The Real Value Of a Hearing Screening Maintain Your Maximum Hearing

By Hearing Professionals

Eyes? Checked. Teeth? Checked. Hearing?

Everyone knows you're supposed to have your eyes and teeth checked on a routine basis your hearing should be on the list as well. For many, routine hearing screenings or exams are the only ways to detect any hearing changes.

You don't know what you don't know. If a sound falls outside of our hearing range, it doesn't exist for us and isn't part of our reality it has no meaning for us.

A particular sound can be louder or quieter for various reasons. For example, people do sometimes mumble or the TV can sound distorted. Our life experiences tell us that any hearing difficulties we may experience are likely due to such situational factors.

Our visual, cognitive and social systems work in conjunction with our auditory system and will compensate for any shortcomings. If it's noisy and you're trying to converse, then your visual system is going to compensate by looking more intently at the face. It's like an involuntary reflex it happens without any conscious effort.

Hearing loss is gradual. It sneaks up on you. If you experienced hearing loss overnight, you'd know that your hearing capabilities aren't the same as they were the day before. But that isn't how it works it occurs slowly over many years, which is why it's difficult to detect changes.

A person's ability to hear a range of pitches, or frequencies, may decrease over the years. Some frequencies maintain their volume regardless of hearing loss, while shifts in the perception of sound occur in others, most often, high pitch frequencies. This is why people say they can hear; however, they may have difficulty understanding what is said.

Have you tried to convince someone that they have hearing loss? Or, maybe you were the one trying to be convinced? It probably didn't work, right? For a moment, pretend you've never tasted bacon. Someone is trying to convince you that you'll like it. But, there's no meaning in their claim until you've tried the bacon for yourself. Hearing works the same way.

When there's no available evidence to suggest that your hearing has decreased it's hard to believe the claim. And, the more we live in this disbelief then the more evidence (such as those listed above) we will look for to support our disbelief.

The best evidence of one's true hearing capabilities is a baseline hearing screening or exam. It's a starting point. Then, with routine monitoring, you would know if there actually have been any changes in your hearing because you'd know what you started with (baseline).

The next time you see hearing screenings offered at a local health fair or in your community, consider participating. Or, call your local audiologist office to schedule a full hearing evaluation. It's never too late to get a baseline. Hearing screenings are painless and an easy way to maintain your maximum hearing.