Hearing Loss
Information on hearing loss and hearing health.
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Hearing Health Support in Essex County
Hearing Wellness
Signs of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can sometimes be difficult to recognize, especially if you’ve lost your hearing over the course off a few years. It may be a close friend or family member who has noticed the signs of hearing loss and has asked you to have your hearing tested.
Some common signs of hearing loss include:
- It sounds like people mumble
- You often ask people to repeat themselves
- It’s difficult to understand when there is background noise
- You hear a ringing in your ears
- Phone conversations are difficult to understand
- You have to turn the volume up on the TV
- You feel tired after conversations
- You have a hard time remembering information after conversations
Hearing and Cognition
Signs of Hearing Loss in Children
Children can experience hearing loss at any point, from birth to later in childhood. Your child’s hearing plays a crucial role in their social, emotional, and cognitive development. Even a mild or partial hearing loss can affect your child’s ability to develop speech and language properly. It’s important to be proactive about your child’s hearing health in order to provide them with the resources necessary for success by visiting a pediatric audiologist.
Learn how to recognize the signs of hearing loss in your infant. Here are some milestones your child should reach in the first year of life:
- Most infants will jump or startle at a sudden loud noise
- By 3 months they should recognize their parent’s voice
- By 6 months they can usually turn their eyes or head towards a sound
- By 12 months they can usually imitate sounds and say a few words, such as “Mama” or “bye-bye”
As your child continues to grow and develop it’s important to continue to monitor their hearing and developmental progress. Hearing loss can occur at any age, so it’s important to be proactive by watching for the signs of hearing loss in young children.
Signs of hearing loss in children may include:
- They have limited, poor, or no speech
- They are inattentive
- Difficulty learning
- They need to have the TV at a higher volume
- They fail to respond to conversation-level speech
- They answer inappropriately to speech
- The don’t respond to their name
- They become easily frustrated when there is background noise
