Do I have hearing loss?

If you think you might be suffering from hearing loss, you should seek expert advice from a trained and qualified audiological scientist.

These are some of the telltale signs that you might be experiencing some loss of hearing:

  • It's hard to hear what people are saying in noisy environments
  • Other people often seem to be mumbling
  • You often have to ask people to repeat things
  • It's difficult to follow conversations among a group of people
  • People say you have the television or radio turned up too loud
  • It's difficult to hear what people say on the telephone.

 

Degrees of hearing loss

There are different degrees of hearing loss, which can be determined using a standard hearing test or ‘Pure Tone Audiogram’.

  • Mild hearing loss: you may find it hard to hear soft sounds, such as speech in a noisy environment.
  • Moderate hearing loss: you may be unable to hear soft and moderately loud sounds, and have considerable difficulty understanding speech, particularly with background noise.
  • Severe hearing loss: some loud sounds are audible but communication without a hearing instrument is impossible.
  • Profound hearing loss: some extremely loud sounds are audible but communication without a hearing instrument is impossible.