Ballymena residents urged to have hearing check

According to Action on Hearing Loss, 300,000 people in Northern Ireland are either deaf or suffer from a hearing loss and Specsavers stores in Northern Ireland are asking people to use the week to have an all-important check-up.

Hearing impairment, or deafness, is when your hearing is affected by a condition or injury. Some people are born with a hearing loss while others may develop it as they get older.

Hearing loss more commonly occurs with age or, following occasions where an individual is subjected to prolonged loud noises.

Adrian Murdock, store director of Specsavers in Ballymena, said: “There is no reason why a person’s quality of life should suffer as they get older and we at Specsavers, Ballymena, have never been in a better position to monitor and test for hearing loss.

“While we are aware that hearing loss generally does occur with old age, we do always advise that it is never too early to have your hearing checked. Individuals who are subjected to loud noises on a regular basis, or as part of their daily job, and do not wear the correct noise preventers are also at risk and hearing loss or cases of tinnitus can occur at a much younger age.

“While I am urging people to remember the importance of hearing tests, I would also remind them that Specsavers, Ballymena, stocks a variety of other products, including hearing protection such as special plugs for shooting, sport or playing music, amongst other hearing merchandise.

“I would like to urge customers to take advantage of our free of charge service, as their health is of the upmost importance.”

There are a number of different types of hearing loss, including conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss (inner ear and sudden hearing loss), age-related hearing loss, noise induced hearing loss and mixed hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is when sounds are unable to travel from the outer ear to the inner ear. Sensorineural hearing loss is when damage is caused either naturally or through age, and mixed hearing loss is a combination of the two.

Currently, there are around 10 million people in the UK who are deaf or suffer with hearing loss, and 800,000 people are either severely or profoundly deaf. On average it takes ten years for people to address their hearing loss, and by 2031, it is estimated that there will be 14.5 million people with hearing loss in the UK².

A hearing test at your local Specsavers hearing centre will not only assess hearing, but it can also detect tinnitus, a ringing in the ears, as well as ear wax build-ups, known as cerumen blockages. The test can also spot more serious conditions such as tumours in the inner ear, know as chloesteatoma.

For further information or to book and hearing test at Specsavers, Ballymena, please call 02825 648100 or log onto www.specsavers.co.uk/ballymena