Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Exercise common sense: Heed hearing loss signs

By SHEILA REED
Published April 26, 2005

My parents warned me that I would be deaf one day. Their warning was followed by the obligatory parental message to "turn the music down." Teens and loud music are the equivalent of peanut butter and jelly - they just go together.

How often do you think about your five senses: smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch?

For instance, I can't imagine not being able to enjoy the taste of spicy food or smell banana nut bread baking. I also like to brag to my Northern friends about Florida's breathtaking sunsets along the gulf and how nice the water feels in the late afternoon.

But when one of those senses falters, you can be left feeling scattered and desperate. When my doctor told me that I had the hearing of an 80-year-old, I could only manage a half smile. Maybe my parents were right. According to test results, my hearing was well below normal for someone my age.

I admit that I had not had a hearing test in more than 25 years. Sadly, I probably would not have had one when I did, had I not had a cold, which triggered a stubborn ear infection, which led to pain in my ears, tests and big dollars spent on medicine (bottles the size of thimbles) that I had to pay for because my insurance did not cover the cost.

Who thinks about hearing or losing the ability to hear? It's one of those senses that is easy to take for granted. Yet the number of adults with hearing impairments is about 30-million, according to the National Center for Health Statistics; and about 1 out of 4 people older than 65 have hearing problems.

During my visits to the doctor, which spanned 15 months, I had plenty of time to think about the sins of my youth. I once saw jazz great Miles Davis in concert. I was standing at the front of the stage next to speakers that were at least 2 feet taller than I am. As the music from the speakers jabbed at my inner ear, I stuck there like a magnet. Too afraid someone might muscle my spot away from me. Too dumb to care about any long-term damage.

The report from my doctor should have come as no surprise because I have always loved loud music. Music loud enough to peel paint. It's just my thing. I not only like to hear the music, I like to feel the music, and in order to feel the music, it has to be almost ear-bleeding loud.

In some cases, hearing loss can be related to age and is called presbycusis, or hearing loss can be noise-induced, which includes exposure to extreme noises at close range such as a firecracker. I know firsthand about firecrackers because someone threw several into a group where I was standing during a July Fourth celebration some years ago. I had ringing in my ears for days, but I never went to a doctor. I took it for granted that because I had regained my hearing, everything was fine.

It can be difficult to admit to any sort of physical limitations, from hearing to walking. The social stigmas can be overwhelming. But there's a good chance that those of you reading this column know someone who has some degree of hearing loss. In fact, according to a survey by the EAR Foundation and Clarity, hearing loss is more widespread among men and women from the ages of 40 and 59, and nearly half of baby boomers nationwide, or 38-million people, are having difficulty hearing. Some people are in denial and may never get help. Others suspect that something could be wrong, and they too may never get help. I was in this category. I sort of knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to know for certain. In some ways, the cold and ear infection were my warning signals (others include playing the TV or radio too loudly; trouble understanding people talk; asking people for frequent repeats). Had I not gotten either, I would not have known about the delicate state of my hearing.

The good news is that I try not to take any of my senses for granted. All those months, when I could not hear an airplane pass or when the television had to be turned to the max, or when phone conversations were nearly impossible, I saw my life filled with limitations. But I have been given another chance. Even though my hearing is not normal for someone my age (and may never be), it is better than it was.

Sometimes I still play my music too loud, (it's sort of like people who smoke, they know it's unhealthy. . .) but this time I turn it down when my ears hurt, a sign that I've matured, and that's music to my ears.

Here's a thank-you to everyone who completed a Seniority Lifestyle survey.

To date, that's more than 3,000 of you! The response has been beyond our expectation, so we doubled the number of certificates in the drawing, making the total eight.

As you might expect, some of the topics that readers said the president and Congress should address are: Social Security (leave it alone), the war in Iraq (get out), Medicare, and the rising cost of prescription medicine.

The official results, which are still being tabulated, will be featured in an upcoming issue of Seniority.

Here are the eight winners randomly selected by a computer for the $50 grocery store certificates: Clara Van Horn, Kathy Burke, Marjorie Lacey-Greenough, Bud Maris, Donald A. Parks, Jacqueline Mikes, June Entwistle and Helen Calnan. Congratulations.

Sheila Reed, Seniority editor, can be reached at 727 893-8452 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8452. Write to her in care of the St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731; or e-mail her at sreed@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 08:50:04]