Hearing problems are often treated as an unfortunate but inevitable inconvenience of getting older. For most, it’s a gradual process that people are initially unaware of and take years to address.
Even among those who know their hearing is gradually getting worse, many will avoid addressing the problem out of fear, according to Eargym founder Amanda Philpott.
“There’s a perception that the only route that we have to manage our hearing loss is hearing aids and they are very closely associated with frailty,” Philpott said. “We’re quite frightened of looking old and frail.”
Philpott said this means the average age for meaningful hearing care intervention is 75, “by which point…you’ve spent a long time with your brain forgetting a range of sounds and how to process them”....