Can You Hear Me Now?

Posted by Michael Lye on July 18, 2008

It would be no surprise to any of us that as we get older our bodies change. Though disease and accidents can significantly affect our abilities, the alterations that are the result of a typical aging process are more progressive and predictable. For many of us our initial confrontation with aging occurs when we try to read a menu in a dimly lit restaurant and can no longer make out what’s being offered. With much regret this may begin the search for our first pair of reading glasses. Often by the time we reach our early forties we’ll begin to notice a decline in our ability to easily see as a result of changes in our eyes. Typically by this time in our lives the lens of our eyes stiffens and becomes denser making it harder to see up close or to rapidly change our focus, our lenses yellow changing our perceptions of the colors and contrast in the world around us, and our pupils react more slowly to changes in brightness making it harder to see when going from a dark room to bright sunlight.

Clearly we’re no longer the same people we were ten or twenty years ago! 

After the eyes, one of the next things we might notice as we get older is some difficulty hearing. Perhaps at first it’s just a little difficulty hearing someone in a noisy restaurant or party, but at some point even quiet conversations can devolve into guessing games. Some of these changes may be the result of exposure to loud sounds – music, noisy engines or machines for example – but some are also the result of changes in our bodies due to the aging process. We may lose some of our ability to hear as nerve cells atrophy and our eardrum thickens and becomes less sensitive. The capacity to hear high frequencies often goes first, affecting our ability to discern consonants.

The overall volume of what we hear may seem to become lower. People around us may seem to begin to mumble more often. All of this makes it harder to understand words and to have conversations or engage with the people near us. Social situations can become a cause for concern and anxiety rather than something we might look forward to or enjoy. And though it’s easy to just chalk this up to getting old, these changes can have a profound impact on the future course of our lives. Hearing loss can lead to difficulties communicating with our co-workers or the ones closest to us, stressing our relationships and affecting our careers. The distraction, loss of concentration and inattentiveness that can accompany hearing loss can make all of our daily activities harder. 

The impacts from changes in our ears can lead to isolation or withdrawal and a lack of participation in our social life. A loss of hearing can even lead to other physical consequences. Stress, problems eating or sleeping, tiredness and exhaustion, even increased blood pressure can result from not managing our problems hearing. The embarrassment that may be felt when we can’t hear clearly can also leave us feeling shamed or guilty, or even lead us into depression. All of these impacts affect the quality of our lives and our health at any age. When combined, especially as we get older, the effects of a loss of hearing can accelerate a functional decline in our abilities and increase the likelihood of requiring significantly longer durations and higher levels of care near the end of our lives. And in 10-20 years, as a generation of Americans that grew up with loud music and access to portable CD players and iPods, reach retirement age and beyond, these problems are going to have an enormous impact on long-term care for all of us. Those rock concerts and portable music players may not sound quite so good after all!

The good news is that all of the negative impacts of these changes can be mitigated. Protecting your ears will avoid much of hearing loss due to noise exposure. The general physical and psychological declines that can accompany hearing loss can be avoided by dealing with and treating the hearing loss early. Although getting a hearing aid might seem like a pretty big deal for most people in denial of their hearing loss or the aging process, wearing hearing aids can significantly improve quality of life and prevent some need for skilled nursing care in the future. Pretty impressive for something so small!