“When should you start getting a hearing test?”

You should go get a comprehensive hearing test to at least have a baseline for future reference.

A baseline hearing test now would be great to have. At age 60 it is recommended that people start to get hearing tests more regularly. Yearly for those with personal noise risk factors or health risk factors. Every two years for otherwise.    Angela R. Sieh Ceretto, M.A., CCC-A, FAAA Audiologist Pinnacle Audiology, LLC 6809 S. Minnesota Ave., Suite 101 605-306-4481  

I love that youre already thinking about this! I always advise our patients to have a baseline audiogram at some point once they reach 45. Then you have something for comparison in the future if anything changes or you have a significant health event. If the hearing is normal, then you can retest a few years after that just for monitoring.

If you notice difficulty understanding normal conversational speech or have been told by friends or family that you ask for repetition too frequently, those may be signs that your hearing is deteriorating. The most important thing is not to wait - if you notice a problem, go get a test. Most people wait 6-8 years after they start noticing a problem before they get a hearing test, and by that point it becomes very difficult to adapt to hearing aids if they need them.