How to empower yourself on your hearing loss

Time to Read: 5 minutes

People react differently to being told they have a hearing loss.

Some people are quite upset and take a little while to process the news. They need time before taking the next step of having hearing aids. Other people come to the appointment already knowing they have hearing loss and are ready and waiting to have hearing aids fitted.

No matter which side you come down on, the most important thing to do is empower yourself to make the very best decision for your hearing and your long-term health.

Here are some tips:

Understand what your hearing loss is and the implications of leaving it untreated

Hearing loss - especially in those over the age of 50 - is surprisingly common and the good news is that hearing loss can be effectively addressed with hearing aids in most cases.

Having good hearing is not just a ‘nice to have’ feature, it is an important part of the five senses which has serious implications for your long term health and wellbeing if ignored. In the same way you would wear glasses if you don’t have perfect vision, you ought to wear hearing aids if you have a hearing loss.

Maximising your best hearing as early as possible has benefits that go beyond simply hearing as well as you possibly can.

Hearing aid wearers are more confident and comfortable in noisy social situations, can participate fully in conversations and experience less anxiety and depression compared with those with untreated hearing loss. Hearing aid wearers can also reduce the risk of dementia.

Five hearing aid benefits that have nothing to do with hearing loss

Become familiar with what a complete hearing assessment looks like

Knowing what you should expect from a complete hearing assessment gives you confidence that the clinician's recommendation is going to work best for you.

The clinician should take the time to examine your ear health, ideally with a video otoscope, so you can see inside your ears as well.

Then the examination looks for the soft sounds you can hear across a range of tones, tests your ability to hear and understand speech in quiet. And importantly, tests your ability to hear speech in noise.

Not every company offers this test, but we consider it vital to maximise your ability to hear well in the widest range of circumstances.

What things to look for in a clinician

A clinician should be your partner in the journey to maximised hearing. They need to take the time to understand you and what you’re looking for from your hearing aids.

Do you spend a lot of time looking after the grandchildren? Still working? Do a lot of travel? All of those things need to be taken into account. Also, how well do you hear in noisy situations? That is a vital consideration.

Your clinician should make you feel comfortable and answer any questions you have in a kind and professional manner.

By the end of the test and the hearing aid fitting, you should feel in control of what you’re hearing and be confident with the hearing device, and how they work, as well as be happy to wear them.

9 Myths About Hearing Aids Even Some Clinicians Believe Are True

Know what hearing aids are available and what they do to support your own hearing

Closeup portrait, unhappy hard of hearing senior mature woman placing hand on ear asking someone to speak up, or bad news, isolated white background. Negative emotion, facial expressions, feelings. Hearing aids come in different shapes and sizes. There are also different manufacturers and levels of technology.

Exploring the world of hearing aids gives you a greater understanding of different styles and manufacturers including how they work to support your own hearing. This will help you get the very best from your hearing aids right from the initial fitting.

Value Hearing has a great number of resources available for you to explore through our YouTube Channel and our blog.

Be ready to work with your clinician and your hearing aids to improve your hearing

One of the things your clinician will tell you is that your brain is the organ which does the hearing, not your ears. Your brain has work to do to process the sound it is hearing after being absent and that will take time and patience.

Fortunately there are a lot of resources available to help you work toward getting your very best hearing.