Hi Irene. It sounds as if we have had similar experiences with progressive hearing loss. Diagnosed as a 21 year old college student, I was told by some of the best medical experts in the field that I would be 'deaf' by age 40. They could give me no reason for this happening to me. Today, after doing a lot of personal research on hearing loss, and meeting so many others like me through HLAA, I'm quite certain I had a genetic predisposition to sensorineural hearing loss, and that noise I was exposed to exacerbated it. I was told that there would be nothing available in my lifetime that would change that, and that hearing aids would not help me. That diagnosis was in 1962. Because my loss was mild at that time I didn't take it too seriously. It progressed significantly over the next 10 years.

Because I had been given no hope for anything to improve, I resisted getting help. It cost me my career, and turned an outgoing person into a semi recluse. Thankfully, I had supportive family. A turning point happened when a regional university communication disorders department gave me the opportunity to be retested. I was fitted with hearing aids that helped somewhat in quiet settings. A second turning point was when I learned about HLAA and became involved. Meeting other people who were going through this same thing let me know I was not alone. That truly gave me my life back, as I watched how people were able to cope with hearing loss by using technology and by truly understanding what was going on. I might add, that that add on technology can make a huge difference for most of us in many situations. Try it if you can

Today, I have a cochlear implant, which I use with a hearing aid. It has done wonders for me. I only wish I might have had the CI opportunity earlier. In my 40s, I returned to school for a graduate degree. In my 50s, I resumed my career, and worked past retirement age. I doubt I'd have had these successes without the support and education that HLAA made available to me.

Prior to the 80s, very little research was done on hearing loss, especially on the potential for cures and solutions. It was more about 'what should we do with these deaf people?', and deaf and hard of hearing people were all lumped together in research. Today there is a great deal of research being done, and the word 'cure' is mentioned in much of it.

Our experience is similar. Noise was a big piece of my life before anyone knew that noise damaged hearing. No ear plugs then. Sensorineural hearing loss leads us to believe that we have 'nerve damage'. Cochlear implants work because they bypass the inner ear where the damage really occurs, and stimulate the auditory nerve, which is just waiting to stimulated so it can send sound to the brain. It's pretty amazing stuff.

I hope you find the support you are looking for. Living WELL with hearing loss is possible. You just need to find the coping mechanisms that work best for you, along with the technology that makes a difference.

Keep us posted on your experiences.

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