Joy of sound
Hearing changes as you age.
As times change, what is the key to happiness? Since the beginning of history, people have faced a world in constant flux—from technological advancements to cultural norms—change is all around us. When it comes to dealing with change, we have two options: stubbornly resist it or embrace it and go with the flow. Some changes, like a new restaurant opening or road construction, are easy to navigate. Other changes, like self-driving cars, artificial intelligence tools, and app-enabled smart devices might be tougher to embrace at first but can make your life a lot easier.
Continue reading.
Sharon is wearing a TruHearing® Advanced hearing aid.
Hearing changes as you age.
As times change, what is the key to happiness? Since the beginning of history, people have faced a world in constant flux—from technological advancements to cultural norms—change is all around us. When it comes to dealing with change, we have two options: stubbornly resist it or embrace it and go with the flow. Some changes, like a new restaurant opening or road construction, are easy to navigate. Other changes, like self-driving cars, artificial intelligence tools, and app-enabled smart devices might be tougher to embrace at first but can make your life a lot easier.
Continue reading.
Sharon is wearing a TruHearing® Advanced hearing aid.
When you start to think about how you’ve changed in the past few years, what’s different? Your favorite food, music, hobbies? What about your health? Have your medications changed? Has your eyesight changed? For those who wear glasses, a yearly checkup and a new lens prescription can be like seeing a high-definition television compared to an antique tube TV. Change can be great.
Hearing works the same way. Not only does hearing change over time but hearing aid technology and hearing care provider tools improve every year. However, when it comes to age-related hearing loss, changes can be so gradual, they are hard to notice. It can be difficult to track decline on your own. If you want to embrace change for the sake of living life to the fullest, you should add a hearing checkup to your list of annual healthcare appointments.
Can you recall your last hearing exam? If you’ve never had one, here’s what to expect: Your hearing care professional will do a visual inspection, eardrum mobility checks, air and bone conduction testing, speech recognition testing, and review your audiogram results with you. These results are used to maximize the effectiveness of your current hearing aids. You can also use this time to discuss the latest advancements in hearing aid technology and see if there are features (like wireless streaming and remote volume control) that you’d like to learn more about.
“There is nothing permanent except change.”
-Heraclitus
If you think it’s time to wear or update hearing aids, here’s how to get the most out of your next visit with your hearing care provider: Write down questions ahead of time, bring someone to help answer questions, take notes of new technologies and hearing aid features that you want to research later, and don’t be afraid to ask the same question multiple times for better understanding.
When it comes to change, the key to happiness is finding opportunities to take care of yourself, your body, your mind, and your senses to help you enjoy all the special moments life has to offer. Start the conversation about yearly hearing care by calling TruHearing today.
Struggling to hear?
In less than 5 minutes, you can find out if you might have hearing loss.
Certain medications can impact your hearing.
Over 200 medications and chemicals are known to be ototoxic1 (“oto” means ear and “toxic” means harmful). That means they may possibly cause hearing loss, balance problems, and ringing in the ear (tinnitus) either temporarily or permanently.
Examples of medications that could potentially impact your hearing include regular use of over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen, some antidepressants, loop diuretics (often used to treat heart or kidney failure or high blood pressure), aminoglycoside antibiotics (many of which end in “micin” or “mycin”), and some chemotherapy drugs.
While protecting the hearing you have is important, never discontinue medication without first discussing it with your doctor.
Sources:
1 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Ototoxic Medications (Medication Effects).