You don’t suddenly lose your hearing one morning when you wake up. Hearing loss comes in degrees for most people, particularly when it comes to aging. Age-related hearing loss affects about one in three people in this country. Many of them are over the age of 75 before they recognize a change. Some signs show up sooner, though, and you don’t realize there is an issue immediately.

Early hearing loss has progressive and subtle signs. Recognizing them as soon as possible is essential to slow down the progression of hearing loss or other health problems related to hearing loss. You can’t recognize the signs if you don’t know what they are, though. You could have hearing loss if you have any of these eight barely noticeable indicators.

1. Ears Ringing

This is one that people tend to neglect if it doesn’t get too disruptive and it’s actually not very subtle. Tinnitus, the medical name for the ringing, is a typical indication of hearing loss.

The ringing can be sporadic and only act up when triggered. Perhaps the ringing only occurs when your tired or in the morning for example.

It’s important that you don’t neglect tinnitus because it is an indication that something is going on with your body. Besides hearing loss, tinnitus can be caused by high blood pressure, trauma, or a circulatory problem. If you want to know for certain, you will need to consult your doctor.

2. Talking on The Phone is Stressful

Here are some common excuses for phone issues:

• It’s a new phone, and I’m just not used to it yet.
• I dropped my phone in water or on the ground.
• My phone is old.

If you dislike using the phone think about the reasons why. Get someone you know to test the phone for you if the volume is up and you still can’t hear it. If they can hear the conversation and you can’t, your ears are the problem.

3. These Days it Seems Like Everyone Mumbles

It used to be only the kids, but recently, the lady on the TV news, your neighbor, and your spouse all have taken to mumbling when they speak to you. Could it actually be true that suddenly everyone in your life has poor enunciation.

It’s more likely that you might not be hearing words in the same way. Mumbling or dropped off consonants such as “S” or “T” is one of the first signs that your hearing is changing.

4. What Did You Say?

You may not even recognize that you can’t hear conversations any more until somebody points out that you say “What? a lot. Usually, the people you see every day like coworkers or family are the first to notice you are having difficulties hearing. If someone comments on it, pay attention.

5. Some People You Hear Fine But Others Not so Much

Maybe when you are having a chat with your neighbor everything sounds fine but when his wife starts to talk you can’t understand a word. You can have sensorineural hearing loss, or injury to the nerves that send electrical signals to the brain, and this is a common symptom.

Her voice isn’t as clear because it’s a higher pitch. Your daughter or grandchild may present the same issue. Even when you are in common situations, something as simple as trying to hear the sound of an alarm clock ar a microwave can make things difficult. Those sounds are also high pitched.

6. Going Out Used to be a Lot More Fun

Even worse are the people who actually mumble. Also, it’s much harder to comprehend what people are saying when it’s noisy. Something as routine as the AC coming on during dinner or the sound of people chatting around you makes it impossible to hear anything.

7. You Never Used to Feel This Tired

It’s can be draining struggling to understand what people are saying. Your brain has to work extra hard to process what it does hear, so you are more tired than usual. Your other senses may also experience changes. What’s left for your other senses when your brain is working at 110 percent of its energy to understand words? It’s time to have your ears tested if your eye examination came back okay.

8. You Can’t Hear The TV

Rather than accusing the service provider when you have to keep cranking the TV up, think about getting a hearing test. When you have hearing loss it can be difficult to hear dialog. There is the background music confusing things, for example. And don’t forget about the AC, ceiling fan or other things in the room. If the volume keeps going up, then your hearing may be faltering.

The good news is all you need to do to know for certain is a professional hearing exam. Hearing aids should get things back to normal if it turns out that your hearing has declined.