We live busy lives. We go to work, spend time with family and friends, take care of household chores, do our favorite activities, and travel. There's so much to do, and so few hours in the day.
No matter how busy you are, though, it's crucial to make your health a priority. One of the best ways to take care of your health is by having regular check-ups with your care providers. Having routine medical care can help prevent health problems from occurring or find them early, before they cause more serious damage.
Naturally, you should see your primary care provider regularly, along with any specialists who help you manage chronic health conditions and other medical issues. But don't stop there. Your hearing health needs regular attention, too. You can optimize your hearing health by scheduling regular hearing tests.
Here, Dr. Kevin Sharim of Sharp Hearing Care Professionals shares three excellent reasons why you shouldn't delay a needed hearing test.
Hearing loss is a very common health condition. It affects more than 15% of American adults, including one-third of adults over the age of 65, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Unlike, say, a heart attack, which comes on quite suddenly, most hearing issues creep up slowly. They may come on so gradually, in fact, that you may not notice them. Regular hearing exams allow your audiologist to identify hearing loss you may not realize you have.
Why not just wait until you have a lot of trouble hearing to have your hearing evaluated? Because waiting could interfere with your enjoyment of life. Hearing loss can lead to social isolation and cognitive decline, and the longer you wait, the greater its impact could be.
Even if you don't have hearing loss, it's good to have baseline results from a hearing test that your provider can use to compare future test results.
If a hearing test determines that you have hearing loss, further testing and hearing evaluations can help identify what's causing your hearing loss. Some common causes of hearing problems include:
It's important to understand the causes of hearing loss so you and your provider can take action to treat or manage the cause and protect you from further hearing loss.
If your hearing loss is caused by a medical condition, infection, or injury, the sooner you have it evaluated and treated, the greater the chance that your care team can take steps to prevent further damage or injury to your hearing.
The care providers at Sharp Hearing Care Professionals have a wide array of tools and devices to help you hear better and to protect you from additional hearing loss. These tools include:
Assisted listening devices help you hear better by capturing sounds that you want to hear, filtering out unnecessary background noise, and delivering easier-to-hear sounds into your ears or hearing aids.
Hearing aids help you hear better by amplifying sounds. Our practice offers a wide variety of hearing aid brands, models, and styles, including the most advanced high-tech models that offer state-of-the-art features and expansive functionality.
Today, you can choose hearing aids that are smaller than ever and that offer exciting features such as smartphone connectivity. If you think hearing aids have to be large and clunky, you’re in for some big surprises.
Earmolds are specially designed, personalized devices that filter sound and help protect your ears and hearing.
Don't wait any longer to get your next hearing test on the calendar. Our offices are conveniently located in Oxnard, Santa Barbara, West Hills, and Santa Monica, California. Schedule a hearing evaluation by contacting one of our offices today.
