You have a mild to moderate hearing loss. What’s the cost of doing nothing about it?!
- Koorosh Nejad
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
I believe that I am managing it, but my partner keeps asking me to do a hearing test. I decided to do it, so she is at peace and off my case. I am confident that I am perfectly managing my hearing loss, if there is any. Asking people to repeat themselves a few times in a busy pub or restaurant is completely normal. Even people with normal hearing cannot have a good conversation in a crazy pub anyway, so what is the fuss?
The TV volume is a bit higher up, but that's fine too; it's fun to watch TV when the volume is a bit louder. And of course I cannot hear her voice when she calls me from the kitchen, when I am deep into listening to my favourite program on the radio.
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I finally did a hearing test yesterday. The audiologist told me that I have a mild to moderate hearing loss, more at high frequencies (see this: how to read your audiogram). I reckon why I don't hear the birds' chirping as much as before, same as with the rainfall and the river's sound. Now I know why I often miss her calling me from kitchen, its because women's voices weigh more over mid to high frequencies, versus men whoes voice weigh over low to mid frequency range.
Here is my audiogram.
Figure 1: My audiogram - A sloping mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss
He also mentioned that the natural deterioration of the auditory system in humans starts with high-frequency loss, and this is why I have lost the ability to hear consonants such as "s", "f", "th", "k" and "t" naturally. Apparently, a mild hearing loss of 30-40 dB at high frequencies is enough to remove these consonants from the range of one's natural hearing.
But I am not that old!
I recall my father used to have massive hearing aids in his last years. I think he was 88 or so when he started using hearing aids. But even with the hearing aids, we had to shout to be able to communicate with him. His hearing loss had likely started much earlier, and he resisted using aids.
I objected, "But I am not that old!"
The audiologist replied, "There are several factors which contribute to one's hearing thresholds going down, including age, exposure to loud noise, either a very loud sound only once or a relatively loud environment for a prolonged time, e.g. working in events, other health issues, such as diabetes, gout, any vascular problem, and of course genetics. The ageing impact on the human auditory system can be noticed from age 50-55 or so, but those additional factors may cause a noticeable hearing loss sooner and more deeply."
I am a big built, 59 years old, healthy and fit. I served in the forces. Yes, of course, loud noises, sometimes louder than loud. And I had my share of loud music concerts when I was younger. Admittedly, at my time, using music earplugs was not popular. I cannot remember any of my friends having one either.
But I am not yet convinced. I am too young for hearing aids.
Ok, they make a difference
"Let me fit you a pair and see how you feel; they don't bite, and there is no obligation to buy them; just a 5-minute test drive", the audiologist said.
I remember I was not pleased that something was going in my ear canals. But man, soon my mind was distracted from noticing the earpiece in my ear to all the details I could hear clearly. I felt that I was listening to life in a high-definition sound system. My own voice was a bit odd too.
He made some adjustments, and my voice felt more comfortable. Apparently, over time, my brain has rewired to cope with the gradual decline in my hearing, but now the hearing aids deliver enough sound to the brain, which is why I hear everything a bit louder, including my own voice. The audiologist assured me that all this will settle in a couple of weeks. He explained how my brain will be rewired to get back to its initial state before I started having the hearing loss. He seemed to be more concerned about the health of my brain than my hearing. He suggested me to take a look at an article about the cognitive power of the brain and its relation to hearing loss.
I had to spell it out: "But isn't that using hearing aids going to make my ears lazy?"
Oh no, there is no such thing. The damage to the neural system in your cochlea (inner ear) is an ageing process. The ageing process will progress in all our organs, no matter if you manage your hearing loss with hearing aids or not. But if you don't, the problem of not hearing enough, which is mostly a problem of your ears, will impact the auditory cortex where the understanding and processing of the sound happens in your brain. Read that article I sent you." He responded.
Only if I do it in my terms
Here is my term: "I take them, and I will try them for a week, and only for a week, to see how I feel about them". This was my answer to the audiologist.
To be honest, after 10 minutes wearing them, I couldn't feel them in my ears, and I could hear all the details of sound around me. Like a high-def sound system, crisp.
But what convinced me was when he set them up to connect to my phone, and I did streaming music. I love music, and I listen to BBC Radio 6 while I run with Leo, my golden retriever. The music was crystal clear. So I thought, well, if this works well, then I will kill a few birds with one stone: a. Sally (my wife) will be happy, b. I can hear my folks in our Wednesday gathering in our local pub better, and c. I can listen to my music whenever I like through the hearing aids.
So I decided to give the hearing aids a chance, but only for a week.
Conclusion
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