The Time for Hearing Aids

The time for hearing aids was fast approaching for Boomer reader Paula Magdalena Vidal. She shares her experiences, including amusing results.

For the last few years, I have been entertaining the idea of getting hearing aids. I was having difficulty hearing my granddaughters but assumed their voices were just low and soft. I couldn’t hear the television and often asked speakers to repeat their remarks. At my yearly physical the doctor tested me and said I had minor hearing loss and then moderate hearing loss a few years later. The otolaryngologist agreed and sent me for more detailed evaluations. If the aging process is kicking into gear, then now might be the time for hearing aids.

I view this as positive movement, not as deterioration, with some mixed reactions. Everything I replace begets an improvement. I can see better when driving at night since having cataract surgery, although I can no longer see anything up close without reading glasses. I had hip replacement surgery so my new hip is pain free, but my swimsuit modeling days are over. How will hearing aids help improve my quality of life?

According to the National Council on Aging, of people aged 65 and older, 31.1% experience hearing loss and the numbers increase to 40.3% of adults aged 75. Studies show approximately 28.8 million American adults could significantly benefit from wearing a hearing aid. Only 16% of people aged 20 to 69 have ever used one, while just 30% of those age 70 and above have done so. Hearing loss is on the rise in the United States, is expected to almost double by the year 2060, and is not reversible. Recent studies indicate that the risk of developing cognitive problems, including dementia, is double for those with hearing loss – there was the deal breaker for me!

According to my doctor, after reaching the time for hearing aids it takes the average person seven years to make the leap. I signed on for mine recently so I am in the proactive stages, having made the decision while I still have some ranges of normal hearing. I will hopefully avoid the negative consequences of uncorrected hearing loss such as cognitive decline, dementia, social isolation, and an increased risk of falls.

I can now hear more than I may need to in so many ways, thanks to the blessings of Bluetooth technology. When my cellphone rings, I hear it through my new devices. That’s an improvement since I was having difficulty hearing on my cellphone. However, sometimes when my cellphone rings it buzzes on my watch. Is it my phone or my heart rate monitor buzzing? I am ringing in different directions, not sure how or where to answer my calls. In the car, I can’t decipher where the call is. It might be coming through the car speakers, or it may be in my ears. I have lost calls already simply because I couldn’t figure out how to answer them quickly enough. I have told my frequent callers to be patient with me while I entangle this technology.

Recently my granddaughter asked me if she could listen to YouTube on my phone when we were driving. We hooked her up and there she sat, content with Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande, Melanie Martinez and others. I had to get out of the car to speak to someone and could see her waving wildly at me. When I got back in the car, I understood what she was trying to tell me. Her music was now my music and she wasn’t hearing it because it was streaming directly into my new hearing aids. Oh, no! That is not where I want her music to be.

So, without a doubt, I am hearing better and getting used to the aids. However, I may never get used to SZA, Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj and the rest of the girl singers … streaming into my universe.

Paula Magdalena Vidal is a freelance writer, retired educator, parent and grandparent. She is currently working on a memoir about the loss of her son. She resides in Long Island, NY and has published in Newsday, The Babylon Herald and South Bay Neighbor.

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