Hearing aid can get you back into life

Hearing aids don’t work … languishing on the top of the dresser, that is.

If you ask almost anyone that’s recently purchased hearing aids, “How do you like your new hearing aids?” you’re likely to hear a litany of complaints. They’ll slowly shake their head, grimacing, probably remembering the two grand they cost, and utter, “I hate them; they drive me crazy. I just can’t wear them.”

Why do so many people hate their hearing aids? These little marvels once held so much promise, but now seem destined to join the thousands of hearing aids gathering dust on dresser tops all over America.

Wearing hearing aids presents some stumbling blocks to the new user, and right off the bat, too. The number one hurdle is that the sounds we hear are just not like our normal hearing. Speaking from experience, everything sounds so high pitched. And there’s a continual, but faint shhhhh sound.

Everyday sounds are so surprisingly loud – like the turn signal in the car, or the cat’s meow, and for me it was a thrill to hear the birds singing in the trees. It’s a big adjustment to suddenly hear so much, and to hear so differently, after living in a rather quiet world.

The number two hurdle, learning to accommodate to the new hearing aids, is the biggest. New users find that even with their aids, they still can’t hear (understand) what a speaker is saying from a podium, or even in a small social group. This was true for me – I could hear, but I could not understand.

I learned the reason for this was because certain parts of the brain can be affected by diminished hearing. When sounds continually fail to reach these parts of the brain, the brain can temporarily forget how to interpret certain sounds and has difficulty making sense out of them.

Gratefully, the brain will learn to recognize, process and interpret auditory stimuli, as before, with daily use of the hearing aid.

This is the best reason for not putting off the purchase of hearing aids, and especially not wearing them daily.

Today, the vanity issue, or any stigma of wearing hearing aids has all but disappeared. Not too long ago people were embarrassed about needing to wear hearing aids. My mother was hard of hearing most of her life but refused to get hearing aids. She pretended to hear; it was maddening for the whole family. Loss of hearing can lead to a loss of social skills, loss of confidence, even social isolation. I saw that happen to her.

Hearing aids have always been pricey little things. Unnecessarily so, methinks, and the fact that Medicare and other insurers do not cover hearing aids is totally absurd. There is an inherent gamble in buying hearing aids, too. Most buyers are asked to shell out $2,000 to $3,000, in personal funds, up front, to buy these devices, on which they’ll be depending for the rest of their lives, without even having the opportunity to try them out first. That, too, is absurd.

And the rub is – “satisfaction guaranteed or a full refund,” is not the motto of most hearing aid dispensing companies. Selling hearing aids is like shooting fish in a barrel. There are few savvy, experienced hearing aid buyers out there; everyone is a first-timer and is therefore very vulnerable. Self-education is the only defense.

If you’ve decided to take the plunge and get back into a hearing mode, first get a check up from an a eye, ear, nose and throat doctor to assure you have no ear disease or abnormality of the ear canal. Then find certified audiologist from whom to purchase your hearing aids. There is little if any difference in cost.

A good hearing aid professional should be forthcoming about the various technologies available to help our particular type of hearing loss and explain the advantages, disadvantages, and cost vs. benefits of each model. The most helpful thing they can do is let us try out an “operating” sample so we can actually experience the sound of an amplified voice that will be heard through a hearing device. This is vital – so know just what to expect from our hearing aids.

It is important to understand that hearing aids will help us hear better, but we will, for sure, hear differently. A person’s success in becoming a satisfied hearing aid wearer depends upon the education and confidence provided them by their audiologist at the time of the fitting and sale.

Are you missing the “gist” of things, or, do you have to say, “What?” all the time? Then don’t waste another minute. You’re about to miss the sounds of spring – plus the many, subtle sounds around you – the heartbeat of life.