Here are 6 signs to watch out for that could indicate 'You need to get your Ears tested':

1. Your TV is blaring: Do you often find people around you shouting above the TV sound complaining that it's too loud? When you find it hard to hear the TV at the average volume and find yourself turning up the sound, this could signify a hearing loss. Doctors are seeing a growing number of patients visiting them after prolonged exposure to loud music and sounds.

2. You find it hard to hear phone conversations: Do you find yourself asking the person on the other end of the phone line to 'repeat' themselves, or find yourself pressing the phone instrument right into your ear? If you are trying so hard to hear, you might find yourself missing out on bits of the conversation as focussing to clearly hear the conversation is exhausting work. Getting a hearing test might be a good option if this sounds like you.

3. You have trouble hearing in noisy environments: When you are out dining with friends or family at a busy restaurant or accompanying a friend shopping in a busy street, all that background noise makes it difficult to hear what the people are saying. People with hearing loss often have problems masking out background noise.

4. Family members telling 'you're going deaf'?: Trust the views of the people closest to you, they never lie about your health. Family members often are the first to sense signs of hearing loss as they find themselves repeating things to you or calling out louder to get your 'attention'.

5. You find yourself staying away from social occasions, family gatherings or avoid being the first to start conversations

6. You find yourself leaning closer to people to follow the conversation or staring at their lips trying to lip-read what's being said.

6 Signs you Need a Hearing Test

Hearing is one of the five senses that you or anyone else relies on for communication and a whole host of other things. Among the five senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight, it is often hearing, which is the most easily affected. You don't have to be a senior citizen to experience hearing loss as it is quite common among younger people as well. This problem is also getting widespread with each passing day.

Before coping with hearing loss, the first job is to detect it
If you have a hunch that you or any of your loved ones is suffering from hearing loss, it is important that you get it diagnosed. Some of the common symptoms of hearing loss will be:

 Hearing difficulties while talking to someone over the phone
 Straining to hear conversations with family members or friends in household situations 
 People usually need to repeat what they talk to you with a louder voice
 You often hear complaints that you keep the tv too loud.
 In crowded situations, such as family gatherings or a restaurant, you have problems listening to people.

Although this condition tends to affect senior citizens, an increasing trend shows younger people i. E. People mostly in their 40 and 50s and even younger than that suffer from this condition.

How to deal with hearing loss?
Some of the options to deal with hearing loss are mentioned below.

 Once diagnosed with hearing problems, change your ways of communication: if you or your loved ones have been diagnosed with hearing problems, it is important that both adjust your ways to deal with the problem. Rather than getting angry at the other for not being able to communicate effectively, develop and strategize ways to make communication less problematic and erratic.
 Cochlear implants: this is a newer technology, which has gained popularity in the past decade or so. These are directly implanted into the inner ear and are designed to bypass the damaged areas of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. These have become very popular, although, are not a replacement of natural hearing. It is only prescribed for people who have severe hearing loss or are deaf.
 Hearing aids: although selecting a hearing aid is difficult as the patient needs to be comfortable, once selected it is one of the best solutions for the hearing impaired. The functionality of these devices can be extended with the hearing assistive technology or hat devices that can focus the audio waves depending on the situations and give a more tailored approach for every individual's needs.

Dealing With Hearing Loss

You should consider undertaking a cochlear implant in case you are experiencing hearing loss or are turning deaf. This is a small device that gets planted in your ear through a surgical procedure. It sends impulses to your auditory nerves directly, as a result of which sound signals get carried to your brain. Cochlear implants may not make you hear normally again, but help you with different sounds, and in the recognition of the different sounds around you like alarms, telephones, and door bells.

How it works?

A cochlear implant is fit for children and adults who suffer from the sensorineural hearing loss. This condition damages the tiny hair cells in your inner ear, which is called the cochlea. Hearing becomes impaired when these get damaged.
The device consists of two specific parts. The first part or the receiver-stimulator is placed under your skin via a surgical procedure. The other part of the device is the speech processor. It has to be worn around your neck in the form of a hearing aid.
The external device is, however, larger in size than a usual hearing aid. The receiver gets placed under your skin, behind the ear via a small incision. It is connected to electrodes.
This is inserted into the cochlea of your inner ear. The surgery requires a few hours to be undertaken successfully.
The speech processor has to be placed two weeks after the surgery is undertaken. The processor can be connected to the microphone, and this can be worn around the ear.
You can wear it on any other part of your body, based on your lifestyle and age.
Benefits of cochlear implant
The major benefits of a cochlear implant are as follows:

You might be able to hear speech almost normally.
You will be able to understand speech better, and will not have to depend on lip reading.
It will be much easier and simpler for you to listen to the television and talk over the phone.
You will be able to listen to music better.
You may also be able to pick up various sounds around you that include soft, medium, and loud sounds.
You will be able to control your own voice better. This makes other people understand you better.
If you are suffering from severe hearing loss, a cochlear implant may be able to change your life for the better. However, the results are not the same for all, and vary among people. It is possible for some people to benefit more from such an implant than others. 

Cochlear Implants - 6 Benefits You Must Know!

Proper and sound hearing is essential for a healthy living. If you are suffering from lack or loss of hearing, chances are that you are missing out on life itself. Therefore, it is imperative that you undergo ayurvedic treatments in case you are suffering from any kind of hearing ailment.

Common Cause of Loss of Hearing
There are various reasons that contribute to the loss of hearing. Some of the common causes are:

Age
Increasing noise
Genetically inherited
Over the years various surgical and non-surgical methods have surfaced that can help repair loss of hearing and damage. Among the other branches of medicines, some home remedies, and ayurvedic treatment for hearing loss and deafness.

