The answer for most people seems to be, “when I’m ready for hearing aids.” The truth is though, that hearing should be checked regularly and

throughout life. We should treat our ears and hearing the same way we treat our eyes or teeth. In that same respect, through regular checks, we can prevent the loss of communication, relationships, career performance, confidence, etc.

Most patients think that a reduction in hearing is

obvious and they would know, just as if someone had turned down the volume on the TV. It’s

easy to think that if you hear SOME things, you must hear ALL things. The truth is though that

most changes in hearing are slow and sneaky. Some parts of speech are lost easier than others.

Most clients say something like, “I heard you, I just didn’t understand you.” That symptom is

indicative of some degree of hearing loss in some part of the ear. The truthful answer to this

question is unless you’ve had it checked, you can’t know how well you hear.

The answer we all tell ourselves is that hearing

aids are for the elderly or the desperate, (i.e. certainly not me). The truth? Potentially anyone

who hears well may be wearing hearing technology. If we see someone who can see well and doesn’t wear glasses, does that mean they aren’t using technology (i.e contact lenses)? The

average age of the first time hearing aid user is decreasing. More patients are able to perform

better in their careers and participate more actively in their lives through the use of hearing

technology.

Much like the answers above, many of us will tell

ourselves we will when we are old enough, deaf enough or desperate enough. So, ideally, never!

We are talking ourselves out of a better quality of life. The truthful answer is we should use

hearing technology when the situation demands it to be ourselves. Proper prescription and

fitting of hearing technology allows us to CONTINUE to be ourselves and engage in life the way we want to. We shouldn’t think of adopting hearing technology as a means of correcting a

problem, but rather maintaining the lifestyle we currently enjoy before it becomes a problem.