When’s the right time for a hearing evaluation?
Probably sooner than you think
By Lynn P. Creel, M.C.D., CCC-A, Director and Founder of Creel Hearing Center, Northshore LIVING WELL Magazine
As the old story goes, there’s good news and bad news about hearing loss. The good news is that the human brain – your brain – is amazingly good at adapting to many different kinds of obstacles, including things like hearing loss. You may be suffering from a slight decline right now and be hardly aware of it, because you’ve found ways to compensate – simple things like turning your head and leaning forward to hear better; or asking people to repeat what they’ve said; or waiting for the conversation to move on so you can catch up. Maybe you’re adapting by simply avoiding social situations like noisy restaurants and parties, where the background noise makes it so hard to understand the conversation that you really have to strain to hear. Still, by coping and adapting, you feel like you’re getting by.
Know what you’re missing
So what’s the bad news? You may be adapting so well that you don’t know what you’re missing. You’re unaware of lost information, lost opportunities, and the lost energy you spend just trying to keep up. You just know that social situations are more tiring than they used to be. Those embarrassing moments when you don’t catch someone’s name or some other important bit of information are growing more frequent.
If you’re like many people with age-related hearing loss, the condition progresses as you get older. And as it progresses, you work harder to cope, maybe without even realizing it. As good as your brain may be at adapting, the effort it takes tends to diminish the parts of your life that matter most: sharing with friends and family, keeping ahead in your business, and spending time out in the community.
People with advanced hearing loss describe this state as a feeling of isolation, of being trapped. They find it physically and emotionally tiring to strain to hear a conversation in a noisy setting. It’s just too hard to make the effort. So they give up.
Break through the isolation with new hearing technology
There is help for people with hearing loss: a wonderful array of modern hearing solutions that can make it easier to breakthrough the wall of noise and focus on what’s important. Modern hearing technology, like the new Intiga instrument from Oticon, can not only help bring you back to a fuller and more vibrant social life; it can make things like concerts, radio, telephone and TV much more rewarding experiences than ever before. But what happens is that people tend to put off getting help later than they should. They adapt a little more, and miss out a little more, every year. They don’t realize how much they’re struggling, and living increasingly isolated lives.
Live in the Now. Try Intiga risk free. Take control now, with Intiga, and move to where you want to be… in the center of your life, living every moment to the fullest.
Call to schedule an appointment today, 985-867-8151.
“For over 33 years Creel Hearing Center has served the
Greater New Orleans area and remains committed
to our patients, delivering the highest quality of care
with the personal attention they deserve.”
www.creelhearing.com
Audiologists:
Lynn P. Creel, M.C.D., CCC-A
Kimberly F. Sanborn, Au.D., CCC-A
Erin G. Rushing, M.S.
Creel Hearing Center
5001 Hwy 190 East Service Road
Suite B-4
Covington, Louisiana 70433
985-867-8151
