I have been wearing hearing aids for the past couple of years. A hearing test taken annually was always on my list of health activities to get done on a regular basis. On the day I decided to get my hearing aids, I told the person conducting the test that I was having trouble hearing over background noise. It was not unusual to strain to hear what the person in front of me was saying if I was in a crowded room with others carrying on conversations or just a noisy background.

     I was told I have subjective hearing. My test showed that I was hearing well, but I could not hear the highest tone in one ear. Ofcourse it was up to me to make the decision to wear hearing aids. The auditory test showed I did not need them but my life showed that I did in fact need them.

     So many times I hear jokes about this type of hearing loss concerning people hearing what they want to hear, but in all seriousness, subjective hearing loss is anything but funny. 

     To be clear, objective hearing loss can be seen on auditory test results, subjective hearing loss, not so much.

     It is so frustrating trying to hear over the din or trying to hear a person talking to me at a distance, whether the person is in another room or down the hallway. When someone is asked to repeat what was said, most of the time it is no problem, but on rare occasions, one can see the irritation.

     These hearing aids I have are expensive, but as I get older there is one motto that I say more often than not, that is, sometimes it is more expensive not to do something.

     The representative told me that unchecked hearing loss has a link with dementia and that women going through menopause can experience some degree of hearing loss due to the drop in estrogen. Who knew that estrogen helps with our hearing?

     If a person waits too long to get needed hearing aids, it could be too late. The hearing aids will not reverse hearing loss but can help if the loss is minimal to moderate.

     Are the hearing aids helping me? After two years that has yet to be determined.

     I was driving and heard a high-pitched sound. I thought it was my brakes but it could have been my hearing aids which almost never gives that annoying feedback heard with some hearing aids.

     During a recent re-check, I told my hearing representative that I still have trouble with background noise. Because they are synced with my phone, she went to the settings and saw it was on noisy background instead of universal. The noisy setting closes off hearing to the sides and behind me, letting me focus hearing clearly on what the person in front of me is saying. Universal means that I basically have surround sound. Again, who knew?

     She changed it to universal since I have people talking to me from various points in my environment throughout the day. The noisy setting is for an intimate dinner at a restaurant.

     Because my hearing aids are synced to my phone, I can listen to the news and music. Matter of fact, when I take them off of the charger in the morning and insert them in my ears one by one, each one plays three to four chords of music like the type you hear before a movie starts, so apropos at the beginning of the day.

     My hearing aids do not look cool because they are the kind in which the amplifier is behind the ear, announcing to the world that I have a hearing problem. I am not self -conscious about it unless I have to take one of my hearing aids completely out to reposition it when I inadvertently move it by adjusting my glasses. 

     The temples of my glasses compete for the same space as my amplifier. Most of the time my glasses win. Thus, forcing me to re-anchor my entire hearing aid.

     I would have been mortified as a teenager, but as a middle-aged adult, all I have to do is think of just how much I am paying for them and how losing one is like losing the equivalent of the price of a motorcycle and all of a sudden I can start juggling both of them for any audience without any degree of self-consciousness as long as I do not lose them and am aware of their location at any given time.

     I always hear about people losing their hearing aids. Plan A: It is my ultimate goal to leave the house with both of them and return with both of them. Plan B: See Plan A.

     I did try the hip looking model that does look like BlueTooth devices, but the fit hurt the outside of my ear canal and they could have easily fallen out so I rejected this model because of Plan A and Plan B.

     I have the option of live listening which is so sensitive I can hear the wind blowing, but if I forget to turn it off, I can be met with an unexpected and startling cacophony.

     All in all, I am glad to have my hearing aids. A person with hearing loss can be helped if it is detected early. Because my hearing loss is deemed subjective, sometimes I think I do not need them, but once the crowd comes, I hang on to them like security blankets muffling the roar.

 Postscript: When I am traveling, I use Mary Kay's Timewise The Go Set, a compact way to carry my skincare regimen with me wherever I go.

                                                                                  GOD FIRST, FAMILY SECOND, CAREER THIRD