According to one recent survey, nearly 30% of people have gone more than ten years without getting a hearing test. Sofia is one of those people. She knows to have her oil changed every 3000 miles, she sees the dentist every six months, and she reports punctually for her yearly medical examination. But she hasn’t had a hearing examination in a long time.

There are a number of reasons why it’s important to have hearing evaluations, the most important of which is that it’s usually difficult for you to notice the first signs of hearing loss without one. Knowing how frequently she should get a hearing exam will help Sofia keep her ears (and hearing) as healthy as she can for as long as possible.

How Often Each Year Should my Ears be Checked?

We might be alarmed if Sophia hadn’t had a hearing examination in ten years. Or we might think it’s completely normal. Our reaction, and the reaction of her hearing specialist, probably will vary depending on how old she is. This is because hearing specialists have different guidelines based on age.

• If you are older than fifty: The general suggestion is that anyone over the age of fifty should get hearing checks every year. As you get older, the noise damage you’ve sustained over a lifetime can begin to speed up, which means loss of hearing is more likely to start affecting your life. Plus, there are other health problems that can impact your hearing.
• It’s generally suggested that you take a hearing exam every three years or so. Certainly, if you feel you should get your ears examined more frequently, that’s also fine. But once every three years is the bare minimum. You should absolutely get evaluated more often if you are frequently in a loud environment. There’s no reason not to do it, it’s painless and easy.

As far as your hearing is concerned, more often is certainly better. Since you last had a hearing assessment, you might have new injury you should know about, so regular hearing tests could be helpful.

Signs You Should Get Your Hearing Checked

There are definitely other occasions besides your annual hearing exam that you might want to schedule an appointment with your hearing specialist. For example, if you recognize symptoms of hearing loss. And in those situations, it’s often a good plan to immediately contact a hearing professional and schedule a hearing exam.

Some of the signs that might prompt you to get a hearing test could include:

• It’s typical for hearing loss in the high pitched register to fail first and because consonants are in a higher pitched register than vowels, they usually fail first.
• Sounds seem muffled; it’s starting to sound as though you constantly have water in your ears.
• Having a very hard time understanding people when talking on the phone, any phone.
• Continually asking people to slow down or repeat themselves during a conversation.
• Difficulty hearing discussions in loud surroundings.
• Listening to your favorite tunes at excessively high volumes.

A strong sign that right now is the best time to get a hearing exam is when the warning signs start to add up. You need to know what’s going on with your ears and that means getting a hearing test sooner rather than later.

What Are The Benefits of Hearing Testing?

There are plenty of reasons why Sofia may be late in having her hearing exam. Maybe she hasn’t thought about it. Possibly thinking about it is something she is simply avoiding. But getting your hearing tested on the recommended schedule has concrete advantages.

And it will be easier to identify hearing deviations in the future if you get your hearing checked by forming a baseline reading even if it seems like everything is normal. You can protect your hearing better if you catch it before it becomes an issue.

The point of regular hearing testing is that somebody like Sofia will be enabled to detect issues before her hearing is impaired permanently. Early detection by a hearing exam can help your hearing stay healthy for a long time. Understanding the effects of hearing loss on your total health, that’s essential.