Age Positively With Hearing Loss
Today one of the main reasons someone will not seek advice or help regarding potential hearing loss is the stigma assosiated with it.
Some common stigmas are that "hearing aids are ugly", "you won't get on with them", and "they whistle all the time". Another prominent stigma with hearing aids are that they are for old people.
The truth is, hearing aids are none of these things. A hearing aid is a fantastically intricate piece of digital technology that has been uniquely designed to suit your hearing loss.
They come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. In the UK on the NHS we are lucky to be provided with behind the ear hearing aids that are digital and fit by highly trained specialists.
Hearing Aids "whistle all the time" and "you won't get on with it"
Have no truth to them anymore, hearing aids whistling and is more relevant to when hearing aids were analog. Today you will find it hard to see an analog hearing aid as 99% of hearing aids are now digital and are programmed with your hearing needs and specific feedback management systems to cancel out any whistling. If a hearing aid is whistling generally this means there is a lot of wax present in your ear canal, your ear mould could be loose or there is something else wrong with the hearing aid.
Hearing Aids Are "ugly" and "big and bulky"
Although there is limited choice when it comes to what you are fitted with by the NHS, I can assure you your audiologist will do their best to find you a solution that works best for your individual needs. If we are not keen on the appearance of the option provided by our NHS you do not have to look far to find alternative options.
A hearing aid means you are "old" or "vulnerable"
Hearing aids are also fitted to a variety of age ranges, from new born babies to school children to young adults and to the older population. Having a hearing aid actually shows that you are aware of your hearing loss and are taking full control of it and taking full advantage of life whether young or old!
Many of these misconceptions have come from cultural and historic attitudes to not wanting to accept elements of growing old. It is important for us as a society to break that stigma that future generations see hearing aids as a helpful tool not as something you're forced to have becasue you have reached a certain age.
1 in 6 people are said to have a form of hearing loss in the UK, many who are very reluctant to even talk about their hearing difficulties. The nature to go on struggling in conversation and social environments where you can't hear but nod along appears to be the easiest option for many. However to others your manner could be perceived as rude or uninterested when really if you had a hearing aid in your ear and your behaviour was similar people would be able to see that you are not rude or uninterested but actually you have a hearing loss which is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. As human beings we are empathic creatures that do as others do. If others, especially those who look up to you see your feelings of reluctance or embarrassment about a hearing loss, this emotive will be remembered when that family member potentially needs a hearing aid in a future. Instead your ability to say yes to accepting you are having difficulty, yes to giving it a go, yes to making a change will encourage and give confidence to all those around you, your children, your grandchildren or even a friend that secretly has hearing loss also.
It can be easy to forget that are actions now really do make an inpact on the bigger picture of how people in years to come will look at even the smallest of things such as hearing aids that in turn can make such a big difference to the quality of life for so many people. So if this has encouraged you or a family member to see your doctor about your hearing loss to seek help for the first time, have a cup of tea and feel proud you have done your good deed for the day!
This study delves deeper in to the stigmas of hearing loss and that of positive aging https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904535/