It’s human nature to avoid addressing challenging situations. From your health to a troublesome coworker, it often seems easier to cope with what is going on than to do anything to improve the situation. But then you have that “aha” moment and wonder why you procrastinated in the first place. The Better Hearing Institute says that when adults address their hearing loss, they improve the odds of staying more physically, socially and cognitively active, and tend to have an overall better quality of life. When your declining ability to hear goes unaddressed, it can affect many parts of your life – even communication with your doctors.
Why does hearing loss go unaddressed?
There are many reasons people don’t address changes in their hearing ability. For some, hearing loss may occur so gradually that they don’t recognize the affect it is having on their lives. Often times it is those closest to us that recognize hearing loss before we do ourselves. When adults do realize they have hearing loss, they may be embarrassed or self-conscious about needing a little extra help to hear. According to a post on the Lip Reading Mom blog, it took the author a while to come to terms with having hearing loss:
“I felt self conscious about [my hearing aids]. I was still trying so hard to deny that I had hearing loss at all that wearing these big instruments felt like a big neon sign … really, they’re just high-tech versions of my glasses. I am a whole, perfectly imperfect person, and now I celebrate my ears.”
The fact is that hearing loss is an extremely common, natural part of aging. Hearing loss is far more prevalent than most people realize. And there are many ways to integrate your changing hearing into your day-to-day activities.
Addressing your hearing loss
Hearing aids are probably the most recognized technology, but there are many other types of assistive devices that can fit seamlessly into your daily routine to help with hearing loss. For example, captioned telephones can show you captions of everything callers say over the phone, just like captions you’d see on TV, if you can’t hear what is said. Doorbell or sound signalers can flicker lights in your home to let you know when someone is at the door. Smoke detectors can alert you with a bright, flashing light instead of just relying on sound. These devices are designed to “blend in”, so as not to call attention to hearing problems.
If you and your doctor feel hearing aids are something to consider, know that 8 out of 10 hearing aid users are happy with changes in their lives due to hearing aids, and people with even mild hearing loss improve job performance, feel they’ve gained control over their lives and improve their relationships – all things related to improved quality of life.
Although it is best to see a doctor firsthand, BHI offers a free online hearing check for anyone that thinks they might need a more in-depth hearing check by a doctor. But the most important step is to recognize that hearing ability changes over time, and then finding the strategies that work best for you.
