Finding out that you have hearing loss can be an emotional rollercoaster. All your life, you’ve quite happily lived in the knowledge that you’re able to hear the world around you. But when you get a diagnosis of hearing loss, it can send you into a crisis. You feel a mixture of panic, grief, and sadness. It’s not a pleasant experience.
Often, though, the feelings you have are more a reflection of your expectations, not reality. You might believe that your hearing will continue to decline and that you’ll eventually go deaf. And you might think that there’s nothing you can do to prevent the progression of symptoms. You tell yourself you may never hear again.
Of course, none of this is true. Modern science has come up with all sorts of solutions to hearing loss. Some of the best hearing aids can help you listen to sounds that you haven’t heard in many years, such as birdsong or the sound of children playing. And other therapies provided by audiologists can get to the bottom of any issues in your ear canal or inner ear that might be preventing the transmission of sound.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that you can do to cope with a diagnosis of hearing loss and why it’s not a reason to panic.
Most People With Hearing Loss Have Options
The first thing to tell yourself is that you still have options. There are plenty of things that you can do to mitigate your hearing loss and get back to health. As discussed, you can get hearing aids – small devices that you put in your ears to amplify and clarify incoming sounds. Hearing aids can make it easy to listen to voices in a crowded room so that you’re not struggling all the time to concentrate on the conversation when you go out.
Hearing aids also make it much easier to hear specific tones. Your hearing health expert will run a series of tests to determine the frequencies you can’t hear and then calibrate your device to amplify them.
Don’t Bottle Up Your Feelings
Losing a sense is a little bit like losing a person you love. You feel as if your loss will forever impoverish your life.
It is essential to allow yourself to feel these emotions. Losing function in a part of your body is always tough. The grieving process is a necessary part of the healing process as it allows you to come to terms with what’s happened and find closure.
Adopt Strategies That Make It Easier To Hear The World Around You
People with hearing loss should adopt a range of strategies that make it easier for them to hear the world around them. By doing this, you encourage greater communication and less friction. Strategies include:
- Asking people you know to talk slowly and clearly without covering their mouths
- Speaking in quiet places without lots of people around
- Turning off background noises like the TV and dishwasher during a conversation
Hopefully this article provides you some comfort!
Thank you for reading!
