Hearing in Noise. No thanks.

For most of us, hearing loss occurs in the inner ear, as the nerve fibres begin to show wear and tear, including with age, noise exposure or illness. We know that after around 40 years of age, we can begin to notice, and an audiologist can document, early signs of change in the inner ear due to attrition of the sound processing organs. Depending on what we have done throughout our life, whether we have worked around noise, or whether we have noisy hobbies, will dictate how fast any hearing loss progresses. For most of us, by the age of 65, there are some more obvious signs.

The first signs of hearing loss are usually struggling to hear in background noise, asking for repetitions, turning the TV up, or just appearing not to listen. Interestingly, for men, this occurs somewhat earlier than ladies! Cutting edge modern technology and hearing treatment means that we don’t need to sit in the corner and struggle alone.

While there is no medicine or surgery to repair the ravages of time to the ear, audiological treatment is usually highly successful in managing the progressive hearing loss that occurs over time. And early treatment leads to optimal outcomes. Treatment of such hearing difficulties is painless, invisible and extremely positive given some commitment to the process and time with your audiologist. Miniaturised hearing aids are but one of a number of options.

To best manage any hearing difficulties you or someone close to you may have, be sure to see an audiologist for a full and diagnostic hearing assessment which will ensure your hearing loss is correctly attended to.