Say What?

So, this is my first blog and here goes! I noticed something at work recently, which brought up a few questions and ideas in my mind. As you probably now know, after reading my bio, I am currently practicing as an Audiologist, here in sunny Durban, South Africa. What I noticed in both my rooms and the hospitals that I work at, was the number of patients and their family members, that wore glasses, and openly discussed their vision problems with each other. It seemed to be an easy conversation for them. I thought to myself that one very rarely hears people talking about their ears and hearing like that (no pun intended). Why is that? Is it because people place less importance on their ears? Maybe they do not think anything can happen to their hearing, or that their ears are at least less susceptible to any harm, compared to their eyes? Or is it a societal thing? Is it seen as weird, or the fact there is something wrong with someone if they were to admit that they needed to see an Audiologist or have hearing aids fitted on their ears? Hearing aids these days, are not the large visible devices from the past, that you may remember your grandmother or grandfather wearing. They are practically invisible now. And they can be completely customized to the patient’s physical features, like size and shape of the ears, hair, and skin cooler, and so on. For you to notice that an individual has hearing aids on, currently, you must be actively looking for them, to notice them at all. Something that I always tell my patients, when they pose such concerns to me, is that a hearing loss is, a lot more visible to others than wearing a hearing aid. Compare someone who is often asking you to repeat what you have said, or is losing track of the conversation, and is responding inappropriately, to somebody who is following your conversation accurately because they are wearing a tiny hearing device in their ear? It does not seem like much of a comparison to me. Those who live with a hearing loss miss out on so much in life as well. For example, their grandchildren talking to them, birds chirping in the back garden or game reserve, their favourite TV or movie scenes.

I realize it is a big step for an individual to acknowledge that something is wrong, or not functioning as it should be in their body and having to seek help for it. But that is what we are here for, as Audiologists, to help you and guide you through the entire hearing assessment and treatment process, from start to finish. We can also help you debunk some of the misconceptions that society may have associated with hearing difficulties. Contact your nearest Audiologist, and it may just change your life!