May 31 is National Save Your Hearing Day. Did you know? Most likely you will not even be aware of it and definitely, you won’t be throwing a party to celebrate it. Maybe you can schedule the party for October when it is Protect Your Hearing Month. These are little know holidays that can make a tremendous difference in your life. I know from experience. And so I post an article like this every year, in October. And now I’m also adding May.
Because of these national holidays, I encourage my readers to avoid what I have gone through. Protect your hearing now, before you lose it. 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.
6 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.
- Be sure to wear proper protection at work. Not every job requires earplugs or protective hearing gear. But if yours does, be sure to wear it at all times in marked locations. If needed, wear protective earplugs at work if you work in a loud workplace, even if you don’t like to wear them.
- Give your ears a break. Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the noise and relax in the quiet. Go for a walk in the mountains or spend some time in a quiet place in your home.
- 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. Whether you are a member of AARP or not, please get an annual hearing test. My test confirmed that something was wrong. If you google “Free hearing Test” you will come up with several options. With AARP you will have to get an access code by answering a few questions first. Then you can call 1-866-217-0857. The test takes about 10 minutes. Be sure you are in a quiet place when you take the test. There is also an online test available at Miracle-ear.com.
- 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 a hearing loss. Even if your phone hearing test doesn’t show any problems, I would attempt to get an appointment if your insurance allows. To do it over, I wish I had had an annual audiologist appointment at age 55 or earlier. 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. There might be something that is causing the hearing loss that can be fixed. Had I known I had a brain tumor when it was smaller, my hearing would most likely have been saved.
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 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. After my surgery, my neurosurgeons remained confident I would keep some of my hearing. They told my husband after the surgery was complete. However, their confidence was wrong, and I lost all my hearing in my left ear.
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.
Don’t wait – take action now
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 an active role in saving your hearing. One day, you may be thankful you did. Please pass this post on to your friends or family that might need some information on hearing loss.
