Growing Sounds of Silence

How do we begin to realize that we don't quite hear the way we used to?  How do we even acknowledge it to the point that we seek out medical advice?  And finally, once having received the confirmation that indeed we are losing our hearing, how do we go from there to actually taking the steps to do something about it?  Or do we even do something about it???

Perhaps not; instead if you are like me, you may find yourself going  thru your own personal battle:  denial;  questioning the how, why and wherefore - where did this come from, how did it happen and why me?  (as if somehow, this should not be happening to me!)  We may experience avoidance; or attempt to compensate: I'll just raise the volume  on the TV and/or the phone; we pretend it's not noticable to others and may refuse to admit it - as if people hadn't already noticed; and the worse of it is coming to terms with the fact that progressively our hearing declines more and more as time goes on. 

Ultimately if we are not careful, we may find ourselves withdrawing from people, places and things!  After all, how can one truly participate in a conversation when one doesn't hear half of it; or perhaps we mistakenly hear something and respond to what we thought we heard, only to be chided or mocked because we heard wrong!  All of this may then force us to admit we have a problem, but no, we may say "it is not serious", or we may say, "it's just a slight hearing problem" and when it is suggested we get hearing aids to help.... HORROR!!!  "What do you mean hearing aids" we may ask, there is no need for hearing aids; after all, what would that say about me ... NO, NO, NOT ME!!!

I never thought that I would one day experience hearing loss, and be forced to wear hearing aides.  Like most folks, I was oblivious to the hazards of loud and continual exposure to noise, such as music.  So much so, that while in my early 20's I got a job working as a DJ at a Disco.  Wow, what an awesome opportunity, to work in a setting where I partied  WOOO HOOO!!!

Part of the work was increasing the decibels of sound over what was called a "mix" to up the mood of the dancers!  Needless to say it was challenging but at the time exhilarating!  After several months of that,  I found another position, where again and unfortunately, my ears were exposed to loud noise - this time on a construction site....

Again, who knew the long term effect..... Yet all of this became important, years later, when I started to realize that my hearing on my left ear was not quite what it used to be, and where I began my stages of denial, until I could deny it no longer; engaging in group conversations became highly difficult, listening to a class instructor worse, even personal conversations became more and more challenging.   I finally got tested and diagnosed and in my particular case - surgery. 

However, for the record, I know that for most folks, it could be something minor that triggers the hearing loss, it could be an infection, trauma, genetics, or in some minor cases, like me progressive.  My plea to you is that if you have any concerns at all, or just want to know, ask your doctor about getting tested.  Also, look for free health screenings in your community or from your local hearing aides specialist.  Get tested, you will be glad you did and if you find you need hearing aides, the sooner you get them the better off you will be, because we humans have a tendancy to grow accustomed to things over time,so much so, that we may find ourselves getting accustomed to the "growing sounds of silence"!