Ayurvedic Remedies Fo Hear Loss
Ayurveda is the most old and ancient method. It uses natural herbs in order to correct and treat hearing loss. This has proved to be extremely beneficial and potent and it cures hearing ailments with the help of a number of natural home methods. Some of them are:

Lukewarm mustard oil or sesame oil: If you are suffering from ache in ears or loss in hearing, try putting few drops of warm mustard oil and sesame oil in your ear and hold it with index fingers. At the same time store air in your mouth and let your cheeks contract and bulge for a minute or so. This ayurvedic tip considerably improves hearing and reduces ear pain.
Radish juice and sesame oil: If you are suffering from sores and hearing problems, a mixture of the two can be beneficial. In this ayurvedic method, a small quantity of Radish juice should be boiled with a small quantity of sesame oil, till the juice absorbs the oil. This mixture should be administered twice a day in order to experience the results.
Applewood oil: A variety of ingredients are required in order to create the resultant oil. Initially, cow's urine should be boiled and the applewood powder must be added to it. This mixture should then be filtered and further added with sesame and goat's milk. This concoction is then boiled and the resultant oil should be stored and applied with cotton daily. This improves hearing a great deal.
A mixture of neem and turmeric: In this natural home remedy, turmeric and neem leaves are boiled together. The steam should be taken as well as the water must be applied to the ears and surrounding areas. This has proved to be an extremely effective remedy in treating pus in the ears and consequent hearing loss.
A mixture of Radish juice, turmeric, sesame oil, and ajwain seeds: All these ingredients must be taken in selective quantities and boiled to get the resultant oil. This oil must be stored and used to treat loss of hearing and other ear diseases.

5 Ayurvedic Tips To Improve Hearing

Loss or impairment of hearing can happen due to a variety of causes and may be temporary or permanent in nature, depending on the type and severity of the condition. One of the most common causes of hearing impairment is age. The degeneration of one's vital organs and senses becomes a reality for many people as the advancement of age happens, and the delicate insides of the ears are no different. Noise pollution, injury to the ear drum or any other part of the ear, as well as the movement of particles inside are only a few of the many reasons for loss of hearing. One of the many ways of dealing with long term hearing impairment is by using a hearing aid. Read on to know how you can regain your hearing with hearing aids.

1. Long Forgotten Sound: A hearing aid will help you reacquaint yourself with long forgotten and subtle sounds that you may not have been able to hear for a long time. Many times, this kind of impairment also makes us forget to notice the fact that we do not hear so many normal sounds in our everyday lives - sounds that we probably did not notice even earlier. This may include the whirring of a fan, the whoosh of the air, the pitter patter of pets' feet and so much more. A hearing aid will help in bringing about an adjustment to these sounds that you will actually end up discovering again.

2. Technicalities: The hearing aid basically works by letting your hearing and ears readjust to the various volumes, intensity and vibrations that one feels when different sounds reach the ears. This helps in hearing better.

3. Amplification: A hearing aid is basically an electroacoustic device that fits in neatly behind your ear where it is tucked away from plain sight. This device helps in amplifying sounds so that you can catch them and hear them more clearly.

4. Modulation: The ENT specialist will usually prescribe a certain kind of hearing aid based on your individual condition in terms of volume, size, power and circulation. These factors help in modulating the sounds in a certain way so that they reach the nerve pathways from the inner ear and travel to the brain in a proper and effective way. This is usually done in a customised way to cater to the specific type and cause of your hearing loss.

Using a hearing aid is a matter of retraining your hearing rather than restoring it completely. These aids will be helpful in regaining a better sense of hearing within the condition you are going through, rather than reversing the condition completely.

Regain Your Hearing With Hearing Aids

While most noise is just in the background for us, loud noises, either in small spurts or prolonged exposure, can cause hearing loss. This has been happening more frequently as the levels of noise in an industrialized society go further up.

Noise induced hearing loss explained
Loud noises may damage the sensitive structure of your ear, which process the sound waves into information. They eventually become nonfunctional, resulting in a loss of hearing in that range. If exposure to loud noises continues, then this might extend to the entire range of hearing and may cause total hearing loss.

What may cause noise induced hearing loss?
Some of the scenarios which may cause noise induced hearing loss are as follows:
1. Listening to music on high volume: If you constantly listen to music or watch movies at your home on very loud levels, then it may result in noise induced hearing loss. In fact, listening to music or watching movies with headphones in your ears is one of the leading causes for hearing loss. Headphones have deceptively loud levels and may result in damaged hearing overtime.

2. Noise of household tools: Household tools such as drills, mixers, grinders, mowers, and saws can expose you to loud levels of noise. Even a quick exposure for a few seconds could temporarily damage your hearing. 

3. Occupational problems: Occupations such as construction, factory work and military that require the use of power tools on a constant basis can also cause hearing loss. The sound from the resulting friction might damage your hearing very quickly. Explosions and impacts are also causes of hearing loss in the military and law enforcement departments.

Prevention and treatment
Treatment: It is difficult to treat hearing loss as in most cases; it may be permanent, except sudden shocks, when your hearing might come back to normal. The only treatments for hearing loss are hearing aids or cochlear implants which can restore hearing partially.

Prevention: Prevention is the best method to avoid hearing loss and in most cases, you should wear ear protection such as mufflers or sound level reduction devices to protect your hearing. Also, practice listening to music, watching TV or movies at lower levels, especially if you are on the headphones. 

Induced Hearing Loss - Facts You Should Be Careful about It!

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