You can’t quite hear what people are saying to you on the phone, so you find yourself constantly turning up the volume on your mobile. Do you notice you’re asking people to repeat themselves to you? Do you think it’s easier to follow a conversation with someone when you’re looking at their lips move? If you answered yes to these questions, unfortunately, you’re experiencing hearing loss. Now, initially, you don’t know if this is permanent or perhaps just due to a change in your health. If you have an ear infection, the outer and middle of the ear will swell up, and this can mimic traits of hearing loss. To assuage your fears, you should go in for a hearing test with a trusted hearing healthcare service. Here’s how you can prep for your hearing test.
Fresh eardrums
Before you go in for your very first hearing test, make sure you haven’t been in or around a loud environment. This can cause you to have inconsistent results due to the ringing noise in your ear. Don’t put on headphones or put in earphones and listen to music. This too, augments what your natural hearing level is because the sounds are too focussed and your eardrum might be a little sensitive. Try to stay in a quiet place for at least 2 days and avoid areas where the decibel level goes over 90. This means, stay away from shopping malls, theme parks, festivals, and music concerts, etc.
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A gentle clean
Earwax is good for your health. It catches debris and dirt, preventing bacteria from harming the soft and vulnerable inner ear. However, too much of a good thing is bad for you. So before you go to get your hearing checked, gently clean the earwax out. Don’t do it with a cotton bud, however tempting it might be. Simply, use your pinky finger and towel to scrub as deep as you can inside your ear, after you’ve had a bath or shower. Do this the night before or have enough time to allow your ears to dry naturally on the morning of your test.
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Who should you go to?
The question is, who should you have booked your hearing test with? You’re probably thinking, ‘audiologist’ right? Well, that’s one option but there is one more. Audiologists usually work with people who have certain and medically diagnosed hearing loss. If you’re just going in for your first hearing test because you suspect you’re having issues, an audiologist may be swapped for a hearing aid dispenser. They will do some basic hearing tests to see where you’re at in terms of hearing loss severity. Since they are very knowledgeable about hearing aid technology, they’ll help you pick out a model that suits your lifestyle and needs. You’ll be able to get back to your normal life the second you walk out of the testing room.
Just relax and try not to be so tense. Your very first hearing test is going to be a small stepping stone on your journey to improving your living standard.
Samantha
Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.
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