4 Signs You Need to Visit an Audiologist

Many people need to visit an audiologist at some point in their lives. The ears are vital to everyday life, yet deterioration is inevitable, whether due to old age, environmental impacts or more.

Fortunately, audiologists can treat a wide range of conditions to do with the ear – they aren’t limited to conducting hearing tests and providing hearing aids. Your audiologist will be able to perform all kinds of examinations as well as provide a wide range of treatments.

Here are four signs that you should go and speak to an audiologist about your ears.

You can’t follow conversations

One of the first signs that you might be gradually losing your hearing is that you struggle to follow conversations. This is a very common symptom and you may not even realize that there is a problem until your friends or family point it out. Not being able to follow a conversation might be caused by loss of hearing. This is usually due to aging, with individuals older than 65 most likely to be affected.

You might also notice that:

• The TV needs to be louder
• You need to look at someone when they speak to understand
• Higher pitches are lost on you
• You often mishear people

Your ears have suffered a trauma

If you are subject to a sudden loud noise or a sudden change of pressure, you may lose your hearing suddenly. This is often a temporary result but it can also have some serious consequences. The best thing to do is go to an audiologist as soon as possible to assess the situation and decide upon a treatment plan.

Your ears are painful

Ear pain is never fun and getting a diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible is the best thing you can do. There are a few reasons why your ear or ears might hurt, including infections, but the most common reason is hard earwax build-up. Some people are simply more prone to produce too much earwax but others may inadvertently exacerbate the issue by cleaning too intensively or using a cotton bud to push the wax deeper into the ear.

Whatever is causing your ear pain, an audiologist will be able to diagnose the problem and provide a treatment plan so that you feel better as soon as possible.

You are struggling with balance

Though we tend to think of ears in terms of hearing only, your inner ear is also responsible for keeping you balanced. If you are having issues with your balance, it is most likely that your ears are the source of the problem than anything else. The feeling of being out of balance is normally called vertigo but this condition may be caused by a number of things. The most likely cause is labyrinthitis which is simply an infection of the inner ear but there are a few other causes that should be ruled out by your audiologist as quickly as possible.

If you feel that there is anything wrong with your ears — whether it is balance, hearing or ringing — you should always visit an audiologist as soon as possible to treat your condition.