When should you go for a hearing test?
If you:
• Put the TV or radio louder than usual
• Find it difficult to hear in noisy environments
• Find that family and friends complain that you do not hear them
• Find that most people mumble 
• Struggle to hear on the telephone
• Continually ask for repetition
• Feel that it is too much effort to take part in group conversations, and you choose to withdraw

Signs of hearing loss
• People around you seem to mumble
• Struggle to hear on the telephone
• Often ask others to repeat themselves 
• You can hear speech but it lacks clarity
• Need to turn up the TV or radio
• Difficulty following group conversations when background noise is present  
• Children and women's voices are difficult to hear
• Buzzing or ringing in your ears
• Difficulty in determining the direction of a sound

Why should I seek help for my possible hearing loss?
Apart from improving quality of life by opening the channels of communication, early identification and diagnosis of a hearing problem may help to prevent the problem from worsening. Hearing loss that remains untreated may deteriorate faster than hearing loss that has been properly diagnosed and rehabilitated. Some hearing losses are medically or surgically treatable and if left, may become permanent. 

The Impact of  Presbycusis (Age related Hearing Loss) on Speech Understanding:
• Presbycusis causes a hearing loss in the high frequencies
• This causes difficulty hearing high pitched speech sounds like “s” “sh” “f” and “t”.
            “see”  “she”  “fee”  “tee”  will all sound alike
It is common for people with a hearing loss to say  “I can hear but I can’t understand” this is because important sounds are missing.

Untreated hearing loss
• Isolation
• Loss of self worth
• Emotional detachment
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Withdrawal from communication situations
• Further deterioration of the auditory system

Benefits of improved hearing
• Better hearing in difficult situations
• Improved speech discrimination
• Improved personal relationships 
• Prevention of further hearing deterioration
• Enhanced self-esteem
• Safety – eg. in traffic
• Social inclusion
• Overall improved quality of life