DENIAL One of the first things a person with early hearing loss may notice is that the sounds “S” and “F” become harder to distinguish. Additionally, they may misunderstand what people are saying during a conversation and/or start to experience tinnitus. As these symptoms set in, people tend to compensate for their hearing loss by asking people to repeat themselves, turning the volume on the TV or radio up, or placing the blame on the other person for not speaking loud enough