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Hearing Loss is No Joke

Just about everyone knows at least one joke or humorous story relating to hearing loss. A classic example is the one about the three retirees taking a walk outside. One remarked to the other, “Windy, isn't it?” “No,” replied the second man, “It's Thursday.” To which the third man chimed in, “I'm thirsty to lets have a coke.”

Amusing, yes, but in reality, hearing loss is no laughing matter for either the afflicted or the people who live with them. Hearing loss at any age affects quality of life: hearing the subtleties of a string quartet, the whisper of wind through tall pines, and, of course, the clarity of conversation. It is well documented that hearing loss can contribute to memory loss and depression. It is estimated that 2.9 million Canadians, one in ten, have some form of hearing loss. The condition can be brought about by exposure to loud noises, injury, illness, or the result of the natural aging process. Presbycusis is the term assigned to the decrease in hearing sensitivity associated with aging. Although hearing may first begin to show aging effects at age 20, presbycusis usually does not cause speech perception difficulty and serious hearing impairment until age 60 or older.

It is estimated that 85 to 90 percent of hearing loss is medically untreatable, and can be addressed only by some sort of hearing enhancement. In Ontario, only physicians and audiologists who are regulated health professionals registered with the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists may write a prescription for a hearing aid. Audiologists are concerned with the prevention, identification, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of hearing difficulties. Audiologists also provide education and counseling services for people experiencing hearing loss, dizziness and tinnitis. A doctor's referral is not a requirement of booking a hearing test, although results are routinely shared with the patient's physician, with their consent.

It is recommended that people of all ages have an audiogram to establish a baseline, and that those with recorded hearing loss have an audiogram once a year. If the audiologist finds a medical condition that may respond to treatment by a physician or ear specialist, an appropriate referral is made.

Every discipline has its cutting edge of research and development, and audio logy is no exception. The introduction of digital technology in hearing aids, is one example. The old analogue hearing aids were good but never as good as the digital ones at tailoring solutions to specific types of hearing loss. Digital hearing aids have been around for 10 years now, and, even in the last nine months, there have been significant advances to the digital chip technology, with astonishing results, even with previous users of digital hearing aids.

A patient's success with amplification, however, does not lie solely with the incredible advances in technology, but instead with the knowledge imparted by the audiologist to the patient about reasonable expectations of wearing hearing aids. Choose your audiologist carefully. Discover someone that is interested in taking you through a process of hearing better, not someone that's preoccupied with the final sale. Find an audiologist that has the time to spend with you, to ask about your past family history, past noise exposure, conduct a complete and comprehensive examination, and to answer you questions on what is involved with adapting to amplification.

Make sure you have the option of returning the aids if they are not suitable, and that you have a generous amount of time to try them out before making your decision. Throughout the trial period, there must be appointments booked for you to fine tune your hearing aids. Digital hearing aids are adjusted with a computer with the patient experiencing the changes as they are made.

Although digital aids are coming down in price, the more sophisticated instruments offer the ability to make very specific changes to the amplified sound, and are considered the best choice for handling background noise and the clarity of conversation. Unfortunately, no hearing aid is able to eliminate background noise.

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