LISTEN CLOSELY: YOU MAY NEED HELP HEARING

When her father died, Diane Brandt first noticed her hearing loss. She was in her late 20s and expecting her first child.

"I figured it out in the funeral parlor," said Brandt, now 60 and an executive secretary who lives on the city's Near South Side. "You know how people have quiet conversations. I couldn't hear much of what anybody was saying." 

But, with the new baby, Brandt didn't make time for a hearing test during the next two years--and no doctor suggested it, either. Finally she was diagnosed with otitis sclerosis, a genetic scarring condition that could be improved with surgery on her left ear. 

"I call it my bionic ear," said Brandt. "It made such a huge difference in my life." 

Ninety-seven percent of people with hearing loss will not have the option of surgery or other medical treatments (though sometimes what people fear as a problem is merely wax buildup). 

However, it's important to know that the overwhelming majority, about 95 percent, can correct or improve an impairment with hearing aids that these days are technologically advanced and practically invisible. 

If you formed an opinion about hearing aids before, say, 1996 or 1997, now is the time to revisit the subject, whether for yourself or a loved one. Still, the technology comes with a formidable price tag: A digital hearing aid costs about $750 and up per ear, and is not typically covered by health insurance carriers.

Hearing loss for most people (usually as they get older but not always, in this age of personal music players and too-loud concerts) occurs when the inner ear's tiny hair cells are destroyed by noise overload. The technical term is sensorineural damage, also called nerve deafness.

"The hair cells sort of lay down and die," said Ronna Fisher, an audiologist and founder of Hearing Health Centers, in downtown Chicago, Naperville and Oak Brook.

Catching the hearing loss early is critical, in part to learn ways to protect other hair cells from noise overload. Also, waiting too long to correct hearing loss can lead to mental confusion when sounds are reintroduced to the brain after years of absence. Some people with hearing impairment report it takes a good month or two to become accustomed to the renewed auditory flow.

Nonetheless, researchers say it takes the typical U.S. adult 7 to 15 years to submit to a hearing test after first noticing a problem. Fisher said hearing loss occurs in higher proportions for men, mostly because of greater exposure to harmful noise in work situations, but women generally come in sooner for screening and treatment.

"Women tend to be the communicative ones, especially in a marriage," said Fisher. "They are also working longer careers that make demands to hear normally." 

Brandt, for one, found that even with her "bionic ear," it was difficult for her to attend meetings and distinguish which person was talking without looking at their lips. Three years ago, she was fitted with a hearing aid for her right ear and just last month added one for the left ear.

"My husband said I came home from work with a big smile on my first day of wearing the newest hearing aid," said Brandt. "I guess I was just happy to hear all of the sounds I had been missing during my commute. The other day I heard the toaster pop up while I was in the living room. It was wonderful." 

A groundbreaking study about women and hearing by Northwestern University researchers Dean Garstecki and Susan Erler showed women are more prone to frustration and depression than men when faced with hearing loss. Women do develop positive attitudes about hearing aids as they get older, but groups of women ages 35-45 and 55-65 still were undereducated and underdiagnosed about potential solutions to hearing problems, the researchers said. 

"Stigma about hearing aids is the primary factor associated with non-use," said Garstecki. "About 25 percent of women who could greatly benefit from hearing aids choose not to use them."

More than 28 million Americans, about 10 percent of the population, have hearing impairments. About half are women because females live longer, on average, and 30 percent of people 65 and older have hearing problems. About 14 percent of U.S. adults between 45 and 64 have impairment, a figure that remained steady at 10 percent until recent years.

"Human ears are not built for all of the noise of modern society, all of the hair dryers, vacuum cleaners and other appliances," said Fisher. "At one time, the loudest sound was thunder."

Yet Erler said one of the most alarming findings in the Northwestern study is that hearing tests are not standard practice in annual physical exams by doctors.

"In fact, most physicians don't even casually ask patients about hearing," she said.

Data from the private Better Hearing Institute indicates only 16 percent of U.S. doctors routinely screen for hearing loss.

Audiologists might just be the least appreciated health practitioners in America, at least until someone has a problem and agrees to get screened and fitted for hearing aids.

"I was as reluctant as a person can be," said Kimberly J. Smithson, an executive with Schaumburg-based Motivation Online, an Internet company focused on employee recognition and job performance evaluations. "I'm glad I did (go to the Hearing Health Center in Naperville), because of the new technology."

Among Smithson's reservations: She is 32, and didn't want to identify with a health problem featuring "patient literature with lots of gray-haired people." She was worried about meeting clients and other business associates with a visible hearing aid that would signal "an infirmity."

Smithson comes to the issue with a history. Her impairment was first diagnosed when she was in 5th grade (school days are the last time most people are tested for hearing) and her parents bought her an expensive pair of wrap-around-the-ear hearing aids. After several days of teasing by classmates, she promptly visited a school bathroom and flushed them down the toilet.

Yet in adulthood, Smithson realized her hearing was a cause of embarrassment in her job as president of the non-profit National Association for Employee Recognition. The turning point came at a conference last October when she was speaking in front of an audience. She relied on her usual strategy: Hear the first few words of an audience member's question, and maybe the last couple of words, then piece together the rest. In this case, it didn't work.

"I answered totally inappropriately and the place went silent," recalled Smithson. "I got my hearing tested in November and was fitted with my hearing aids by January."

Smithson couldn't be happier with hearing aids that are difficult to spot.

"One of my therapists said it best," said Smithson, laughing. "She said anybody who gets close enough to see the hearing aids has at least bought you dinner."

NOW HEAR THIS

Here are some signs of hearing loss and/or reasons to get tested by a doctor, ear specialist or audiologist:

- Speech is difficult to understand when you are far from the speaker or there is background noise.

- Family and friends complain your television volume is too loud.

- Loved ones say you aren't paying attention.

- You often ask people to repeat themselves, saying "Huh?" and "What?" enough for others to notice.

- You hear others but don't understand them. Trouble in distinguishing consonants (say, "soil" versus "foil").

- You have ringing in the ears or other unusual disturbances.

Back to top