Hearing loss can occur naturally and gradually over time as you age. This is called presbycusis and frequently effects people over the age of 65. Deafness can effect younger people and is usually brought on by being exposed to overly loud noises.

We hope to help you establish whether you have hearing loss or not.

How do I know if I have hearing Loss?

There are many signs to see if you have developed a hearing problem;

• Struggle hearing full conversations and miss parts? This is a good sign of hearing loss. If you find you are particularly struggling with women’s or children’s voices this is a sign that you are loosing the ability to hear high pitch sounds. This is a sign of noise induced hearing loss and could be caused by a loud job or noisy music.
• Do you have to turn the TV higher than you used to? You may notice this and usually you would find others commenting on it.
• Making telephone calls has become arduous and you have to hold the headset closer to your ear.
• If in a noisy environment with background noise do you find hearing over it hard?
• Missing the doorbell or a knock at the door.
• Hearing humming, whistling, buzzing noises in your ear(s) may be Tinnitus. This is a symptom that is caused by an issue in your auditory system as opposed to disease or illness. The cause of tinnitus is from exposure to excessive sound and loud noises.
• Suffering from vertigo or dizziness.

The Technical Stuff; Your ear works as it has thousands of little hairs inside that vibrate when a sound passes them. These vibrations are then transmitted as signals to the brain to recognise the sound. Normally these hairs stand on end easily picking up vibrations from sounds. When you are experiencing hearing loss the hair becomes limp and then can’t pick up as much of the vibrations thus effecting your hearing.

If you are younger than 65 and feel that you experience any of the symptoms above it is more than likely caused by unreasonable levels of noise. Although there is concern that the growing use of Mp3 players and the volume at which they are used will contribute to many hearing loss cases, working environments is the main contributor to young deafness and is referred to as Occupational Deafness or Industrial Hearing Loss.

Unfortunately hearing loss is irreversible as the hairs damaged can’t be repaired. If you feel that you are suffering from any of the symptoms above I would recommend you see your doctor for a hearing test. If you feel your job has caused your condition you may be eligible for a hearing loss claim as your employer is legally required to protect your hearing