“What?”
“Can you say that again?”
“I heard you—I just didn’t understand what you said.”
If those phrases have become part of your everyday vocabulary, your hearing may be trying to tell you something.
October is Audiology Awareness Month, making it a great time to pay a little more attention to your hearing health. Hearing changes often happen gradually, so many people don’t realize they’re having trouble until everyday conversations, restaurants, television, or phone calls start becoming more difficult.
Here are seven signs that it may be time for a hearing test.
1. You Say “What?” More Than You Used To
Everyone misses a word now and then. But if you frequently ask people to repeat themselves—especially in a group or with background noise—it may be more than people simply mumbling.
Repeatedly missing parts of conversations can be an early sign of hearing loss. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) recommends considering a hearing evaluation when hearing difficulties begin interfering with everyday activities and communication.
2. The TV Keeps Getting Louder
Does the television seem perfectly comfortable to you while everyone else thinks it’s blasting?
If you regularly turn up the volume on the TV, radio, or phone, your hearing may have changed. Sometimes the people around you notice this before you do.
3. Restaurants Have Become Surprisingly Difficult
You can hear the dishes, the music and the conversations all around you—but somehow you can’t understand the person sitting right across the table.
This is a common frustration for people with hearing difficulties. Background noise can make it much harder to separate one person’s voice from everything else happening around you.
If restaurants, parties, or family gatherings have become exhausting because you’re working so hard to follow conversations, it’s worth having your hearing checked.
4. You Can Hear People Talking, But You Can’t Always Understand Them
This one can be confusing.
You may clearly hear that someone is speaking, but certain words seem to disappear. You might find yourself watching people’s faces or relying on context to figure out what they said.
Hearing isn’t just about detecting sound. Understanding speech—especially in challenging listening environments—is a key part of communication.
5. You Avoid Phone Calls
Phone conversations don’t give you some of the visual clues you normally rely on when communicating face-to-face.
If you avoid phone calls, struggle to understand people over the phone, or frequently ask callers to repeat themselves, a hearing evaluation may help determine whether hearing loss is contributing to the problem.
6. You Find Yourself Watching People’s Lips
Do you automatically look at someone’s face when they’re talking?
Facial expressions and lip movements naturally help us understand conversation. But if you find that you depend heavily on watching someone’s mouth to understand what they’re saying, it could be a sign that your hearing isn’t giving you all the information you need.
7. Your Family and Friends Keep Mentioning Your Hearing
Sometimes the first person to notice a change in your hearing isn’t you.
Maybe your spouse says you’re turning the TV up. Your children think you’re not listening. A friend tells you that you keep asking them to repeat themselves.
It can be easy to dismiss these comments. But if you’re hearing the same concern from several people, it’s worth taking seriously.
Hearing Loss Can Affect More Than Your Ears
Hearing loss isn’t simply about missing words or turning up the television. When hearing becomes difficult, it can affect how you communicate, participate in everyday activities, and stay connected with the people around you.
Research has found that hearing loss is associated with a range of physical, emotional, and social effects. That doesn’t mean hearing loss directly causes all of these conditions, and researchers continue to study the connections. But the associations are important enough that hearing health deserves attention as part of overall health.
Cognitive Health and Dementia
Hearing loss has also been associated with cognitive decline and dementia, particularly in older adults. Research suggests that the relationship may involve several factors, including social isolation, reduced engagement, listening effort, and the brain’s increased workload having to work harder to process sounds.
What is clear is that maintaining good hearing health is an important part of staying connected, engaged and active as we age.
Social Isolation and Loneliness
When conversations become difficult—especially in restaurants, groups or other noisy environments—people may begin avoiding situations where they have trouble following along. Over time, that can mean fewer social interactions and feelings of isolation or loneliness/
Depression and Anxiety
Struggling to communicate can be frustrating and tiring. Hearing loss has been associated with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and other psychosocial effects.
It’s easy to understand how repeatedly missing conversations, asking people to repeat themselves or feeling left out of a group could begin to affect someone’s confidence and enjoyment of everyday activities.
Listening Effort and Mental Fatigue
Have you ever finished a conversation and felt completely exhausted from concentrating so hard?
When hearing isn’t clear, following a conversation can require more effort, particularly in challenging listening environments.
Mobility and Falls
Hearing also contributes to our awareness of the environment around us. Research has found an association between hearing loss and reduced mobility and falls.
Researchers are still studying exactly why these relationships exist, so hearing loss shouldn’t be presented as directly causing falls. But the connection is another reason to take changes in hearing seriously.
Quality of Life
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that hearing affects much more than the ability to hear a sound.
It can affect communication, relationships, social participation, independence and the ability to enjoy everyday experiences and negatively affect quality of life.
And yes, cognitive decline and dementia are also part of the research conversation. But they are only one piece of a much bigger picture. Hearing loss has also been associated with depression, anxiety, social isolation, reduced mobility, falls and other effects on quality of life.
So, Do You Need a Hearing Test?
If several of these signs sound familiar, don’t assume that hearing loss is simply something you must live with.
A hearing evaluation is simple and painless and can provide valuable information about how well you’re hearing. An audiologist can evaluate your hearing and help determine whether hearing loss is present and what options may be appropriate.
And you don’t have to wait until you feel like you’re “really struggling” to get checked.
Don’t Just Turn Up the Volume
Hearing well is about more than hearing the television.
It’s about following conversations with family and friends, participating at work, enjoying restaurants and social events, hearing the people you care about and staying connected to the world around you.
So, if “What?” has become one of your most frequently used words, maybe it’s time to find out why.
Make Hearing Health Part of Your Overall Health
You don’t have to wait until hearing loss gets in the way of the things you enjoy.
October is Audiology Awareness Month—a great time to stop saying “What?” and start paying attention to your hearing health.
If you’re noticing changes in your hearing, contact ENT & Allergy Specialists to schedule a hearing evaluation with our audiology team.
