Effects on Family and Friends

Janet grabs the tray of breakfast dishes and dashes toward the dining room.  Half-way there she remembers the toast sitting back in the kitchen on the counter.  She calls, “George, can you grab the toast?”  He replies, “We don’t need them”  Janet marches back to the kitchen and picks up the toast and returns to the dining room.  She is just about ready to dump the toast in George’s lap, when she catches the puzzled look on his face.  “Did you say toast?  I thought you said coats,” George laughs, “I couldn’t imagine why you thought we needed coats on a warm day like today.”  Janet smiles and laughs as she sits down to eat breakfast and read the paper.

Does this scene seem familiar?  One out of every ten Americans has a hearing loss that interferes significantly with communication.  By the age of 65, one in three Americans have significant hearing loss.  It is the third most common chronic health problem in the U.S. today. As many spouses and friends can tell you, it is difficult to get those with hearing problems to get the proper audiologic evaluation and hearing care that they need.

One reason is that those with the hearing loss are usually not aware of the problem.  It is usually those who live with that individual that are most aware of the problem.  Mature adults who live alone are perhaps the most difficult to encourage to seek help because they have no feedback from others that the TV is too loud or that they are not understanding.  From their point of view it is the outside world that is at fault: actors who don’t enunciate, grandchildren who mumble, directors who add music to a TV show when people are talking.

Don’t put up with poor hearing!  It affects the quality of your live and of those who are trying to communicate with you.  If someone you know has a hearing problem, encourage them to get help.  There has never been a better selection of hearing aids available and technology has improved by leaps and bounds even over the past year.  Finding the right technology match in a style that you want has never been easier.

Here are three steps toward better hearing that you can take this month:

1. Find out how you are hearing.  You should have your hearing evaluated by an audiologist at every decade of life.  Getting a thorough hearing evaluation before you have a hearing problem is essential so that you have a baseline from which to note changes. 

2. If you have a history of medical problems with your ears, such as ear infections or holes in your eardrums, or other medical concerns, see a physician for a thorough exam.

3. Talk with Audible Difference about the choices in amplification so that you find the something that meets your requirements for style, performance, price and ease of use.