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About hearing loss

How hearing loss affects your life

Your hearing is one of your most precious senses.  This is because hearing is essential for communicating, participating, socializing, relaxing and interacting. Hearing helps you to fully enjoy your life.

Hearing loss will disrupt all aspects of your life; professional, family and social life will be impacted. This is because it affects your ability to communicate and participate and it may lead to feeling frustrated, discouraged, embarrassed, isolated and even depressed.

Our blog on 'Everything you need to know about hearing loss' has details on signs and symptoms of hearing loss, why you should have your hearing tested and information on available rebates, funding or compensation.

There are five stages that people go through when coping with hearing loss and they are similar to the stages people go through when they grieve a passing of a loved one or any loss that alters their life. Before you can come to terms with hearing loss, you will go through the following five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. The duration of each stage varies greatly from individual to individual and it may be a process of moving forward and backwards through the stages.

At MAC our audiologists understand the emotional impact of hearing loss and can empathize and help you work through each stage.

 

Denial The first stage is denying any hearing difficulty. If you attend a hearing assessment, it is only on the insistence of a family member. You may deny any difficulties, "my hearing is fine, you speak very softly"
Anger When you can no longer deny it, for example after a diagnosis of hearing loss, feelings of anger, rage, envy and resentment may ensue, and you may lash out blaming others and anything in your frustration.
Bargaining
A period of bargaining follows, this is really an attempt to postpone getting your hearing tested or purchasing hearing aids. You may make excuses.
"my hearing isn't that bad if only people didn't mumble"
Depression Anger and postponement are soon replaced with a sense of loss and sinking into depression, you become tired of saying "pardon", "what" and begin to withdraw "I won't go to the club because I can't hear what is going on"
Acceptance
You will sooner or later come to terms with the hearing loss and seek a solution
"what can I do to hear better"

It is important to address hearing loss earlier rather than later because long term untreated sensorineural (or permanent conductive) hearing loss leads to auditory deprivation; a weakening of the auditory neural system affecting the brain's ability to understand speech. Auditory deprivation can also occur with poorly fitted hearing aids that do not deliver adequate sound to the brain or with monaurally fitted hearing aids when there is a hearing loss in both ears. 

Should I use one or two hearing aids?

Just like trying to look both ways with one eye, walking with one leg or trying to cut your steak with one hand, hearing with only one ear is also difficult, limiting and physically tiring.

Brains are designed to work with two ears. Information from both ears is used to help you identify the direction of sounds, distinguish speech in noise and deliver a balanced stereo quality to sound. Read more to find out how two well-fitted hearing aids will benefit you...
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Impact of untreated hearing loss over time

Hearing loss, in most cases, occurs gradually over time. As a result, many people wait months or even longer before seeking professional help. You cannot delay doing something about your hearing loss and think that it will not affect you.

This is because, understanding sounds that you hear including speech, involves so much more than just the ear. Once the ear has detected sound, it is sent via neural pathways to the many areas of the brain that process it. This allows you to understand what the ear has detected, whether it is music, environmental sounds or the spoken words. It is your brain that actually “hears and understands”.
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Keep hearing aid batteries out of the reach of children

Batteries used in hearing aids are small “button” size batteries and may be a hazard to young children. In fact, these small coin size batteries are found everywhere in the home including in TV remote controls, kitchen and bathroom scales, flameless candles and tea lights, reading lights, calculators, and talking books, not only hearing aids.

Due to the relatively high number of batteries used with hearing aids - hearing aid batteries will last between 1 and 4 weeks - it is important that all hearing aid users and carers of people using hearing aids are vigilant at keeping batteries out of sight and out of the reach of children. Keep reading to find out more...
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