In conversation with friends, you like to be polite. You want your customers, co-workers, and manager to recognize that you’re totally engaged when you’re at work. With family, you might find it easier to simply tune out the conversation and ask the person near you to repeat what you missed, just a little louder, please.
You have to lean in a little closer when you’re on zoom calls. You watch for facial hints, listen for inflection, pay close attention to body language. You attempt to read people’s lips. And if that doesn’t work, you nod in understanding as if you heard everything.
Maybe your in denial. You missed a lot of what was said, and you’re straining to catch up. You might not realize it, but years of cumulative hearing loss can have you feeling cut off and frustrated, making tasks at work and life at home unnecessarily difficult.
The ability for a person to hear is impacted by situational factors including background sound, contending signals, room acoustics, and how acquainted they are with their surroundings, according to studies. But for individuals who suffer from hearing loss these factors are made even more difficult.
There are certain tell-tale habits that will raise your awareness of whether you’re in denial about how your hearing loss is affecting your social and professional life:
- Pretending to understand, only to later ask others what you missed
- Thinking people aren’t speaking clearly when all you can hear is mumbling
- Leaning in When people are talking and unconsciously cupping your ear with your hand
- Asking people to repeat themselves over and over again
- Finding it harder to hear over the phone
- Unable to hear people talking behind you
While it may feel like this crept up on you in an all-of-a-sudden way, chances are your hearing impairment didn’t occur overnight. Most people wait 7 years on average before accepting the issue and seeking help.
So if you’re noticing symptoms of hearing loss, you can be sure that it’s been occurring for some time unnoticed. Hearing loss is no joke so stop fooling yourself and make an appointment now.