It was funny at first.
When you and your two daughters first realized that your husband kept misunderstanding what you were talking about, it used to make you laugh. As your husband asked again and again, however, for all three of you to repeat something that you just said, you began to be concerned.
When you finally realized that it was a hearing, not an attention, issue, you encouraged your husband to see a hearing specialist or talk to some hearing consultants. Fast forward six months and your husband is now a vibrant part of all of the conversations in your home, as well as an expert on batteries for hearing aids and details about a variety of listening devices.
Loss of hearing is no laughing matter. Hearing problems lead people to feel isolated and, can at times, lead to dangerous work situations. People who find themselves frequently asking to have something repeated or who experience ringing ears would benefit from a trip to see a hearing specialist sooner rather than later.
Consider some of these statistics about the hearing aid industry and the patients that it serves:
- 1.4 million children, 18 years old and younger, have hearing problems.
- 3 of every 1,000 infants are born with serious to profound hearing loss.
- 33% of people over the age of 60 have hearing loss.
- 7.4% of the people between the ages of 29 and 40, the group known as Generation Xers, already have some kind of hearing loss.
- 10% of the American adult population, which equals nearly 25 million, has experienced tinnitus, a ringing or similar sensation of sound in the ears, lasting at least five minutes in the past year.
- Even a mild hearing loss can be the reason a child misses as much as 50% of classroom discussion.
From understanding the best place to find batteries for hearing aids to understanding the need for early intervention at the first signs of hearing loss, hearing consultants can help many individuals and their families deal with a serious problem. Hearing loss, even its earliest signs, is no laughing matter. Instead of making fun of someone who is experiencing hearing problems. make sure that important person in your life meets wit a hearing consultant.
