If you wear glasses then will know that you were the first to recognise that your eyesight was deteriorating. Perhaps you'd noticed that you couldn't read something as well as you could previously? Maybe it was a book, a newspaper or a car registration plate.

With a hearing loss, it is different. You are usually the last person to notice. In fact with a hearing loss, it is usually everyone else's problem!

Firstly: it usually creeps up on you gradually. If, on the other hand, you suddenly awoke this morning with the hearing loss fully developed then you will know that today was different to yesterday. There would be something to compare. But when it's gradual, the changes it makes to your life are so subtle that you probably wouldn't notice them unless you looked back over a long period of time.

Secondly: you can still hear! After all, you haven't gone completely deaf... you just can't hear as well as you used to be able to. You can still hear people speaking to you, but:

• People seem to mumble a lot more these days (...someone else's problem!)
• The quality of sound on the TV or at the cinema is much poorer than it used to be (...someone else's problem!)

Thirdly: everything sounds 'normal' to you! For example, if you turn up the TV louder so you can hear it, you turn it up to a level that is comfortable for you. So it sounds normal to you. It's just everyone else that complains that it's too loud... The people watching television with you will notice that you need it a lot louder than you used to, but you won't... unless they tell you!

Fourthly: you are blissfully unaware of everything you haven't heard! Imagine someone has had to say something to you two or three times before you've acknowledge them. You only hear the last time, and as far you know that's the only time they've spoken to you. So the person speaking to you knows you didn't hear them, but you don't.

…you make changes to your life to compensate. Because conversations become more difficult there's a danger that you either avoid situations and places where you'll have to take part or you ensure that you are the one controlling the conversation! That way you don't have to strain to listen to what someone is saying, because the strain normally tires you out or embarrasses you because you miss a punchline or think you've heard something different to what they've said.

Or, if you're lucky, you'll have family or friends that will tell you (hopefully nicely!) the things that they've been noticing about your struggle to hear. They'll probably reach a point where they can't stand the TV that loud anymore or are fed up with repeating themselves.

Remember:

It's at this stage you should do something about a hearing loss, otherwise it may lead to other problems. It's important not to let the brain get used to a lack of sound, otherwise it may forget to how to interpret them. Leave it too long, and even with a hearing instrument you may hear better but will your brain understand what it's hearing?

If you do leave your hearing difficulties for too long it can lead to other problems:

• Avoidance and Isolation – you stop going where you used to go and try to avoid conversation either because you can’t follow it or because you’re afraid of embarrassing yourself by mishearing what’s said. You find noisy environments such as restaurants very frustrating.
• Personality Change – your frustration could lead to feelings of insecurity, depression and even agression.
• Self-Doubt – you start to turn inward and feel unappreciated or misunderstood.
• Lack of Stimulus – you find it more difficult to keep your mind intellectually or creatively stimulated because your brain can’t receive as much information through the ears.

It's never too early to do something about a hearing loss, especially when it is starting to affect your quality of life. Similarly, it's better late than never. The earlier on a hearing loss can be identified, the sooner appropriate action can be taken which will provide far more benefit in the long run.

In the next section we have a checklist that will help to you to determine whether you or someone you know has a hearing loss.

Next subject: How To Recognise A Hearing Loss