New York– Sarah Mearns was missing her cues.
She couldn’t hear what her dance partner was saying from across the studio. He was late for entry because the music seemed too slow.
Without telling anyone, she finally made the appointment get his hearing tested.
Mearns discovered that he had deafness. After years of separation, he got the tools To understand the world that had become silent.
Now, she is one of the first New York City Ballet dancers to wear hearing aids during performance.
“I feel like this is a whole new chapter in my life,” Mearns, 40, said in an interview with the AP.
While hearing loss is common in older people, it can happen at any age and can be caused by things like nerve damage, infection, or head injury. For Mearns, it may be a mix of factors, including genetics, medical conditions and exposure to loud noises.
According to the National Institutes of Health, less than a fifth of American adults ages 20 to 69 who could benefit from wearing hearing aids have ever used them. This is due to lack of access, shame or embarrassment and simply not knowing the symptoms.
“Oftentimes a person is not aware of hearing loss because they don’t know what they can’t hear,” said Dr. Anil Lalwani, a hearing specialist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Still, “there are a lot of symptoms of hearing loss that are not just hearing loss,” said Dr. Maura Cosetti of the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary at Mount Sinai.
One thing to pay attention to is saying “what” repeatedly, and not being able to hear friends and family in noisy places like restaurants. Other symptoms include ringing, a sensation of something stuck in the ears, or slurred speech.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mearns couldn’t hear conversations when people were wearing masks.
“I realized I was reading everyone’s lips to understand what they were saying,” she said.
Experts say if you think you’re experiencing symptoms of hearing loss, let your doctor know. They can help connect you with an audiologist or ear, nose, and throat specialist for a hearing test.
Cosetti said with Mount Sinai mm hearing test app Can be a useful resource for understanding your listening ability. Seeing a professional is the best way to find out what’s really going on – like whether your ears are clogged with wax or fluid.
Hearing aids correct the sound signal entering the brain, amplifying speech while reducing background noise. They may be expensive, but there are plenty now available over the counter. Some? apple airpods Can also be used as a hearing aid.
For more severe forms of hearing loss, doctors may recommend a device called a cochlear implant, which converts sounds into electrical signals that are sent to the brain. These involve a surgically inserted component and may take several months to get used to.
Mearns initially felt embarrassed to step into the booth for her hearing test, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to hear all the words. Her audiologist, Marta Gilarovic, helped her understand what she was missing and guided her toward appropriate hearing aids.
“It’s definitely not one size fits all. There’s a lot of adjustment, tuning and calibration involved,” said Gilarowiak, who runs a practice in New York. “Overall, the goal is to maximize the hearing that remains.”
Addressing hearing loss can help promote mental health, improve communication And slow cognitive decline For people at high risk of dementia.
When Mearns walked out of her audiologist’s office wearing her aids for the first time, she felt overwhelmed. She could hear the thump of shoes on the ground, the chirping of birds on the road, and the sound of a flag fluttering behind her. Returning to her dressing room, she cried.
She can now hear the full force of the orchestra when she performs – and can even hear phone calls in her ears.
The life she was leading earlier, she said, was tiring. At the end of every day she spent the day stressing over asking people to repeat themselves and missing the punch lines of conversations and jokes.
“I don’t want people to feel what I felt, where I was embarrassed and I was quiet about it,” she said. “Because now that I’m on the other side, I’m so happy.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
