Wow, Mark - this was absolutely fascinating. Thank you for sharing your story.
I am very sensitive to high-pitched sounds - if there's a TV on somewhere (even on mute!), or any kind of battery charger, I certainly know about it - living in a house crammed with my husband's work tech when it's on charge is very noisy. He can't hear any of it (mind you, he's had years of playing bass in a band, so maybe that's related).
Speech, though, isn't as clear as it used to be. I think I say 'PARDON?' more often than most people my age.
I really enjoyed this one, Mark. Thanks for sharing your experience. There’s a lot of stigma/ageism around hearing loss but I think we’re only seeing the top of the iceberg, what with all the dang rock and roll and Walkmans and such. (Motley Crüe was a great choice, btw.)
I got hearing aids in my 40s, earlier than most. I let my hearing loss go for too long, so the improvement in hearing was dramatic. I remember my audiologist saying, “Wait till you hear birds. Wait till you hear water!” She also said, “The technology of hearing aids is improving as dramatically as the technology of phones!” How true.
My latest chapter in this drama is a cochlear implant, which the audiologist approved only when it was obvious that my brain couldn’t process words so that I could understand them. But the implant worked, I can understand much more now.
Thank you for sharing your story, it's comforting to read. Hearing loss is something younger people don't acknowledge, and it can be hard to describe. I have had mild tinnitus for years - I honestly don't remember a time without ringing. I also have difficulty picking out voices in a crowd or with loud ambient noise present, and prefer to have subtitles on the TV even for languages I understand. I finally took the plunge and got a referral for an audiology test in the summer, suspecting APD but wouldn't be surprised if there is a hearing loss present. Will be good to get answers, either way.
It feels important to tell you that people in Maine still talk about that Motley Crue concert. I didn't grow up here (as you know!) but every few months it seems like someone brings up going to that concert even though their parents thought they were sleeping over someone's house, or "remember Motley Crue at Old Orchard?!?" Now I know why it was so memorable.
I too have the beginnings of tinnitus. I was a musician in a (terrible) alt-rock band c. 1989 as well as playing guitar for 50 years and going to concerts, replicating those concerts in the home with powerful audio equipment, and the car stereo, the list goes on. I clean my ears out with mineral oil and my hearing is still good, but I can never rid myself of that background hissing sound. But the ear is also a metaphor; 'he who has ears shall hear', or Nietzsche's 'small-eared animal' as being the most discriminating culturally. Mahler too uses this metaphor in his song about birds having a singing contest and the Philistine of a cuckoo being the judge. The point is obvious. Spock is to be distinguished by his ears; his species' logic is as pointed. The recent film (for young people) 'The Sound of Metal' explores the ironies of losing the one thing a musician cannot lose. Then again, some historians feel that Beethoven's hearing loss prompted him to write more revolutionary music than he might have otherwise done. But as for your piece, I can only say 'Hear, Hear!'.
Thanks for sharing, I really loved this one! Oddly enough, I have had my hearing tested too - I had swimmer’s ear something like eight times in a two year period (turns out chlorine and I are not friends; I had to quit swimming lessons). So my family doctor sent me to get tested, to make sure there was no damage. At this point, I was about a year into my eye disease, and my parents were like “we’re pretty sure it’s fine, she can bloody well hear everything in our house.”
Anyway my hearing was significantly above average and continues to be so. Senses compensating is real. While I don’t want hearing loss, I imagine there are some advantages now and again. I think of my partner’s grandfather, who would just shut off his hearing aids when he was tired of the noise made by his kids and grandkids and wanted to go to bed. Also the capabilities now, like you discussed are pretty cool. Thank you again for this slice of hearing loss life.
I think it's great you're writing about your hearing loss Mark. The more people bring it to the forefront the sooner others will accept it for themselves. I see many of my younger patients wearing hearing aids which is great since loss of hearing can be one of the risk factors for cognitive decline.
Wow, Mark - this was absolutely fascinating. Thank you for sharing your story.
I am very sensitive to high-pitched sounds - if there's a TV on somewhere (even on mute!), or any kind of battery charger, I certainly know about it - living in a house crammed with my husband's work tech when it's on charge is very noisy. He can't hear any of it (mind you, he's had years of playing bass in a band, so maybe that's related).
Speech, though, isn't as clear as it used to be. I think I say 'PARDON?' more often than most people my age.
I really enjoyed this one, Mark. Thanks for sharing your experience. There’s a lot of stigma/ageism around hearing loss but I think we’re only seeing the top of the iceberg, what with all the dang rock and roll and Walkmans and such. (Motley Crüe was a great choice, btw.)
I got hearing aids in my 40s, earlier than most. I let my hearing loss go for too long, so the improvement in hearing was dramatic. I remember my audiologist saying, “Wait till you hear birds. Wait till you hear water!” She also said, “The technology of hearing aids is improving as dramatically as the technology of phones!” How true.
My latest chapter in this drama is a cochlear implant, which the audiologist approved only when it was obvious that my brain couldn’t process words so that I could understand them. But the implant worked, I can understand much more now.
Thank you for sharing your story, it's comforting to read. Hearing loss is something younger people don't acknowledge, and it can be hard to describe. I have had mild tinnitus for years - I honestly don't remember a time without ringing. I also have difficulty picking out voices in a crowd or with loud ambient noise present, and prefer to have subtitles on the TV even for languages I understand. I finally took the plunge and got a referral for an audiology test in the summer, suspecting APD but wouldn't be surprised if there is a hearing loss present. Will be good to get answers, either way.
Great piece Mark. That really resonated.
It feels important to tell you that people in Maine still talk about that Motley Crue concert. I didn't grow up here (as you know!) but every few months it seems like someone brings up going to that concert even though their parents thought they were sleeping over someone's house, or "remember Motley Crue at Old Orchard?!?" Now I know why it was so memorable.
I too have the beginnings of tinnitus. I was a musician in a (terrible) alt-rock band c. 1989 as well as playing guitar for 50 years and going to concerts, replicating those concerts in the home with powerful audio equipment, and the car stereo, the list goes on. I clean my ears out with mineral oil and my hearing is still good, but I can never rid myself of that background hissing sound. But the ear is also a metaphor; 'he who has ears shall hear', or Nietzsche's 'small-eared animal' as being the most discriminating culturally. Mahler too uses this metaphor in his song about birds having a singing contest and the Philistine of a cuckoo being the judge. The point is obvious. Spock is to be distinguished by his ears; his species' logic is as pointed. The recent film (for young people) 'The Sound of Metal' explores the ironies of losing the one thing a musician cannot lose. Then again, some historians feel that Beethoven's hearing loss prompted him to write more revolutionary music than he might have otherwise done. But as for your piece, I can only say 'Hear, Hear!'.
Thanks for sharing, I really loved this one! Oddly enough, I have had my hearing tested too - I had swimmer’s ear something like eight times in a two year period (turns out chlorine and I are not friends; I had to quit swimming lessons). So my family doctor sent me to get tested, to make sure there was no damage. At this point, I was about a year into my eye disease, and my parents were like “we’re pretty sure it’s fine, she can bloody well hear everything in our house.”
Anyway my hearing was significantly above average and continues to be so. Senses compensating is real. While I don’t want hearing loss, I imagine there are some advantages now and again. I think of my partner’s grandfather, who would just shut off his hearing aids when he was tired of the noise made by his kids and grandkids and wanted to go to bed. Also the capabilities now, like you discussed are pretty cool. Thank you again for this slice of hearing loss life.
I think it's great you're writing about your hearing loss Mark. The more people bring it to the forefront the sooner others will accept it for themselves. I see many of my younger patients wearing hearing aids which is great since loss of hearing can be one of the risk factors for cognitive decline.