004 - Excuse Me?

A couple years ago we were living back in LA and I was getting ready for my annual checkup. I try to be consistent in getting the annual checkup and all the blood work and certainly given my age the colonoscopy which is probably a topic for another episode but I digress.

As I’m walking out the door to the appointment my wife says from the other room “make sure you get your hearing checked”. I’m like, “excuse me?” She says, a little louder this time “make sure you get your hearing checked”. Now, at this point, we’d been together for more than a decade so she knows me and my shortcomings pretty well.

At this point, I’m about 55 years old. She’d always given me a hard time for my “selective hearing” but even I was noticing that I had to have the TV volume up really high in order to hear all the dialog. When we went to concerts I made it a point to wear ear plugs because my ears would ring for many hours after the show, sometimes into the next day. Also I was having a hard time hearing in restaurants with all of the background noise and I was in sales and entertained a fair bit. It’s challenging when you have to say “excuse me?” or “can you please repeat that” or even worse just act like you’re hearing what people are saying when you’re only hearing part of the conversation.

Sound familiar? Can you relate to any of this?

Anyway I reluctantly agreed to ask the Dr to check my hearing. At the appointment, they asked all the usual questions and did all the usual tests but when the time came for the hearing test they had to get this special machine called an Audiometer. You put these little headphones on and they checked my ability to hear sound intensity and tone. The Nurse said the test showed that I definitely had hearing loss and that he would recommend that I visit an Audiologist.

I was referred to an Audiologist in our town by a friend but you can find one by a simple google search. You can also check reviews that way but I went with the personal referral. You would be surprised how many people you know, have an audiologist. I met with Strawberry shortly after and she put me through the whole process from beginning to end. She put me in this little soundproofed room with headphones on and gave me an Advanced Hearing Screening. It only takes a few minutes and gave me a baseline to how I was hearing.

Strawberry showed me an audiogram that displayed my left and right ear. I learned that most people can hear the words people are saying to them, but miss certain syllables that can mix up the words. It’s the frequencies that I don’t hear that’s causing the problem.

I wanted to be present for my wife's and family. It's hard to focus and contribute when you can't hear half of what's being said. I didn't really know anything about hearing loss. I Just thought it was something that happens without age.

I was really being selfish and vain of me. It didn't want to wear hearing aids! What would people think of me? What would they say behind my back? Would they judge me?

I thought it was just one of the challenges with aging. Stubbornly thought I don't have to accept my hearing loss. My quality of life and those around me were affected. I had to be willing to ask for help.

My wife asked me to seriously get my hearing checked. She’s been there with me through a lot. When she asks me to make a change I should listen. She has helped me immensely through our life together to improve as a man a father and a husband. Experience at the audiologist was not as bad as I thought.

I had a 30-day trial to see if the hearing aids would work for me. I was able to visit the audiologist once a week to fine-tune the hearing aids. We actually tried a couple different size cones that go inside the ear to make sure the fit was proper and the quality of sound was good. Also tried a Bluetooth type of device that enabled the hearing aids to hear the phone but that didn't really work so we didn't go with that.

The audiologist in the hearing aids were not covered by insurance. Surprisingly hearing aids or an elective procedure. My audiologist had financing so I was able to afford to pay for my hearing aids over time. After a little while, I got really comfortable wearing hearing aids. But I found in noisy restaurants it was difficult to hear my wife or the company I was with because I hear everything now.

In the end, I found that my quality of life improved dramatically because I'm able to hear vastly better than I could before.  I'm able to be present for my wife when we are speaking to each other even in separate rooms. But mostly when we're together at home or on a date. Also when I go to the movies I don’t wear the hearing aids because the sound is so much louder and I can hear the dialogue just fine. And when I go to a concert I wear ear plugs to reduce hopefully the damage. I still listen to podcasts and music with ear buds and I have to have the sound turned up to enjoy what I’m listening to.

I really don't think twice about wearing the hearing aids in public and with other people will think. My hearing is so much better that I can hear people from across the room. I can't believe that I waited so long to take care of this and I hope because of my story more people will do the same.

Hearing loss statistics at a glance https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52814-Hearing-loss-statistics-at-a-glance

Hearing loss is the third most common physical condition behind arthritis and heart disease, affecting people of all agesAccording to the Hearing Loss Association of America, approximately 48 million Americans (20 percent) report some degree of hearing loss.Age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss among adults ages 20-69Those age 60-69 have the greatest amount of hearing loss25 percent of American adults have experienced tinnitus lasting for at least five minutes in the past year.Adult men (age 20-69) are twice as likely to have hearing loss than women of the same age.As women age, they have more difficulty hearing at lower frequencies than do men.3.65 million hearing aid units were dispensed in the United States during 2016.The average age of first-time hearing aid wearers is 70 years of age.A large number of people wait 15 years from the time they know they have hearing loss until they purchase their first hearing aids (Better Hearing Institute)Hearing aid prices range from $1,000 to $4,000 per device depending upon the level of technology they contain.Of the 28.8 million Americans (age 20-69) who could benefit from wearing hearing aids, fewer than 16 percent have ever used them.Of those age 70 and older who could benefit from wearing hearing aids, fewer than 30 percent have ever used them.

Thanks again for joining me on Aging Is Optional Radio. I hope you found some value in this episode. That’s really my goal. You can find the podcast on iTunes and I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe and give it a rating and I love receiving comments!

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