• Do you have difficulty understanding conversations within a group of people, or when background noise is present?
• Is speech loud enough, but not clear. Are the voices you hear “mumbled?”
• Is the volume on your TV or radio to loud that disturbs others?
• Do you frequently say “what” or ask people to repeat themselves?
• Do you have trouble hearing on the telephone?
• Can you hear, but you can’t understand?
• Do some words sound alike and it is hard to tell them apart?
• Is it hard to hear high-pitched sounds, such as birds singing, or difficult understanding higher pitched voices such as women and children’s?
• Is it difficult hearing or understanding at public gatherings: concert halls, theaters, and houses of worship – where sound sources are at a distant?

Because hearing loss can develop over several years, most people are not aware of the extent of their loss until family or friends bring it to their attention. Even then they might deny that they have difficulty hearing.

People with mild hearing loss often use the following tactics to cope with the situation:

• turning up the volume on the TV to a level that disturbs others
• constantly asking people to repeat themselves, or speak louder
• avoiding social situations such as restaurant or parties, where noise can make it difficult to hear conversations
• turning the head to one side while listening.

Although these habits can help individuals with hearing loss in some situation, the hearing loss is most likely depriving them of a wide range of life’s sounds. Eventually as the hearing loss progresses the above technique won’t provide adequate hearing assistance.

Hearing is a precious gift

Stop and think for a moment about the sounds that enrich our lives: the whispered words of a child… the singing of the birds… the voices of friends and loved ones… the rustling of wind in the tress… the music of a symphony orchestra… Our ability to hear theses sounds is a vital part of enjoying life.

Hearing loss can inhibit a person’s ability to experience the sounds around them. And this affects not only their lives, but also the lives of those around them.

You are not alone:

• More Americans suffer from hearing loss (28 million) than from heart disease, cancer, blindness, multiple sclerosis and kidney disease combined
• Hearing loss is the #1 medical condition for men and the #3 for all individuals
• 1 out of every 8 Americans suffers from a hearing loss by the age of 50