What do you do when you have a family member or friend that you know is having trouble hearing but either does not want to admit it or is completely unaware? First you have to understand that hearing loss more often than not is insidious creeping up on you just a little at a time . Those that suffer from hearing loss are often the last to know and recognize that loss. It is not easy to admit that we are less than perfect and that our body is failing us in some way . I remember when I first recognized that I needed reading glasses, my arms just were not long enough to keep the book far enough away from me to read, eventually it dawned on me that maybe my eyes were not what they once were. As my eyes have changed for the worse over the years I find myself irritated by this inefficiency in my life, you can say the same about hearing loss but with the significantly added stigma of hearing loss being a sign of ageing. The reality is that our eyes changing and our hearing changing is a part of our natural deteriatory process. When patients ask me if their hearing will improve my answer is that when it comes to the ageing process very little if anything about our bodies improves (insert smile as I too am in that category).
It is amazing to me how many husbands and wives come in together for hearing tests. I often get a kick out of these appointments having to tell them that I am not a marriage counsellor and this is not a competition. Of course this is with a smile on my face. Often the couples come together because one of them recognizes that the other has a hearing problem but will not come in unless the other takes the initiative and comes with them making it less about their problem. The reality is that for many this routine assessment of one of their major senses is one that is approached with greater trepidation than a visit to the Dentists for tooth extraction without freezing.
Here is my advice when trying to get a family member to have their hearing checked. First approach with caution as this is a sensitive topic for many. It is important to point out that having a hearing test is much like having your eyes tested, it is just knowledge gained on the state of one of your major senses, what you do with the knowledge you have is another issue altogether. This is an important element to communicate as most people equate going to a hearing test with an admission of fragility and jump to the conclusion that the only reason to go for a hearing test is to get a hearing aid. Not everyone that comes in for a hearing test has a hearing loss of significance, many come in recognizing that their hearing is not what it used to be only to find that it is still normal but perhaps lower in the range of normal than it once was, others will present with some hearing loss but not enough to do anything about just yet, others still require further medical followup due to the parameters of their loss.
In recent years I will say that there has been a shift in who comes in my door with far more coming in between the ages of 40 to 60 than ever before. This age group seems to be far more self aware and would choose to know what is going on with their bodies and their functional ability especially in the context of the effects socially and in the workplace.
Changing the perceptions of what it means to have a hearing test is a long term societal and cultural issue but a good place to start is one person at a time.
