What did you say??? Excuse me??? Pardon me????? Sorry???? Come again?????
I am sure we have all heard these words before. Think about when you have heard these words. Probably when someone was out of earshot to you and was just out of audible reach yelling something to you. You, in turn, found yourself using one of these slogans in return. However, if you noticed that they were in the same room, or sitting next to you, one of two things has happened. You weren’t paying attention, for whatever reason, or you weren’t listening…or maybe, you just couldn’t hear what the other person was saying to you. That’s it, isn’t it??? You are losing some of your hearing capacity and are too proud to tell anyone or do anything about it. Who wants to wear a BULKY hearing aid anyway???!
Well, here’s the skinny on hearing. There is so much noise pollution today that most of us have a hearing deficit. Using cell phones in one particular ear, wearing earphones for an iPod or other music device or phone device will definitively diminish hearing over time.
Hearing aids too have changed. They are miniscule and almost invisible to the naked eye. I will even go so far as to say that in some circumstances, hearing aids are down to just a small hair-like antennae sticking out of one’s ear…so there should be no excuse, other than not having enough money, to get one. The ability to hear again with a hearing aide will increase your self-esteem and make you feel better all around. Once you realize how much you have been missing, it won’t be difficult to assuage or lessen any of the resistance one might have had in the past to own an assisted hearing device and use it.
Hearing loss affects most people after the age of 20. Age-related hearing loss, called presbycusis, is the slow loss of hearing that occurs as people get older. The following factors contribute to age-related hearing loss:
- Family history
- Repeated exposure to loud noises
- Smoking (smokers are more likely to have such hearing loss than nonsmokers)
- Certain medications and medical conditions also contribute to hearing loss.
About half of all people over 75 years of age have some amount of age-related hearing loss. Hearing loss can result in both physical (not hearing a fire alarm) and psychological (social isolation) problems. The hearing loss may lead to deafness, so as soon as one notices this problem occurring, one should see their doctor immediately for care; especially if the hearing loss is coupled with headaches, vision changes, or dizziness.
Hear more…enjoy more life!! It is also a gift you give to other people.
Some people like to think of this as “Brain Drain” which may not sound too good to most of you. The good thing is that not all memory loss is bad. There is a normal loss of memory when you clutter your mind with the many numbers, facts and appointment reminders that we all seem to make for ourselves daily. We are in a highly technologically oriented society; which means we tend to filter and store a great deal of information in our brains e.g. numbers, codes, words, memories, appointments and more. When this happens, we just might not remember the name of a person we know, but haven’t seen for a while. This is normal.