A recent survey reported that one in six UK adults suffer from a loss of hearing, with nearly double the number of men reporting hearing loss symptoms as women.
As well as this, the majority of people asked have only had their hearing tested once every ten years despite believing they should be tested every three years, according to the study by the British Irish Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (BIHIMA)
The findings are much worse than a comparable Eurotrak study in Europe, where only one in nine Europeans have self-reported hearing loss.
The report also confirmed that our hearing can decrease as we get older, as the percentage of people saying they suffer hearing loss doubled between the 16-24 age group and the over 55 age group (11 per cent for the former and over 22 per cent for the latter).
Over 50 per cent of people who claim a hearing loss have not taken advantage of the treatments and technologies that can serve to help them with their condition, which may be a result of not visiting ear health clinics.
In some cases, hearing loss can be helped with ear wax removal treatments, such as irrigation, ear drops and micro-suction, although in other cases hearing technologies may be needed such as hearing aids.
Hearing loss can have a range of mental and physical consequences, such as increased feelings of isolation, so as we do with vision loss, we must be sure to identify hearing issues as soon as possible.
