HEARING LOSS AFFECTS millions of Americans every year. Studies have shown that hearing loss can lead to increased isolation and depression. The Better Hearing Institute in 2000 did a study on how untreated hearing loss negatively impacts the household income by about $12,000 per year depending on the degree of hearing loss. At Northwest Ohio Hearing Clinic, we see many patients with hearing loss and see how it affects their lives. But what these studies don’t tell you is how hearing loss affects the spouses or family members of a hearing-impaired person.
I recently came across a blog post from 3/7/2012 by Andrea Brenoff, a senior writer for The Huffington Post. Her husband has hearing loss and, in her blog, she discusses how his hearing loss has affected the entire family. I thought this was very interesting because we hear the same complaints in our own office. Very often it is the spouse or child of a hearing-impaired person who takes the initiative and makes the appointment for a hearing test. It is the family member who usually notices the hearing loss first, not the hearing-impaired person.
As Ms. Brenoff describes below, living with a person with untreated hearing loss can be very frustrating. She writes:
We now pick restaurants based on their noise level over the quality or type of food they serve. If the ceilings are too high or the walls too inadequately covered, the sounds of dishes and glasses clanking, music playing and people laughing will make it impossible for him to hear or participate in conversation at our table. The problem came to a head not long ago when we had to get up and leave after waiting an hour for a table at a Tapas restaurant on Kauai because of the noise volume in the room. Why blow $100 on a vacation dinner to sit there unable to have a conversation, we reasoned. Was I disappointed? You bet.
We often hear how patients don’t do things they used to do, such as see stage shows or go to concerts or movies, because of a hearing loss. Hearing loss should not prevent you from doing things that you love to do. Many public theaters and churches have assistive-listening devices that are wired into the sound system. Using these devices, the sound can come straight into the users ears via a set of headphones. Also, some public places have “looped systems” that enable a person to hear by using the telecoil in their hearing aid. Ms. Brenoff
Ms. Brenoff goes on to write what it is like to watch television or talk on the phone with a person with untreated hearing loss:
We can no longer watch TV in the same room together. He needs the TV volume to be so loud that it rattles my molars. Our cell-phone-to-cell-phone conversations are kept to just the basics. Information is shouted. It goes something like this:
Me: “Pick up milk.”
Him: “What about ‘tonight?’”
Me: “Milk. I said MILK.”
Hearing a television or using a cell phone is much easier now with wireless connectivity in hearing aids. Hearing aids now have the ability to pair with a cell phone (if compatible) and stream audio directly to the hearing aids, making phone conversations easier to hear and in stereo. Also, manufacturers have accessories available to connect to a TV, which will stream the TV directly to the hearing aids. This makes hearing the TV easier for the hearing-impaired person, and other people in the room can have the volume on the TV set at a more comfortable level.
The final part of Ms. Benoff’s blog discusses how hearing loss affects spouses and family members also, not just the person with the hearing loss:
He doesn’t especially like to go to parties or events anymore if he knows there will be a microphone in use or electrified music playing. It makes it hard for him to make out what people are saying. When we do go, he stays close by my side, knowing that I’ll repeat key words of the conversation to enable him to join in. Has this put a crimp in our social life? Absolutely.
Hearing loss doesn’t just impact the person whose hearing is diminished. Everyone who loves them and lives with them suffers. How has my husband’s affliction affected our family? For one, I’m tired of being accused of mumbling, of watching my husband become frustrated when the kids make noise in the back seat and he can’t hear me giving directions when I’m sitting next to him in the car. The kids have slipped into the role of being their Dad’s “ears,” knowing that he won’t understand them the first time; I hear their voices rise when they have to repeat things a third or fourth time and am grateful that there is no accompanying eye rolling or taking advantage of the fact that when he agrees to something, he might not actually have heard the request. Only once did I hear “Dad said we could watch it” to a particularly violent show.
For the record, my husband and I aren’t old. His hearing loss has been gradual and only recently reached the point where we know it has to be dealt with. How big a deal is it? With the exception of a heart attack he suffered six years ago, I can’t think of a bigger life-altering health issue that we’ve faced than his hearing loss.
The above is not anything we haven’t heard at Northwest Ohio Hearing Clinic, but we believe that many people with hearing loss don’t realize the problems that their hearing loss can cause for the rest of the family. Hearing loss can affect everyone around you. We have seen many patients that think the hearing loss is not causing any problems, but spouses or family members say otherwise. They say they hear what they need to hear, but they don’t realize how much they are missing.
Recently, research has shown that untreated hearing loss can contribute to cognitive decline because of the lack of socialization and increased isolation that hearing loss can cause. Treated hearing loss can lead to better communication, which could strengthen relationships with family members and friends. Also, treated hearing loss will increase confidence and socialization. We have seen huge changes in patients who have benefited from amplification. It not only makes life easier for the hearing aid wearer but also for the family members.
If you or someone you know has hearing loss, please encourage them to get it checked. At Northwest Ohio Hearing Clinic, we encourage family members to come to all appointments. We will explain the hearing test results and give you our recommendations. To make an appointment, please call our Toledo office at 419-383-4012 or our Perrysburg office at 419-873-4327.
Dianna Randolph, AuD, CCC-A, is a Doctor of Audiology with Northwest Ohio Hearing Clinic, located at 1125 Hospital Dr., Suite 50 in Toledo (419-383-4012) and 1601 Brigham Dr., Suite 160 in Perrysburg (419-873-4327).
