Exercises to improve your hearing?

DEAR JIM:  My hearing has gotten worse over the past few years (I’m 72), and it is frustrating – and embarrassing - in social situations when people have to repeat themselves to me when I can’t hear what they are saying. It’s my own fault because I haven’t had my hearing checked for a long time, and I really don’t like the thought of having to wear a hearing aid.  I know there probably aren’t any “exercises” for hearing loss, but I thought I would ask anyway.  SUFFERING IN SILENCE IN SAN DIEGO

DEAR SUFFERING:  Believe it or not, there really ARE exercises for improving your hearing.  Well, sort of. 

While actual hearing loss can usually not be reversed, sometimes there are “focus exercises” that can help you to better concentrate on what you are hearing.  In other words, you may not be suffering from hearing loss as much as a lack of focus on what is being said. 

On the other hand, you may only have conductive hearing loss, which, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America , is  “the most easily treated type of hearing loss, which occurs when the sound vibrations are not being conducted through the outer and middle ears effectively. This can be due to wax build-up or an infection in the ear canal, fluid buildup or an infection behind the eardrum, damage to the eardrum or ossicles, or thickening of the eardrum or ossicles. Some of these are remedied easily, some require medication, and other require surgery, which may not be able to fully restore the hearing.”

Of course, the only way you are going to know for sure if you really have hearing loss – or not - is to get checked by your doctor.  So what are you waiting for?  Even if you do eventually have to wear a hearing aid, it will greatly improve your quality of life, so what’s the downside?  Vanity?  One of the advantages of today’s modern technology is that the new hearing aids are so small and unobtrusive that no one else even knows you are wearing one most of the time anyway.

For answers to other questions you might have about hearing loss and solutions, click HERE. 

Jim Evans is a 44-year veteran of the health and fitness industry and internationally recognized fitness consultant.  He is a member of the Visionary Board of the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA).