How I Finally Grew to Love My Hearing Aids

Still, I resisted getting hearing aids. Why? I had hip replacement and cataract surgery without hesitation, although both procedures are far more invasive than stuffing a device in my ear. There’s no pain, anesthetic or physical therapy involved in getting hearing aids, so why did I keep putting it off? Because they’d make me feel “old?” I have silver hair, a more obvious sign of aging than wearing a barely visible hearing aid. Cost? Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids and they can be darned expensive.

My moment of reckoning came when I was referred to an ear, nose and throat doctor for an ailment that led to a hearing test. I was diagnosed with “moderate” hearing loss, but declined getting hearing aids until the doctor pointed out sound reasons (pun intended) why they were necessary.

There are any number of studies, including one conducted by the National Institutes of Health in 2025, indicating that seniors with hearing loss stand a greater risk of developing dementia and are prone to depression. Cognitive abilities (including memory and concentration) decline faster in older adults with hearing loss. The longer I “managed” my hearing loss, the more difficult it would be to adjust to hearing aids later.

I recalled that my mother was my age when she got hearing aids. As cumbersome as they were in her day, she was so grateful to be able to amplify sound that she became an advocate for hearing aids, even taking a job as a receptionist at a hearing clinic. But my recollection of my mother repeatedly tapping her ear as though “testing 1-2-3” and then going through a laborious process of changing batteries may well have influenced me negatively. How different the technology is today — no batteries, and I can control volume and multiple other functions through my smartphone.

I’m now able to hear my husband, although he indeed mumbles. I hear birds chirping and leaves rustling. I also hear myself chew and nearly jump out of my skin when our Airedales bark. With so much buzzing, humming and clattering going on that I couldn’t hear before, I’m discovering that we live in a very noisy world. I’m learning to adjust to that, too, because it means I’m no longer missing out on anything. In fact, I’m coming around to being an advocate myself.

My friend Pamela, who doesn’t mind wearing eyeglasses or using a walking stick, refuses to get hearing aids and scolds me for “not speaking up.” She insists she can’t wear hearing aids because her inner ear canal is too small. After a quick check online, I thought I’d solved her problem. “You can get fitted with small Receiver-in-Canal (RIC) or Behind-the-Ear (BTE) hearing aids with custom-made earmolds,” I told her. Then, practically shouting, I was forced to repeat myself.

“Hmm, I’ll have to look into that sometime,” she mumbled vaguely, “or you could just try speaking up!”

I haven’t given up on her yet.