I first became sure I had a hearing loss when I was in my early sixties. I had bought a little sports car and while driving it around something strange began to happen. Each time I switched the radio on, the blinker stopped working.
I got to the bottom of the problem by riding in my wife’s car. Sitting beside her as she drove, I was able to hear her blinker. My wife told me that the blinkers were actually about the same loudness, so it was obvious that the blinker in my car was in a range where I had lost some sort of hearing.
I was shocked and didn’t want to believe it at the time. Hearing loss doesn’t happen suddenly. It’s gradual. You’ll notice that the café you’re in is too noisy to talk or hear. Or think people are mumbling. You don’t notice it’s you. I got my hearing aids and initially was a bit unsure. Fortunately my Audiologist had given me some great advice. She said to me, when you get them, put them in early in the morning and keep them in until you go to bed at night until they become part of who you are. I did that, and within three days I was forgetting they were in.
I have a background in neuropsychology. Due to that I would say to anyone considering a hearing aid, go early, and go hard. Not going sooner can damage the part of your brain that processes hearing that. After that you’re always going to struggle with hearing aids. Get on that road early.
