WHEN DO I NEED MY HEARING CHECKED?
By Mike Pihura
A
s an audiologist, here’s my personal opinion. I think that everyone needs a baseline test – just as you do for your eyes, teeth and blood pressure. So why should hearing be any different? A baseline test shows that at a certain point in time your hearing was “normal.” If it should change in the future, you have something to compare it to. In fact, all infants are checked at birth. School age kids should have their hearing tested for obvious reasons. A problem in one ear may not be noticed if the other ear is normal. Also, ear infections are common in school age children and can affect speech and learning. Teenagers will listen to loud music and go to concerts, which can affect their hearing and school performance. All adults age 50 and over should definitely be checked. Hearing deteriorates slowly with age but is accelerated with everyday living and noise exposure like power tools and traffic noise. This progressive loss can often go unnoticed, and affects you socially. A hearing aid can really help, especially if you’re still working. Lastly, all seniors should have their hearing checked before it deteriorates too far. So…now you know! HWS
Mike Pihura is the owner and an audiologist at Family Hearing Clinic on 33 Lakeshore Road, Unit 8 in St. Catharines. For more information, please call 905.938.2479 or go to www.familyhearing.ca.
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FAMILY HEARING CLINIC HEALTH, WELLNESS & SAFETY MAGAZINE
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