Hearing Loss and Baby Boomers
It's a fact! We baby boomers are getting to retirement age, and many of
us are experience hearing loss! In fact, some studies show that a far
greater percentage of us are experiencing it than any previous generation.
Given the years of noise exposure, concerts, Walkmen, iPods, etc., I guess
that's not too surprising.
It appears that we're also not doing a very good job of dealing with
our hearing loss. That's not new behavior, and I'm hoping that our
generation is the one to change it.
October 2006 - Could
you repeat that? Baby Boomers are getting early hearing loss
October 2006 - Here's a great synopsis of baby
boomers' hearing loss, how it's affecting their lives, and what they're
(not) doing about it.
October 2006 - What to Expect
from a Complete Hearing Test
March 2007 - Hearing loss a blessing and a curse
for boomer
June 2007 -
Do Baby Boomers Fear Hearing Loss? No Way, Man!
June 2007 - Sonic Boomers: Will Boomers Buy Sleek,
HiTech Aids?
July 2007 - New Advances in Digital Hearing Aids Can Help
Baby Boomers Take Matters into Their Own Hands
July 2007 - To Purchase a Hearing Aid or Not?
March 2010 - Despite what you may have heard, there's no
boom in deafness
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October
2006
Think
of hearing loss and it may conjure up the image of an aged grandparent
leaning forward, cupping a hand behind one ear and shouting: "What
did you say?" While gradual loss of hearing is a common occurrence as
we pile up the birthdays, it's no longer an affliction only of those in
their senior years. Baby boomers, that postwar demographic whose
generational mantra could be summed up as "forever young," are
also beginning to join the ranks of the hard of hearing - and they don't
like it one bit. "Hearing loss, especially age-related hearing loss,
is thought to be something that naturally happens as you grow older,
people thinking older meaning 70-, 80-plus," says Richard Bowring,
senior manager of programs for the Hearing Foundation of Canada. "Now
baby boomers who are 40 and 50 are thinking, 'Well, I don't feel old. I
don't look old. Therefore these things that happen to old people shouldn't
be happening to me until I'm 80 or 90,"' says Bowring. "So they
don't want to admit that they have a hearing loss."
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2007
Those of us born between 1945 and 1965, aka baby boomers, have been the most
studied generation ever. And the surveys continue as boomers move toward
retirement and those long-sought golden years. One such recently-released
survey, conducted by Energizer® (makers of batteries including hearing aid
batteries), indicates that those between the ages of 50 and 70 have apparent
contradictory views on hearing loss. . . . . In fact, the disconnect is
somewhat startling. 67.1% of respondents said they were concerned about
hearing loss. However, only 30% felt it was important to actually visit a
hearing health professional for a hearing test. More numbers? Just 11.5% of
those surveyed indicated that they’d been screened for hearing loss within
the past 12 months. Therefore, 88.5% of boomers are overdue for a hearing
check-up. Now, what would Mom say?
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2010
When I was growing up, one of my mother's favorite
admonitions -- along with "If you keep making that face, it's going to
freeze that way" and "Don't sit too close to the television or you're going
to need glasses" -- was the classic "Turn that music down, or you'll go
deaf." I hate to admit it, but lately I find myself asking friends to
repeat themselves during cellphone conversations or to speak up over dinner
in a bustling restaurant. Was Mom right? Could blaring Duran Duran and Wham
on my Walkman for hours on end really have caused irreparable damage?
Maybe, but it's still open for debate. Although parents have been predicting
that loud music would destroy the ears of each new generation, um, forever,
new research suggests that hearing loss is actually on the decline.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in
January, the odds of hearing loss are 31 percent lower, overall, for baby
boomers than for their parents.
Full Story
