I’ve known for some time that I don’t hear as well as I should. It’s become a habit to turn to Gerry in all kinds of situations and ask “What did he/she say?”. I became especially aware of the problem when Makiya and Laurinda (temporarily) moved in with us. The three of them were united in suggesting maybe it was time to do something about it.
I picked up my pair of brand new hearing aids from Costco yesterday afternoon and the world became a louder place. I’m experiencing a measure of sensory overload so, it’s in that spirit, my Friday Fave Five post today is a list of things I’m hearing louder and clearer and that will take some getting used to.
The crinkle of a paper bag. I hadn’t eaten all day so stopped by Starbucks after my appointment for a drink and a slice of banana loaf. The sound of the brown paper sleeve they handed the banana loaf to me in was extremely loud and annoying!
The sound of my dogs nails tapping on the floor. As usual, when I arrived home from my appointment, the dogs came to the door to greet me. The cacophony of them running across the floor was absolutely stunning to me. Is that what everyone else has been hearing all this time?
My hair brushing against my collar. Who in the world knew that made a noise? I don’t think it’s supposed to, and I expect I’ll stop hearing that eventually. Try as she might, Makiya was not able to hear the sound of her hair brushing against her collar so I’m assuming it’ll fade to nothingness.
The sound of my own voice. Does anyone really like the sound of their own voice? Mine is clearer than ever now, and I don’t like it any better.
The rustling of Kleenex and bathroom tissue. I’ll spare you the details, but oh my word!
I’m told my brain needs time to adjust to these changes and that they’ll sound more normal to me in time. For now, it’s just a sensory overloaded world. I am looking forward to getting out in nature and experiencing my new supercharged hearing powers, though. 🙂
There are some cool features with these aids like being able to use on my phone with them (not that I talk on the phone) or listen to podcasts and music through them (that might come in handy).
It’s a time of change and adjustment. What’s new?
As a spouse of a ‘hearing-aid wearer’, three cheers for leaking the leap. Everyone wins!
Whoops – for Taking the leap!
Yes, I’m sure it’ll be better for everyone in the long run. Sure will take some adjusting though!
My daughter had tubes put in her ears after a year of recurring ear infections & fluid behind the ear drum. Everything was so loud to her, she kept covering up her ears. I didn’t notice it so much when I got my hearing aids, but I love hearing the phone through them. I don’t have to hold the phone to my ear.
I’ve appreciated the phone feature already too, Joyce. Very handy!
Well done for accepting you needed the hearing aids. My husband took a long time to get his hearing checked out and it turned out he needed 2 hearing aids. I hope you can persevere with the new sounds although I’m sure it must be hard at first but the benefits of being able to hear properly will be worth it. Sadly my late grandmother left it very late to accept she needed hearing aid and like you found the noise overwhelming and was forever turning her hearing aids off so that she never adjusted to wearing them and we all continued to have to raise our voices lol.
I can understand how it would be very hard to adjust if one waited too long to get hearing aids. I’m on day 2 and it’s already easier. I’m hopeful!
I wear hearing aids too, Linda! Got them a couple of years ago. Sounds like we have similar sets that can be adjusted with our phones, we can listen to music and podcasts, etc. Perhaps your hearing aids are turned up too high. Have you tried adjusting them down to the point where noises (and your own voice) aren’t so loud, but you’re still able to hear others’ voices without difficulty?
Ah, a kindred! The audiologist turned them down to 90% because they were too much when I first put them on. I think I’ll leave them where they are until I see him again in two weeks rather than play around.
I’m glad you found the answer to your hearing issues. I was going to say what your last commenter said…perhaps they just need some adjusting? i know my mother in law is always adjusting hers.
It’ll probably be a process of trying and adjusting. I’m going to leave them alone until I go back for my follow-up appointment and hope I’m used to them by then. 🙂
A family member has hearing aids. He takes them out when he doesn’t want to be bothered by the extra noise.
As everyone else mentioned, you will adjust in time. It is a blessing, though, to be able to hear the voices of loved ones and the music of leaves blowing in the wind.
Enjoy your sensory adjustment weekend 🙂
I went outside yesterday afternoon and was amazed by the birdsong!! So beautiful!
I started using hearing aids during Covid, but with wearing a mask and pulling it off and on, I was often struggling with dislodging them, and gave up. Yesterday, a friend gently suggested I give them another try. It does make a world of difference, as you’ve noticed.
The first thing I did when I left Costco was pull off my face mask and the hearing aids went flying. Thank goodness we don’t have to wear masks any more—except Costco is requiring them for hearing appointments.
Your experience reminds me of when we got a note from my oldest son’s school that he might need glasses. We took him to the eye dr., and when he got his glasses, he was amazed at what he could now see. We felt bad that we didn’t realize he needed glasses, but he didn’t realize what he wasn’t seeing and so couldn’t tell us.
My m-i-l had hearing aids for years, as long as I had known her. But she needed new ones, yet didn’t want to admit it. She kept telling us to “just speak up,” but we were shouting. When she moved to be near us and my husband began officiating her care, he gently insisted that he take her to an audiologist. Even when I took her to pick up the new aids, she kept saying, “I think what I have is fine.” But once she got her new ones, she was pleased. And it was much easier on all the rest of us. She had trouble in crowds, differentiating what people close to her were saying from the background noise. I imagine hearing aids these days probably have ways to deal with that. I didn’t know they made them now so you could hear the phone and music through them! Neat! I hope you can get adjusted to the new level of hearing soon. I’m sure that’s disconcerting and overwhelming to hear every little thing so loudly at first.