Early Adult Hearing Loss: Tips For Changing Your Lifestyle

If you're struggling with losing your hearing as a young adult, you might feel alone. Hearing loss is usually associated with old age or with a disability or childhood illness. Many young adults can find adapting to reduced sound a challenge. Even though this change takes adjustment, there are some things you can do to help make the transition to a new way of living easier.

1. Be patient when trying hearing aids.

Hearing aids can take some getting used to. There are many different types, and you should not feel frustrated when the first few models you try aren't the right fit. Finding the balance of the right style, volume, and comfort level can be quite tricky. Rely on your audiologist to help you find a hearing aid that will help you perform well at your job, in grad school, and in social situations. 

2. Make extra preparations for job interviews and opportunities.

You might not realize that some of the things you did easily before your hearing loss might be more challenging now, even though it seems obvious. For example, when applying for a job, you might have to explain that talking on the phone is more challenging for you, so email or other written correspondence might work better. In jobs where hearing high-pitched sounds is important, such as at a construction site where you need to hear a vehicle back up beep, you might need to look for a job in your field that offers a slight change in assignment. Instead of working on the ground in the construction site, you might move to construction design or project managing. 

3. Know that parenting and family can still be possible.

Some young adults worry that they cannot be parents because of a reduced hearing ability. However, with some modifications, you can meet the safety needs of a child quite well. For example, you might get a baby monitor that shows a video of a child and also provides a "sound meter" to show how loud the child is crying. If you are sleeping, some interactive monitors can vibrate when your child's cries get over a certain volume, alerting you to their needs. Hearing aids also help with parenthood, and caring for your hearing aid and replacing it regularly can help you speak and interact with your child over shared interests like movies and music.

For more information on young adult hearing loss, speak with an audiologist. 


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