Hear, Hear! Better living with hearing loss tips!

(Family Features) September 18, 2011-- Hearing loss affects over 30 million Americans — including many of America’s elderly. Because hearing has a profound effect on quality of life, it’s important to know how to recognize hearing loss, and what can be done about it.

Signs of Hearing Loss

Do you:

—Have trouble hearing over the telephone?

—Find it hard to follow conversations when two or more people are talking?

—Often ask people to repeat what they are saying?

—Need to turn up the TV volume so loud that others complain?

—Have a problem hearing because of background noise?

—Think that others seem to mumble?

—Can’t understand when women and children speak to you?

Then it’s time to see your doctor and ask about referrals to an otolaryngologist (a specialist who can investigate the cause of hearing loss) or an audiologist (a specialist who will measure hearing loss).

Many people think that their physician will tell them during their physicals if they have a hearing problem. But in reality, only about 14 percent of physicians routinely screen for hearing loss. That’s why it’s important to talk with your healthcare provider and get screened if you exhibit hearing loss signs.

Better Living with Hearing Loss

It’s an unpleasant reality — aging can take a toll on hearing. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), 1 in 3 people older than 60 — and half of those older than 85 — have hearing loss.

Hearing problems can make it difficult to respond to warnings, understand and follow doctor’s advice, and even to hear doorbells and alarms. The good news is that there are many assistive technologies that can make living with hearing loss easier.

—Hearing aids of many styles and capabilities, some of which are hardly visible and others which can even sync up with other electronic devices.

—Amplified telephones or telephone caption services help facilitate outside communication.

—Personal infrared and FM systems make it easier to hear the television, movies, meetings and religious services.

—Computerized speech recognition software lets a computer change a spoken message into a readable text document.

—Closed-captioned TV (CCTV) shows spoken dialogue and sounds in a text display. All TVs now sold with screens of at least 13 inches must have built-in captioning.

Even the seemingly little things can make a big difference. For older seniors using hearing aids, getting the small batteries out of the package can be an exercise in frustration, as can losing those tiny batteries. Stress can also cause or exacerbate hearing loss. Packaging can ease this frustration and stress. The EZ Turn & Lock packaging for Energizer hearing aid batteries is an example of a user-focused solution that keeps the batteries from falling out, but has an easy-to-turn dial that lets you get them out when you need them with no trouble at all. Find out more at www.energizer.com.

You can learn more about hearing loss at The Better Hearing Institute www.betterhearing.org, and the Hearing Loss Association of America www.hearingloss.org.