A Cute Earring?*

Windy today, isn't it?
No, it's Thursday.
Thirsty? Let's go get a beer.

A few years ago, I noticed that one of my friends had developed a lisp. I was surprised, because her diction had always been pretty good. The thing is, no one else heard the lisp, and I realized that the problem was all in my head. Specifically, my hearing.

According to Statscan, almost 35% of adults 60 or older have some kind of hearing loss. Because it's often gradual, many people are slow to realize that they are nor hearing as well as they used to. Here's a clue: if you find yourself saying 'Pardon?' a lot - or if people are lisping - then you might have hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss has a name- presbycusis (or you could just call it 'annoying'). It generally affects both ears equally. There are a number of causes, but one of the most common is the gradual loss of tiny hairs in the ear that translate the air pressure waves (speech and music, for instance) into electrical impulses. If those are damaged or lost, they don't grow back.

Hearing can be affected by different medical conditions and/or short and long-term exposure to excessive noise (like listening to Cream in the Capitol Theatre in the 60s, or Supertramp at the Civic Centre in the 70s, or The Who in Detroit in the 80s). Not incidentally, this does not bode well for all those people cranking the volume on ear buds at the gym or on the bus.

Hearing loss can affect your social life, work performance, safety. Perhaps most importantly, it can lead to cognitive decline at the very time in your life when you need to preserve it.

Best advice if you suspect you have hearing loss? Get a test. Ask your doctor for a recommendation, or just book yourself into one of the many area hearing companies. (Have you noticed they seem to be more of them around? There's reason for that- us.) Be aware that you may have to get a gizmo to help you hear, but they can be unobtrusive devices worn behind the ear, or even in the ear, depending on circumstances. Some people call then 'hearing aids', but of course 'audio enhancement instrument' or 'bionic ears' have a better ring.

Btw, an unexpected benefit of getting your full hearing back is that music is fuller and richer. But get your hearing checked. You'll like it, and the people around you will like it

T New

* Monty Python, A Cute Earring