Category — Effects of hearing loss

One symptom of denial and avoidance is blame. Hearing loss patients may begin to blame themselves for their declining hearing. They may also blame others by accusing them of whispering or mumbling. Patients who blame themselves may become angry that their bodies are not functioning as well as they used to. Patients who blame others, or accuse them of mumbling or whispering, may turn this blame on their spouses and children first. Often, with mild to moderate hearing loss, the ability to hear the pitch of women’s and children’s voices is the first to be lost.  Read more... (376 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Confidence is key to working relationships, both personal and business relationships.  When some patients begin to experience hearing loss, they are often not sure of what is happening to them.  Other patients know they are experiencing a problem with their hearing but are in denial of the situation.  This denial can last for days, weeks, months or even years before the patient seeks assistance from a hearing professional.  This delay in diagnosis and treatment can cause hearing loss to worsen significantly and can affect the patient’s confidence and personal relationships.  Read more... (348 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Hearing loss is experienced by millions of people and has many causes.  Some hearing loss is experienced as people grow older, some cases are caused by excessive noise and some are caused by congenital defects in infants.  Regardless of the cause, or the person hearing loss affects, stress can be experienced and affect overall health.  Being stressed out constantly by the effects of undiagnosed hearing loss can cause fatigue and, in turn, can cause stress on relationships.  The levels of stress associated with hearing loss can also have detrimental effects of a hearing loss patient’s general sense of well being.  Read more... (374 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Everyone’s heard the person at the movie theater, the person at the popular play or the person at the school function that is continuously asking their spouse what just happened.  How irritating is it for everyone sitting in the immediate area?  How embarrassing is it for their spouse or partner that constantly has to raise their voice to repeat what just happened?  In most cases, the person doing the asking doesn’t even realize they have a medical problem like hearing loss.  You can be sure, though, the people in the immediate area realize there is a problem.  Read more... (454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Picture a happy couple enjoying an intimate dinner and light conversation with each other.  They are content, discussing their day at work, the kids, the house or simple neighborhood news.  They hear everything each other is saying and there is no sign of anyone being irritated or mad at anyone else.  Now picture the happy couple a few weeks or months after one of them begins to experience hearing loss.  They are not so happy anymore.  The husband, or wife, has to repeat almost everything he or she says constantly.  There is less conversation, less laughing, less smiling and an uncomfortable silence hovers over the scene.  Read more... (725 words, estimated 2:54 mins reading time)

Making decisions …

No one gives it a second thought about how easy it is to carry on conversations throughout the day.  What if you only got part of those conversations?  What if you even got the wrong understanding of what was said to you?  Not just once but many times a day?

Those close to you…

How close could you be with someone you lived with if you missed what was said?  Of course you didn’t tell them you didn’t get it because you knew it was irritating for them to constantly repeat what they said back to you.  Do you think it would take very long for you to start second guessing as to what they were talking about?  How long would it take before your second guessing catches up to you?  Sooner or later it always does.  Read more... (544 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

There are many people around the world living with undiagnosed hearing loss.  Unfortunately, a great number of people with hearing loss do not understand their condition and are in denial of any medical problem.  In a number of cases, a simple visit to a hearing professional can correct the hearing loss.  In these cases, the hearing loss is caused by an unknown build up of earwax in the ear canal.  Any blockage in the ear will cause hearing loss to some extent.  Even if the problem is more serious than a simple blockage, your doctor can prescribe therapy or hearing aids to alleviate the hearing loss.  Read more... (399 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

With most types of hearing loss, there is a lack of ability to distinguish sounds when there is background noise present.  Many patients experiencing the beginning stages of hearing loss will avoid crowds and loud social situations because of their inability to hear.  Often, the avoidance of social situations is due to embarrassment or a fear of making an unacceptable response to a question.  Without the fine tuned ability to distinguish many different sounds, such as in a crowded stadium or party, questions are not easily understood.    Read more... (370 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

There are several widely accepted stages of grief associated with loss. Loss can identify the death of a loved one or friend, a physically disabling injury or even something as seemingly simple as hearing loss. One of these stages is denial and can last from hours or days to months and years.

Denial is a person’s inability to accept a situation and deal with the situation openly. Someone in denial of any physical problem, including hearing loss, cannot be pushed through the denial and into acceptance. People in denial of their hearing loss cannot be talked into seeing the doctor or getting hearing aids. They will argue, fight, kick and scream all the way until they are totally deaf and cannot hear at all without hearing aids.  Read more... (426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

There is a vast difference between the world of hearing and the world of hearing loss. While those who can hear perfectly move through the world with no trouble understanding others, enjoying social events and taking time for the little pleasures in life. It is simple for those who hear to take a walk through a park and listen to the birds sing or the breeze move through the trees. The birds may still sing and the breeze may still blow around patients with hearing loss, but they will never be able to identify the sounds.  Read more... (380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)