Your ears ring or buzz
Buzzing is one of the earliest signs of hearing loss. “When it’s quiet, you may start to hear a low-level buzzing or ringing sound in the background. When it becomes more noticeable and is more frequent or constantly there, that means you’ve damaged the nerves in your ear,” says Robert L. Pincus, MD, associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at New York Medical College, and a physician in private practice in the New York Otolaryngology Group.
Your balance is off
If you are stumbling more often, you’re not clumsier, it could be a sign of hearing loss. “When people have trouble hearing, they spend so much effort trying to hear that simple things like balance get less of the brain’s attention,” says Dr. Cherukuri. This happens because your inner eat canals are sending signals to your brain to maintain your balance, so any damage to them may make you a bit off kilter.
