THERE is no hearing equivalent of 10,000 steps a day.
No single habit guarantees good hearing as you get older.
But there are a few things that are genuinely worth doing.
A good place to start is by noticing what listening is costing you.
If you hear reasonably well one-to-one but struggle in your bush care group, out on the boat, doing the school pick-up or around a busy family barbecue, that is useful information.
Difficulty following speech in noise is often where people first notice a change.
You may still hear the television, the lorikeets at sunset and the phone ringing, yet conversation takes more concentration than it once did.
That alone can make an assessment worthwhile.
A basic hearing test is important.
It tells us how softly you can hear different pitches and gives valuable information about your hearing.
But it cannot, by itself, explain why you lose track of conversation or why youngsters seem so difficult to understand.
A more useful assessment also looks at how clearly you understand speech, how you cope when background noise is added, what is happening in each ear, and the particulars of the situations where communication is breaking down.
Hearing is not just about whether you can detect a beep.
It is about how easily you can take part in real life conversations.
There are practical things you can do as well.
Face the person you are speaking with.
Have family get your attention before starting.
Reduce competing sound where possible.
If you are out for lunch, choose a quieter table or sit where you can see the people you want to hear.
If you are having trouble following someone, it can help to say so plainly.
“I’m having trouble hearing you. Could you face me and say that again a little more slowly?”
That is not making a fuss.
It is giving the other person a fair chance to help you stay in the conversation.
For some people, hearing aids are also an important part of the answer.
When they are appropriate, accurately fitted and supported by good rehabilitation, they can improve access to speech and make listening less demanding.
But the goal is not simply louder sound.
It is easier communication in the situations that matter to you.
Protecting the hearing you still have matters too.
Use proper hearing protection around loud equipment such as a lawn mower or angle grinder.
And if your hearing changes suddenly, particularly in one ear, do not simply wait to see if it improves.
At A Better Ear, our clinical team takes this broader approach to hearing rehabilitation because healthy hearing is about staying involved.
It is following the joke at lunch, chatting at tennis, enjoying your community group and coming home from a social occasion without feeling worn out from trying to keep up.
A Better Ear is a premier sponsor of the Redlands Seniors Expo at RPAC on Friday, October 9. We will be speaking about hearing, dementia and healthy ageing, including what the research tells us and the practical steps worth taking. Come and chat with us at our stall on the day.
