds. Screenings may help validate that a hearing problem exists.
One type of screen that you can do quickly and easily on line, is a written hearing screening. It's free and may provide insights about the likelihood that you have hearing loss. It will only take a couple of minutes at most, and you can get started by clicking here.