Hearing loss is on the rise, are you having trouble hearing?

WHAT? SPEAK UP!

My hearing loss seems to be inherited, as my father and me started to having hearing issues when we were in our mid-50's.  I've been wearing a hearing aid for the past 15 years, and the hearing aid helps by increasing the volume.  

Hopefully your audiologist can help with that, if you've not already reported the problem, been retested, had an adjustment or whatever else they could do to help you. If things are as good as it gets for you, sorry to hear it. I try to speak clearly all the time, but I do talk fast sometimes, when I get excited and/or when I'm high especially. I have a friend who has significant hearing loss and relies on lip-reading quite a bit. I always try to be especially conscious when we're together. We've talked about it openly, because that's how I roll. I know that I'm not going to offend someone by asking them how I can help make them the most comfortable if they have a disability, functional impairment or even a social or cultural difference for that matter. It's respectful to ask, rather than yell at people or uncomfortably wonder if you're doing it right. That's what creates stigma, really. People feel uncomfortable, so they avoid people who are very different from "the norm". It's terrible and it's what contributes to the isolation that many people with disabilities feel. 

Forgive my rambling on. I'm going to lobby Just Asking for a cannabis emoji here! 

It's on the rise because the number of old people is increasing.  I have a bit of high-pitch loss in one ear.  Other than that my hearing is great (yes, the famous doctor said that).  My problems are tinnitus and vertigo.  He made me go through a battery of six or seven tests, the final one being something I could not tolerate.  I removed the apparatus from my head screaming and left the room in tears.  Therefore there was no concrete conclusion about my two problems.  I know a true solution is not likely in any case and I live with tinnitus every day.  The vertigo is an infrequent misery.  I'm thankful it isn't a daily curse.

Piltdown man. WHAT?

I'm not at all hard of hearing - but I can be a little difficult of listening.

I agree that hearing loss is on the rise, but one of the many contributors is the proliferation of earbuds being used.  Younger folks play music very loudly and that affects your hearing, especially when it's so directly into your ear.  Also, I live in a heavily populated city (NYC) where there's all sorts of ambient noise - buses, trucks, cars, trains, airplanes, people blasting car radios, etc.  I realized just how noisy it is after the peace and quiet of Covid.  Now that everyone is back out, the external noise is sometimes so bad that I have to close my windows so I can hear the TV.  I'm sure that some of my hearing has been lost merely due to age, but not to the extent that I feel it impacts my daily life.