I’ve been reading Elderhood by noted geriatrician Louise Aronson. Wondered what Dopers think of this? Great read.
There are countless examples where a different norm is listed for older adults based on averages, not outcomes, from lab tests to thresholds for intervention. In most cases, we don’t know for sure whether those different standards reflect age-specific norms or inadequately investigated age-based pathology. In training, we were told old people’s blood pressures ran high “normally” or “naturally”. When the topic was finally studied, it turned out when old people had “normal old” blood pressures - numbers that would be considered high in youth or middle-age, they had more strokes, just like the young and middle-aged.
Medical norms often shape policy that in turn harms patients. Not only is hearing loss considered “a normal part of aging”, allowing most insurance companies to refuse to pay for hearing aids, but American medicine and health policy call hearing “normal” at levels that lead to early intervention in children to improve their ability to function, learn and communicate. Meanwhile, we know older adults with hearing loss develop cognitive impairment 3.2 years sooner than those with normal hearing, and older people with mild, moderate and severe hearing loss are two, three and five times more likely to develop dementia. Although we don’t know that hearing loss causes dementia, it’s easier to treat the hearing part of that nefarious couple. Besides, hearing loss in old age is associated with functional loss, isolation, family discord, medical miscommunication, depression, anxiety and paranoia. All that scientific data on harms, but we have higher thresholds for intervention in old age and insurance doesn’t pay for hearing aids.
Or, if you prefer, If you wear a hearing aid, was the problem quickly diagnosed? - but t do not want to ask overly personal questions and you should practice safe Internet use by assuming confidentiality is not guaranteed.
I don’t wear a hearing aid but I know I have hearing loss. I am not sure I can afford thousands of dollars to purchase a hearing aid(s) at this point and I’m not sure there’s any point to seeing a doctor for hearing loss or getting diagnosed. What’s the point when I can’t afford the fix, especially if that fix is going to be imperfect?
The downside is that if my hearing gets much worse there is the real possibility of losing my job, which requires being able to converse with customers in a noisy environment, in which case I will be even less able to afford hearing aids.
But yeah, I’ve been told hearing loss is “normal” with age. (Personally, I think riding subways, being around noisy machinery, and loud music like bagpipe bands I was in and my late spouse had were more contributing than years on a calendar, but what do I know, right? I’m an old lady, now, and probably didn’t hear the question right)
I’m 72. I’ve had hearing aids for about ten years. I loved from the beginning. I’m on my third pair, and they are the best of all, Oticon Opn. And the most expensive- $6,000. No, I couldn’t afford them, but I put them on my credit card and paid them off. They are The Bomb. Four channels for different situations. They pair with my phone for calls and audiobooks. I love that I can change the volume depending on how much I want to hear. I adore my audiologist-- she really knows her stuff.
I never listened to loud music or went to rock concerts back in the day. Don’t know why I have hearing loss. Don’t really care.
I bought mine for my 60th birthday. Should’ve done it 5 years previously.
My hearing decline was well-noted because I went to an audiologist annually. Not a hearing aid salesman. Working in a high noise occupation plus being a veteran plus having been in shooting sports all adds up.
With hearing, like with glasses, there’s not much to “diagnose”. We can measure anyone’s decline in hearing sensitivity pretty objectively. Best of course if you had tests done regularly as a kid and young adult to establish your personal baseline.
What’s subjective is when the loss from ideal is bad enough to add fiddling with one more gizmo to your daily repertoire. e.g. I wanted glasses in college when my distant vision had deteriorated to 20/15 because I felt blind seeing that much more badly than I had at age 15. One of my bros has 20/150 uncorrected distance vision (though it corrects well). He’d have killed to see as well as I couldn’t / wouldn’t put up with.
Ultimately I made the decision to visit the hearing aid store not due to any specific guidance from a doctor. Just got tired of saying “What?” that often.
But trying them out was like washing filthy reading glasses; suddenly what had been fuzzy was clear and what had been unnoticeable was obvious. A real wake-up call on what I’d been missing. Definitely some of the best money I’ve ever spent on improving my life. $6K the pair with zero help from insurance, but I expect to get 6 or 8 years out of them.
Yeah. $6K would wipe out my rainy day/emergency fund. If I absolutely had to do it, OK, I guess I would, but the high cost and lack of insurance coverage is a real burden to me.
I also got the fairly fancy ones. I’m told Costco sells surprisingly good ones for more like $800/pair. Mid-level Mercedes vs Toyota Yaris: both will take you to Grandma’s house.