Facing Mild Hearing Loss: Do You Need Hearing Aids?

You’ve been diagnosed with a mild hearing loss. Should you start wearing hearing aids to correct it?

In our noisy world, this is a question more and more of us are facing. We think to ourselves, “I am not deaf. I can hear most things. I just have trouble hearing when there is background noise or when people speak softly.”

Most people with mild hearing loss can hear fine when they can see the person speaking, and when there is little background noise. However, sometimes we can’t see the person who is speaking; they may be calling out from an adjacent room, or sitting behind you in the car.

We also can’t always talk to our friends and family in a quiet setting. We often find ourselves at a noisy restaurant or family gathering where everyone is talking at the same time. When you have mild hearing loss, these noisy situations force you to exert effort just to follow a conversation.

But mild hearing loss is more than just misunderstanding conversation. It can also impact how your brain processes sounds. When we have difficulty hearing, we may find it hard to localize sounds and we may have problems with our balance. (Our brain uses sound cues to help with both functions.)

Mild hearing loss also makes your brain work harder. When you must make an effort to hear and understand what people are saying, you are likely to become stressed and tired. When your brain must constantly multitask, this reduces your energy. Perhaps even more important, studies have found a strong correlation between people with untreated hearing loss and dementia.

These are some of the many reasons why the staff at Hearing Help Plus is offering the public free hearing screenings.

Call us at (815) 758-0157 and schedule your free hearing checkup today. Our hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Hearing Help Plus : 1712 Sycamore Road : DeKalb, IL 60115 : 815-758-0157 : hearinghelpplus.com