Hearing Help

In the – I am not getting any younger department, my hearing has never been bionic, but suddenly it worsened.

I am a long time fan of closed captioning. So much so that I miss it in movie theatres and live performances.:)

I have repurposed my Bose Quiet headphones that I bought for traveling to work with the TV. I use my AirPods for phone calls. I text a lot. I was managing just fine, but saying “What?” “I’m sorry I didn’t get that” a lot

All of that changed overnight last month when I caught a cold and ruptured an eardrum, significantly diminishing my hearing in what previously had been my good ear. I always expected hearing loss to be like eyesight- diminishing over time- not here one day gone the next.

I have contemporaries who sing the praises of their hearing aids and I am not opposed – although I do have a lot going on behind my ears these days with glasses, a mask and a hair band. However it takes weeks turning into months to be seen and tested.

Hearing aids are considered prescription products, but are not generally covered by health insurance and can cost thousands of dollars. As a result- When I volunteered as a letter reader for a non profit, screening requests for grants, hearing aids was near the top of the ask list. I suggested to my husband that for thousands of dollars, he could speak up:)

In the meantime my phone is helping me get by.

First up- Live Transcribe- You press record and the words being said around you are transcribed onto your phone screen in a large font. It’s like having your own personal closed captioning in your pocket – I should have known there would be an app for that:).

I use it on zoom calls and at the dinner table ( breaking my no phones at the table rule) No more smiling and wondering what everyone is saying like I was in a noisy restaurant trying to read lips.

I still could not hear running water or the dogs underfoot…. But it was a start

Then, continuing to take the self help approach – I acquired ear buds that double as sound amplifiers/ hearing enhancers. There is a whole laundry list of what you can and can’t call hearing aids – but whatever you call them – these are super magic….. they sync with the phone and the tv- There are separate modes – restaurant – home -street and more that you control with your phone along with the volume . The first time I wore them outside, I was amazed at all the bird calls, I have apparently been missing up until know- unexpected perk

Like AirPods they work with seamlessly with your music and phone calls….hearing enhancement is the bonus.

It tests your hearing in each ear during set up. I imagine audiologists would scoff- but for now they are helping me, until I can get an appointment to be seen.

You can buy them on Amazon or direct from Nuheara

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