- Symptoms of hearing loss
- The 4 most important symptoms of hearing loss
- Degree of hearing loss
- Contact us for more information
Do you have complaints or doubts about your hearing?
Don't keep it to yourself. Contact one of our stores near you. Our hearing specialists are ready to help.
Symptoms of hearing loss
As you get older, your hearing gradually deteriorates. You don't always realize that your hearing is getting worse. In other words, hearing loss develops gradually. In retrospect, if you ask people with hearing loss about it, there are plenty of signs that their hearing is deteriorating.
The most common symptoms are:
Talk louder yourself
You have difficulty hearing high voices and tones in particular
You feel like you can no longer hear as well as you used to
Feeling uncomfortable in a noisy environment
Not hearing the phone or doorbell
The sound of the TV, radio, music must be louder and louder
You keep asking me to repeat something
You find other people difficult to understand
Complains of a ringing, buzzing or buzzing sound in the ears
Gets tired quickly in large groups
It's difficult to recognize hearing loss in yourself because your brain automatically adapts and compensates for it. You no longer hear loud sounds the way you used to. The symptoms mentioned above don't sound familiar to everyone. After a while, your brain "forgets" how to hear, even if you don't realize it. That's why people often have to point out your hearing loss. This can lead to irritation and feelings of insecurity. Here you can read more about the four main symptoms of hearing loss.
The 4 most important symptoms of hearing loss
Tinnitus
Hearing damage is caused by prolonged exposure to loud noises. Ringing in the ears or tinnitus is a first symptom. Ringing in the ears after a night out indicates you've been exposed to too much noise. This usually goes away, but over time it can cause permanent damage – a constant audible ringing in the ears, called tinnitus – that is irreversible.
Different pitches
A normal, healthy ear can hear frequencies from 20 to 20,000 Hertz (Hz). The higher the pitch, the higher the frequency. With hearing loss, someone can have varying degrees of hearing loss at each frequency and perceive sounds differently. Some sounds are too loud or too soft, while others are perfectly audible. You might not hear high-pitched sounds well, but low-pitched ones well, or vice versa.
Locating sound
When your ears are exposed to excessive and prolonged noise, the cilia in the cochlea (the inner ear) become damaged. These tiny cilia are set in motion by sound waves. The cilia then transmit a signal via the auditory nerve to the brain, where it is perceived as sound. Overload from excessively loud or prolonged noise can cause the cilia to break. This can happen to varying degrees in both ears, causing the stereo sound reception to fail. This makes it harder to determine the source of the sound.
Turning up the volume of the radio or television
If you find yourself talking louder and turning up the volume on the radio or television, this could be a sign of hearing damage. The hair cells in your ear need more stimulation to transmit a signal, and your ear adapts to the loud sound level by becoming less sensitive. A healthy ear automatically adjusts to a higher sensitivity after a while, but if your hearing is damaged, it doesn't recover. As a result, you talk louder and turn up the volume on the radio and television.
Degree of hearing loss
There are five different levels of hearing loss, ranging from:
- Normal
- Light
- Average
- Serious
- Very serious
Your audiologist measures the intensity of a sound and the degree of hearing loss in decibels (dB). Make an appointment or come in for a free, comprehensive hearing test with your Oogwereld Hoorzorg audiologist. After the hearing test, you'll receive a detailed explanation of the results and, if needed, a free, no-obligation offer to experience the latest hearing aids tailored to your needs and hearing loss. No obligation.
You can now also get an indication of the health of your ear via our online hearing test.
Contact us for more information
At Oogwereld Hearing Care, we're here to support you in understanding and managing your hearing loss. Contact us today for more information, expert advice, and personalized support. Together, we can work on finding effective solutions and improving your overall well-being.