It was great to be part of Talking Health on 3AW last night.  But it sent me off thinking more and more about how to make hearing deterioration a part of our mainstream health debate.

It’s commonly understood that ageing has some effects on our hearing. It affects the inner ear (the cochlea; that part of the ear that converts sound into electrical impulses to be conveyed to the brain). The ageing process also has some effect on the whole of the hearing and listening process.

Most people will experience at least some degree of hearing difficulties in their life. The good news is that, if corrected early, most people will have access to an effective solution for most, if not all, of their life. Cochlear implants are an increasingly common option for elderly people, but a good result is much more likely if the hearing system has been active. In other words, starting early with effective and pleasant hearing aids, when hearing loss is only very mild, is the best path to continued access to hearing.

Sometimes people associate hearing loss with being very elderly. This seems illogical. Why would we expect hearing to remain untouched in comparison with the rest of our body?

We just choose to. Hearing damage sets in when the early wrinkles set in. With the wrinkles, you can act then and use a good moisturiser, or you can do nothing and see what happens. Well, unfortunately we all know. It’s the same with hearing – get hearing aids as soon as you notice difficulty and keep the hearing system active.

Get very good quality hearing aids, that sound natural. And don’t even think about paying $10,000 for them (someone recently told me that they had been quoted $16000 – could that be true?). If you really want to spend that much money, then buy our hearing aids and give the rest to Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign.