LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Tens of millions of people will experience hearing loss in their lifetime, according to Assistant Director of Audiology at Livingston Hearing Aid Center doctor Melanie McQueen.
Just under 50-million people have experienced some sort of hearing loss throughout the country.
"So in the United States alone, it is estimated that 48-million people have some degree of hearing loss, and in fact by the year 2050, it's believed that one in four people around the world will have some degree of hearing loss," McQueen said.
McQueen says losing the ability to hear can have a major impact on different things.
Hearing loss can often be physically painful and can cause some mental health issues.
"Hearing loss is related to other aspects of our health, so it's been linked to our memory, our cognition, our ability to process things. It's also linked to our balance and things like heart disease," McQueen said. "So, other things hearing loss is linked to can include depression, anxiety and just feeling isolated from your family and friends."
McQueen believes we need to put our ears on the same level of care as our eyes and teeth, and get a doctor to check them regularly.
"So it's really important that we are getting checked routinely, routinely means once a year and if you have a normal hearing test, then every three to five years," McQueen said. "We want to get our ears checked just like we get our teeth and eyes checked, it is as equally as important."
Treatment is often preventative, but McQueen tells us a lot of patients wait before coming in for a check up.
Often, people don't realize how bad their hearing has gotten over time.
"I was able to program some hearing aids for (a person) that I had in the office, and we put them on him and he was like, 'oh my gosh, it's like I'm hearing in 4K,'" McQueen said. "So he didn't even realize what he was missing because his hearing loss happened so gradually over time."
Signs of hearing loss include difficulty understanding someone talking, ringing in the ears and constantly having to turn up the volume on devices.
She encourages the community to go see a hearing professional if someone has any of these symptoms.