The Growing Hearing Loss Epidemic
Posted by CENTURY HEARING
Our noisy world has taken a toll on the 40-plus ear. Here's the reality of your risk, loud and clear.
By Jeannie Ralston
This how things sometimes go at my house:
Me at the kitchen table, making a to-do list: "I need to wash my car."
My husband, sitting nearby, working on his Sudoku: "You need flash cards?"
Me, shaking my head: "You need your hearing checked."
My husband, after a beat: "Huh?"
Sometimes it's him, sometimes it's the other way around, and we usually laugh off the mix-ups as the natural decline in listenership after 22 years of hearing each other say the same thing a million times. But during the past couple of years, as the misunderstandings have become more frequent, we've gotten snippier. I'll say, "I'll wash this," and he hears only "Wash this," as if I've decided he's the downstairs to my upstairs at Downton Abbey. When I read recently that people with hearing issues are more likely to divorce, I got a little scared. And I called an audiologist.
We're not old. I'm 53 and my husband, Robb, is 51. We're active and health-conscious, trying to beat back the effects of aging any way we can. But having trouble hearing feels like incontrovertible proof that we are old. Which is likely why we've put off hearing tests for years, distracting ourselves instead with Robb's complaints about the funky acoustics of our high-ceilinged house.
Read More here http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/growing-hearing-loss-epidemic?cid=socHE_20140918_31816086
By Jeannie Ralston
This how things sometimes go at my house:
Me at the kitchen table, making a to-do list: "I need to wash my car."
My husband, sitting nearby, working on his Sudoku: "You need flash cards?"
Me, shaking my head: "You need your hearing checked."
My husband, after a beat: "Huh?"
Sometimes it's him, sometimes it's the other way around, and we usually laugh off the mix-ups as the natural decline in listenership after 22 years of hearing each other say the same thing a million times. But during the past couple of years, as the misunderstandings have become more frequent, we've gotten snippier. I'll say, "I'll wash this," and he hears only "Wash this," as if I've decided he's the downstairs to my upstairs at Downton Abbey. When I read recently that people with hearing issues are more likely to divorce, I got a little scared. And I called an audiologist.
We're not old. I'm 53 and my husband, Robb, is 51. We're active and health-conscious, trying to beat back the effects of aging any way we can. But having trouble hearing feels like incontrovertible proof that we are old. Which is likely why we've put off hearing tests for years, distracting ourselves instead with Robb's complaints about the funky acoustics of our high-ceilinged house.
Read More here http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/growing-hearing-loss-epidemic?cid=socHE_20140918_31816086
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