Listen Up!
July/August 2009
by Molly M. Ginty
For Brenda Battat, the conversations went quiet.
The first sounds to go were whispers. Then women’s and children’s voices trailed away. Then chatting at parties became a challenge as Battat strained to hear others’ words.
“Diagnosed with a genetic hearing problem at age 19, I’ve worn regular hearing aids since my 30s,” says Battat, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America. “By age 61, I was technically deaf and had a cochlear implant inserted in my right ear.”
Like a growing number of Americans, Battat needs help registering the sounds that keep her safe (like the wail of a fire alarm and the honk of a truck) and the sounds she calls “the symphony of life—a dog barking, water running, and the ripple of human laughter.”
Nearly 30 million Americans suffer from hearing loss, which affects a quarter of those over age 65 and three quarters of those over 75.
Whether it strikes early or late in life, hearing loss is serious. “This is not just a matter of failing to notice the fan whirring overhead,” says Gail Whitelaw, past president of the American Academy of Audiology and director of Ohio State University’s Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. “Untreated hearing loss can affect your quality of life and age you before your years.”
Normally, sound waves travel past the outer ear, into the ear canal, and through the eardrum, where tiny bones help amplify vibrations that then pass into the cochlea, a spiral structure deep in the inner ear that is lined with thousands of microscopic hairs. These hairs convert vibrations into nerve signals that your brain recognizes as sound. But when hairs or nerve cells are damaged, the signals don’t get through. Sounds become muffled and even fade out.
Caused by problems that range from chronic noise exposure to presbycusis (age-related degeneration), hearing loss is usually permanent. Because it is also usually painless, it can progress for an average of seven years before it is detected. As sounds diminish, you may not consciously realize that you are cranking up your television volume and asking people to repeat their words. You may start avoiding social situations—an under-recognized but certain sign that you need hearing tests from an audiologist.
Sometimes, addressing a hearing problem can be as simple as removing excess ear wax. Most often, however, it requires prescribing a hearing aid that gathers, amplifies, and transmits sounds. While many devices fit behind the ear and deliver sound to the ear canal via a small tube, some newer models fit directly in the ear and are all but invisible. Digital hearing aids are programmed to their wearer’s specific needs and can have channels that meet a wide variety of listening situations: from a noisy restaurant setting that filters out background noise to a concert hall program that helps bring out the fine points of music. Costing $200 to $5,000 each depending on their quality and range of features, hearing aids are not covered by Medicare and may not be covered by health insurance. Lasting up to five years, hearing aids typically require regular fine-tuning by an audiologist.
A newer option is surgically-inserted cochlear implants like the one that Battat has. These devices have two components: an external device that works much like a regular hearing aid, and an implant that directly stimulates the nerves of the cochlea. Covered by Medicare and many insurance providers, cochlear implants run $40,000 to $50,000 and can last for a decade or more.
Hope to avoid hearing aids, implants—and their high cost? Though some age-related presbycusis may be inevitable, hear this: You can protect yourself.
Some 30 percent of hearing loss results from exposure to loud noise. As many musicians, including saxophonist and former president Bill Clinton, have discovered, it’s not only noise that can lead to hearing loss—loud music can be just as dangerous. His years in the marching band as a teen contributed to his getting hearing aids at the age of 51. Avoid damage by wearing earplugs or mufflers with a noise reduction rating of at least 9 decibels. Check noise level recommendations from the National Hearing Conservation Association to ensure that your job and hobbies aren’t causing irreversible damage. You can safely listen to a 90-decibel motorboat for eight hours straight. But you should never stand next to 120-decibel speakers for more than 10 minutes—and you should always lower headphone volume so that you can hear background noise and so others can’t hear your music.
As you take steps to protect your ears, bear in mind that some medications (including antibiotics as well as chemotherapy, diuretic, and anti-malarial drugs) can trigger hearing loss. So can certain illnesses, such as meningitis resulting in high fever. Talk to your doctor about these concerns—and about any loss of hearing that you notice as you age.
If you do lose some hearing, you may not barrel ahead like Beethoven (who was completely deaf when he composed his Ninth Symphony) or percussionist Evelyn Glennie (who lost her hearing and performs barefoot so she can “hear” vibrations in the floor). But you can continue to communicate via lip reading, sign language, and other tools, including new technologies such as hearing aids that feed phone conversations straight into your ear.
“I’ve treated violinists, opera singers, and college lecturers who have lost some hearing, but continue working and thriving,” says Whitelaw. “Hearing loss doesn’t have to rule your life. With help, you can still tune in.”
Molly M. Ginty lives in New York. Her work has appeared in Ms., Marie Claire, Redbook, and Women’s eNews.