My original Freedom CI processor was blue. I had a blue hearing aid to go with it. My hair was short then. My N6 processor is gray, but I still have a blue hearing aid. It's 15 years later. I now have long hair, not to cover my hearing devices but because I needed/wanted a change. The other day I met a man who was struggling with hearing loss. He was with his wife. We got talking about hearing loss, etc. His hearing aids were typically visible. I asked if he had considered a cochlear implant, and took off my processor to show him what it looked like. His wife's comment was "Oh that would never work for him because people would see it, they don't notice yours because of your long hair." It was all I could do to not walk into the next salon and ask for a haircut. We talked for a while because he was interested in my CI. She continued talk about the 'visibility' issue, as if hearing wasn't important.. It's really sad that this is a barrier to people seeking the help available.

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