What if hearing loss "hurt'?

-

I spoke to a Chiropractor friend of mine earlier this week. By 3:30 p.m., his office had already seen 56 patients. I can't imagine seeing 56 patients in one day! But that's a fairly normal day for this doctor. People come to him for relief from pain, among other things. After he adjusts them, they feel better, which is obviously the reason people continue to make their follow-up appointments.

Which got me thinking. What would people do if hearing loss was painful? I'm not talking about ear infections and the like. I'm talking about normal (physically) pain-free sensorineural hearing loss that plagues most people with hearing loss. If the treatment involved temporary relief from pain until the next time, would there be more adopters of treatment by way of hearing aids? I'm not saying I wish hearing loss hurt; what I'm saying is I think it would be easier to convince someone with a newly diagnosed hearing loss to take that next step towards amplification if they had a nagging, painful reminder of their ailment.

As an Audiologist, it is so incredibly frustrating to see a patient that needs hearing aids, knows they need hearing aids, but decides to not use amplification. It leaves me scratching my head, asking, "why did they even bother to get a test if they weren't going to accept help?!?" Which leads me back to my question of, "if it physically hurt them, would it have made a difference?" I think about patients of mine that have had hip and knee replacements and most say that what drove them to having it done was the excrutiating pain they felt, the activities it kept them from doing. In general, their quality of life suffered as a result of their ailment.

Yet, many people with hearing loss say they can 'get by' without hearing aids. They never stop to think what the consequences of not taking the next step to amplification will be. While they may be able to ignore their hearing loss because it doesn't physically hurt, few consider the consequences of untreated hearing loss. Studies have linked untreated hearing loss to:
  • fatigue
  • reduced job performance and earning potential
  • impaired memory and inability to learn new tasks
  • reduced alertness and increased risk to personal safety
  • depression
  • increased stress
  • avoidance or withdrawal from social situations
  • irritability
  • anger and negativism
  • social rejection and loneliness
  • diminished psychological and overall health
Hearing loss is not just an issue for the elderly and infirm. It happens to people of all ages. Those who have difficulty hearing can experience such distorted and incomplete communication that it seriously impacts their professional and personal lives, which can lead to isolation and withdrawal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt

-
By: Dr. Dawn MacMillan, Audiologist "Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt" Mark Twain  "I watch PBS and most of the people have British accents..." "My wife mumbles when she talks to me..." "The checkers at <insert grocery store here> don’t speak clearly." "Our new pastor--his voice trails off..."  What do the above statements have in common? They’re all excuses we’ve heard when people try to explain to us that they don’t have hearing loss, they hear what they want to hear, and their difficulty understanding has everything to do with everyone else and not them. Sound familiar?  There’s no denying (see what we did there?) that accents, background noise, and distance can make conversations hard to hear. But adding hearing loss on top of factors we have little control over makes it that much more difficult to understand . The 5 stages of grief and loss are:  1. Denial and isolation;  2. Anger; 3. Bargaining 4. Depression;  5. Acceptanc
Read more

Let’s Talk S’more about preventing hearing loss! 

-
Image
By: Dr. Dawn H. MacMillan, Audiologist Happy National S'mores Day ! To celebrate, we are sharing with you tips on how to prevent hearing loss. Each day in our office, we treat patients who feel like they are doomed to have hearing loss because someone in their family has hearing loss. While there may be a greater likelihood of developing hearing loss in those with a genetic link, often times it is because unhealthy hearing habits are passed down from generation to generation! Nights spent under the lights at the racetrack with no hearing protection, mowing the lawn with no hearing protection, smoking--there are  things you can do to reduce your risk of hearing loss. 1.) Move away from the noise- This doesn't mean you can't enjoy a good outdoor concert. While being near the action may be good for your soul, it's bad for you hearing. By putting some distance between you and the noise source, you are reducing he level of hazardous noise reaching your ears which is g
Read more

9 tips to help you adjust to hearing aids

-
Image
By Dr. Dawn MacMillan, Audiologist 1. Realize that getting used to new hearing aids takes time. You probably didn’t lose your hearing overnight; you won’t adjust to new hearing aids overnight. Ask anyone who wears hearing aids and they’ll tell you their hearing aids probably didn’t sound “good” when they first put them on, they probably sounded “different”. Not necessarily ‘bad different’ but just different. Hearing aids may feel strange at first on your ears, especially if you wear glasses. Wearing glasses with hearing aids is ok! You may just not be used to having both glasses AND hearing aids behind your ears, don’t be alarmed if you need to wear them for a few days, or even weeks, before they become comfortable. When your Audiologist first puts your hearing aids in your ears, you may notice a big difference or no difference at all! This alarms some users but is normal. Depending on your level of hearing loss, you may have heard your audiologist in their quiet office eve
Read more