Symptoms of Hearing Loss
Last updated November 2024
About 15 percent of American adults report having some hearing loss, and the odds jump dramatically with age. Using data from the 2021 National Health and Aging Trends Study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan determined that 53 percent of 71-to-74-year-olds had at least some degree of hearing loss and that 90 percent of those 85 and older did.
Here are some signs that you may have hearing loss:
- Do I often ask people to repeat themselves? Do people often seem to be mumbling? Do I have trouble understanding speech in noisy places?
- Do I often feel tired or stressed during conversations?
- Do I often misunderstand conversations? Do I not get jokes because I miss too much of the story?
- Do my ears seem blocked, or do sounds seem dull or muffled?
- Do I have tinnitus (ringing or other noises heard internally in the ear)?
- Do I turn up the volume of speakers so high while watching TV or listening to music that others complain?
- Do I find myself using closed captioning when watching TV to understand dialogue?
- Do I find that when I look at people I can more easily understand what they are saying?
- Do I notice hearing better with one ear vs. the other when on the phone?
- Have I worked in a loud environment or attended numerous loud concerts?
