You heard it here first.
Hearing loss seems to be a fact of aging, with 22% of people over the age of 65 struggling to hear everyday sounds around them.
Life may be noisy, but it’s important to stay tuned to two early signs that can help determine whether you need to have your ears checked.
“Early signs of hearing loss can be subtle and easy to miss,” Dr. Rachel Artsma, senior audiologist at hear.com, told The Post. “Untreated hearing loss forces the brain to work harder to fill in missing sounds.”
We’ve all been in loud environments and found it hard to hold a proper conversation.
But while it wouldn’t be unusual to dismiss, one of the most common signs of hearing loss is frequently asking people to repeat themselves.
“Many people explain this away by saying that others are mumbling, rather than recognizing that their hearing may be changing,” she said. “Because hearing loss tends to happen gradually, people are often unaware that they are missing certain sounds, which can lead to delayed acknowledgment.”
This can result in mishearing similar-sounding words, such as “cat” and “sat,” because of high-frequency consonant sounds, like S, F or TH, that are often the first to be affected by hearing loss.
While noisy places like parties or restaurants always make listening more difficult, it’s another key sign of hearing loss, especially if you hear “just fine” in quiet settings, according to Artsma.
“This difficulty separating speech from noise is frequently blamed on the environment rather than the hearing itself,” she explained. “Over time, the extra effort required to fill in the gaps can lead to listening fatigue, frustration and social withdrawal, which many do not immediately connect to hearing loss.”
More common signs of hearing loss
Other indications that your hearing is starting to go are muffled voices, constantly turning the volume up or a ringing in your ears known as tinnitus.
Not only can these gradually affect your hearing over time, but they could also impact your health in other ways.
“Some people even start avoiding social situations because listening feels tiring or frustrating,” explained Artsma. “These small changes often appear gradually, but they’re important signals that the ears and brain are working harder than they should.”
The sooner you notice these symptoms, the better, as early intervention can significantly improve communication and prevent future degenerative conditions, particularly those regarding the brain.
“Because the auditory signals are weaker and less clear, the brain must constantly reconstruct and compensate, using energy that would normally support memory and thinking,” said Artsma.
“This extra mental strain, known as cognitive load, can, over time, lead to fatigue and increase the risk of cognitive decline or dementia,” she added.
However, getting your hearing checked sooner is better, as tools like hearing aids can reverse the process your brain goes through to distinguish sounds.
