Target Hearing Loss Early If you have a hunch that you've begun to suffer mild hearing loss, get it checked out. It won't keep you younger to miss out on conversations at parties, lines in movies and plays, and directions at work. What's more, hearing loss is not only a sign of age. "There are all kinds of causes of hearing loss, and sometimes they are treatable with surgery or medications," says Dr. House. Otosclerosis, the hardening of bones within the ear, is a condition that is 90 percent curable with delicate surgery, for example. Other mimickers of age related hearing loss include Meniere's disease, which is treated by medication or surgery, or even a benign tumor on a nerve that lies within the ear. Even though such tumors aren't malignant, they need to be detected early. Besides causing hearing loss, they can grow, causing pressure on the brain. Begin at the beginning. The best specialist to see is an otolaryngologist, once known as an ear nose and throat doctor, or an otologist, a medical doctor who specializes exclusively in diseases of the ear. Don't start at your local hearing aid store, recommends Dr. House. "You can always go back and get a hearing aid if you need one, but first you need to rule out other problems." Test it out. Once you've been checked for potential physiological problems of the ear or other hearing related health problems, you'll ,you probably be referred to an audiologist, a specialist in the testing of hearing. You may take a test in a soundproof booth with special headphones while you use a device to indicate when you hear sounds of various pitches with each ear. Don't avoid your first aid. Hearing aids have become smaller, more inconspicuous, and vastly more sophisticated than they were even just a few years ago. Many are digital and capable of filtering out peripheral noise, so they selectively amplify the sounds you've been missing and most want to hear, like voices, says Dr. House. "Often, I'll recommend a hearing aid, and someone will refuse," says Dr. House. "They tell me they're too young. But are they willing to go around saying, 'What? What? What? and missing half of what goes on around them?" It's hardly a strategy designed to keep you young in body and in mind. Early use of a hearing aid can help people adapt better to their hearing loss, Dr. House notes. Anti Aging Anti Aging Generation| Anti Aging Health Strategy| Anti Aging for Women| Take a Bite Out of Aging| Check the Index| Aim Low| Fat Factor| The Zobra Diet| Bulf Of Long Life| What about Meat?| Get the Protein, Forgo the Fat| The Taxic Avengers| Great Ways to Ambush Radicals| Going Vegetarian Sparked Her Youth| Is That a Toxin in My "Soup"?| Put Your Diet into Rehab| Little Bean, Big Benefits| Sneaking Soy into Your Diet| The Anti Aging Supplements| Alpha Lipoic Acid| Vitamins Minerals| Bioflavonoids| Coenzyme-Q10| Flaxseed Oil| Ginkgo| Are Harmone Supplements Safe?| Melotonin| Phoaphatidylserine| Pycnogenol| Vitamin C| Vitamin E| Aerobics| Disease-Proof Your Body| Liven Up Your Lifestyles| 12 Tips For a Better Workout| Weather Your Workout| Water| Erasing the Lines of Time| Skin Enemy Number One: The Sun| Sunscreen to the Rescue| A Sunscreen Primer| Sun Tips for Sun Junkies| Clean Up Your Act| Perfect Cleanser| Navigating Moisturizer Maze| The Care and Feeding of Youthful Skin| Special Problems of Aging Skin Cosmetic Nutrients Cosmetic Nutrients| Get Glowing with Glycolic Acid| User's guide of Glycolic Acids| Retin-A and Renova| Using Retin-A and Renova| Vitamin C: Future Youth?| Don't Get Lost at "C"| Getting the Most from C Makeups Makeup That Enhances| Foundation| Concealer| Blush| Powder| Eye Makeup| Lipstick| Winning the Battle of the Mane| Color to the Youthful| Dressed to Impress| Acting Your Age| 10 Attributes of a Youthful Mind Right Weight Getting Your Right Weight| Weighing In| Say Goodbye to Dieting| Putting Exercise into Everyday Events| Defying Disease| Disease Proof Your Lifestyle| Arthritis| Cancer| Diabetes| Heart Disease and Stroke| Osteoporosis|Keeping Your Senses Sharp|Can You Speak Little Louder?|Preventing Hearing Loss|Target Hearing Loss Early|The Eyes Have It|Buying Sunglasses|Eyes Need Exercise|The Life of Visionary Memory Memory Like an Elephant| Keeping the Brain Up and Running|Improving Your Everyday Memory| Get Organized| Living a Memory Enhancing Lifestyle Sleep Sweet Sleep and Relaxation| Turning Out the Lights, Naturally| Easing Toward Dreamland|When All Else Fails