“Could I ask you a question?”
“Sure?” I was curled up on the couch watching TV with my sweetheart.
“Do you know how often you say the word ‘What’?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just asked if you wanted anything and you clearly didn’t hear what I said.”
“You must have been mumbling.” I will admit it now, although I didn’t then, he wasn’t mumbling.
Less than two weeks later, I found myself at my doctor’s office asking for a referral to get my hearing checked.
Here is the situation: I am 45 years old. I have been around music professionally for somewhere in the neighborhood of two and a half DECADES! I have been to more concerts than most people my age and I have spent most of my life with headphones wrapped around my head with a volume level loud enough for everyone in the room to hear whatever I am listening to. It is entirely possible that I have done some sort of damage to my hearing. It is entirely possible that I say “what?” more times a day than I can count.
Of course, it’s also possible that everyone I know mumbles and have cheap cell phones.
I was happily surprised when my phone rang this morning with a cheerful woman who said she was calling from Cape Cod Ear Nose and Throat to schedule my appointment. It was 9 a.m.
“It looks like I can get you in with Dr. Jackson on…. Oh wait! I have a cancellation for today at 11am.”
“Ummm… OK!”
Before I even had time to sit and fill out paperwork in the waiting room, the audiologist was able to take me in for a few tests. She was a young woman who looked a little like Tina Fey… As we went over preliminary questions, she suddenly she said she knew me and we were neighbors. Of course, it’s entirely possible she knew my dog Mazzy – not me.
In The Sound Booth at Cape Cod Ear Nose & Throat
The last time I had my hearing checked, I think I was at Hyannis West Elementary School. This day, Emily had me sit down in a small soundproof booth with a pair of less than stylish headphones. She ran through a series of tests with tones and beeps and some guy with the worst New England accent you can imagine. My right ear seemed to pick up everything… There were a few gaps in the beeps and tones on the left.
Emily briefly went over the results and sent me back to the lobby to finish my paperwork and wait for the doctor. Funny thing is, I didn’t have time to finish the paperwork AGAIN – because I was summoned to another exam room. It was brightly lit with something that looked like a dentist chair in the middle. Not what I was expecting. I sat down and tried to finish filling out forms.
Dr. Jackson came in before I was able to find my pen. He seemed young and full of energy with a friendly smile and glasses. We talked a little about my concerns and he looked in my ears to check for bone growths (apparently they are more common in this area than other places he has worked… Something about swimming in cold water? – Hmmm… Polar Plunge?) and other possible issues.
“You have beautiful eardrums,” he said. To which I burst out laughing. He laughed to.
“Something you don’t hear every day.” (Please say ‘no pun intended’!! PLEASE!!)
Dr. Jackson pulled out a piece of paper with the results from the hearing test Emily had done. Honestly, it looked more like a football play schematic than a hearing chart. It showed that my hearing in my right ear was above average, while my left ear had a dip in a particular frequency. It wasn’t significant, but, because I rely so much on my hearing every day, I may be more aware of the loss.
He said it’s a frequency loss he most often sees in musicians – so it makes sense.
In all seriousness, your hearing is very important. Most people don’t realize they have a problem until a spouse or a loved one says something to them – that they may not hear – and unlike most other damage to your body, once you lose your hearing, it rarely comes back. If you think you or someone you know has a hearing issue, it might be time to get a hearing test. Honestly, I was in and out in under an hour – and that included FINALLY finishing my paperwork.
In my case, everything is minor and nothing should require any further tests and I should be fine for the time being. I just need to turn down my headphones a bit, talk on my phone using my right ear… and you guys need to stop mumbling!
About Cat Wilson
