How Often Should You Get a Hearing Test?

How often you should get a hearing test depends largely on your age. There are, however, other factors to consider. These include your lifestyle and your medical history. Here is a quick guide to what you need to know.

Childhood

Regular doctors will generally monitor a child’s hearing health during their routine checkups. If they have any concerns, they will then refer the child to a hearing health professional. Even if a regular doctor has no concerns about a child’s hearing health, it’s usual for a child to have at least a couple of visits to an audiologist. 

The first visit tends to be around the age of three. The second visit is usually just before they start school. That means about the age of four or five. Children may also have their hearing tested again during the early years of school.

If you are the parent of a young child, pay attention to their speech development. If they have difficulty speaking clearly, it may point to hearing issues. For completeness, it may not. It is, however, best to take them to an audiologist for a hearing test.

Young adulthood

It’s generally considered advisable for young adults to have a hearing test with an audiologist. This would typically be between the ages of 18-21. By this point, their bodies should be either fully adult or very close to it. After this, in principle, you could keep hearing checks for once every ten years or so until you hit your forties or even your fifties.

In practice, this can be risky. Modern lifestyles being what they are, it can be very easy to find yourself exposed to excessive noise. For example, using headphones incorrectly can lead to long-term hearing damage. Going for regular hearing checks with an audiologist can alert you to any lifestyle issues you need to address.

It wouldn’t hurt to go for a hearing test every year. This would arguably be the safest option. If this sounds too much, you could aim for every three to five years. Either way, you should monitor your own hearing health. If you have any concerns, however minor, you should book an appointment with an audiologist immediately.

Mature adulthood

When you hit your forties, making sure you get regular hearing tests should become even more of a priority. At the very least, you should see an audiologist once every three to five years. When you reach your fifties and beyond, it’s better to shorten this even further. If at all possible, you should go for a hearing test once a year.

It’s also very important that you monitor your hearing health between appointments. Firstly, this will allow you to seek help promptly if you identify any potential issues. Secondly, hearing loss can be connected to other medical issues. You may therefore find that your visit to an audiologist turns into a visit to a regular doctor.

If your audiologist recommends a hearing aid for you, then they will also recommend a suitable frequency for ongoing hearing tests. This is likely to be around every three years. It can, however, be longer or shorter depending on your audiologist’s assessment of the situation.