If you had asked me in early 2019 if I should be concerned about my hearing, I would have replied, not yet. I’m too young. I was so wrong. With October being Protect your Hearing Month, I’ve decided to encourage my readers to avoid what I have gone through. I’ve included 4 things to do now to protect your hearing.
This is what I suggest you do this month, or at least get the process going. You never know when you have waited too long to save your hearing.
4 Things to do Now
Turn down the volume. Loud noises or music over a period of time can cause hearing loss. Be sure to turn down the stereo in your home or car. If needed, wear protective earplugs at work or in a loud workplace, even if you don’t like to wear them.
Free Test. If you are a member of AARP, they offer you a free hearing test with the National Hearing Test each year. The cost is $8 if you are not an AARP member. I highly recommend becoming an AARP member. They have a wealth of information on their website and in their magazines. Whether or not you are a member of AARP, please get an annual hearing test. My test this year confirmed that something was wrong. For information about the test, see this website:
Establish a base hearing test. If your phone test recommends you need further testing, call your primary care doctor to set up an appointment with an audiologist. This test will determine if you have hearing loss. Even if your phone hearing test doesn’t show any problems, I would attempt to get an appointment if your insurance allows it. To do it over, I wish I had had an annual audiologist appointment at age 60 or earlier. It would have saved my hearing. My base test was perfect, but that was over ten years ago, so it wasn’t beneficial for comparison since there was not a pattern of gradual loss.
Find out why you have lost hearing. My audiologist said I was a candidate for a hearing aid in my left ear because of hearing loss. His professional opinion was that before I get a hearing aid, we needed to check further to see if something was causing my hearing loss. Be sure that you find out the reason you have hearing loss. Do not rationalize that it’s a slight loss, and you can live with it. You never know when a slight loss can be complete a major loss.
Learn from my story
I was on vacation when I first realized there was something wrong with my left ear. It took a few months for me to realize that my hearing was slightly impaired in that ear. I then took the phone hearing test through AARP. They recommended I get my hearing tested in my left ear. Once I had it tested and found out it was bad enough for a hearing aid, I accepted that that was what I had to do. But my audiologist wanted to find out why.
Two MRIs later (one regular and one with contrast), I was told I had a non-cancerous brain tumor. It was medium-sized, and I had it removed in late 2019. Unfortunately, there were no guarantees with the removal of my brain tumor. I could completely lose hearing in that ear. And that is what happened, even though the neurosurgeons were confident I would retain some of my hearing. They said this to my husband after the surgery was complete.
Be sure to get your hearing checked before you lose it. You may be in a situation to prevent any hearing loss or stop it. The odds are good that you do not have a brain tumor. I suggest you take a proactive role in your ear health. Then, one day, you may be thankful you did.
Help others
If you already have a hearing aid, be sure that you donate your old one to an organization like Lions Clubs International when you upgrade. They will take used hearing aids and refurbish them. The refurbished hearing aids are sold to people that have limited finances at a low cost.
Please comment below in the reply section. I will answer you back. I love hearing about your thoughts on this post and any hearing loss you might be experiencing.
To learn more about my brain tumor/hearing experience, check out these previous posts:
