Whenever the dishwasher buzzes to indicate the dishes are done, for some reason Art does not hear it. I have to be the one to get up and go to the kitchen to turn it off.
Sometimes when I ask Art something, he doesn't answer. When I call him from my office, he often doesn't hear me. I hear him just fine. (And should I mention that he can get irritated if I don't answer?)
When our nurse practitioner, Kathy asked him if he had any problems Art told her that he did have tinnitus which is a high pitched ringing in his ear. He's had it for about 30 years. One out of five people have it. It can be due to age, an ear injury, circulatory problem, etc.
I remember swim meets where there was one coach who used to whistle so loud my ears hurt. I had to stuff tissue in my ears because it was so irritating. I'll bet he damaged a few ears. It didn't bother Art as much as me.
Art went to get his ears tested and yes, he does have pretty significant hearing loss in one ear and some loss in the other. He's not able to hear the high pitched sounds and may need a hearing aid some day.
So... OK...
That might excuse him for not hearing the dishwasher buzzer.
But not hearing me calling from the other room? Not hearing me when I'm asking him about a chore? That's rather dubious...
Sometimes when I ask Art something, he doesn't answer. When I call him from my office, he often doesn't hear me. I hear him just fine. (And should I mention that he can get irritated if I don't answer?)
When our nurse practitioner, Kathy asked him if he had any problems Art told her that he did have tinnitus which is a high pitched ringing in his ear. He's had it for about 30 years. One out of five people have it. It can be due to age, an ear injury, circulatory problem, etc.
Note to my children: Remember when I used to tell you that you had your music turned on too loud? Remember me saying you should protect your ears from loud sounds at concerts and such?
I remember swim meets where there was one coach who used to whistle so loud my ears hurt. I had to stuff tissue in my ears because it was so irritating. I'll bet he damaged a few ears. It didn't bother Art as much as me.
Art went to get his ears tested and yes, he does have pretty significant hearing loss in one ear and some loss in the other. He's not able to hear the high pitched sounds and may need a hearing aid some day.
So... OK...
That might excuse him for not hearing the dishwasher buzzer.
But not hearing me calling from the other room? Not hearing me when I'm asking him about a chore? That's rather dubious...
That's too bad. I have tinnitis in both ears, and had to have a brain MRI to rule out tumors. There's also some deafness at the highest and lowest registers of sound, but otherwise my hearing is still normal. Hearing aids are expensive.
ReplyDeleteI have also lost high register hearing in one ear, but not both. I realized this about a year ago when certain sounds would disappear when lying on my right side and then would appear again when I turned on my left side. I guess I also should get my hearing checked, because I would really hate to miss the sounds of birdsong! Art's hearing might not be as bad, since it's rather selective as to what he hears! :-)
ReplyDeleteGetting your ears checked for possible blockage is the first step, then a hearing test with a reputable ENT MD doc and audiologist. (NOT just a hearing aid dispenser.) Did you know some audiologists have Masters degrees and most have Doctorate of Audiology degrees! Good Luck! See blab below. DrumMajor
DeleteHuh?, What?
ReplyDeleteDear Kay, Be glad Art was willing to have a hearing test.
I'm a person with bilateral hearing loss since birth, with a hearing aid since 7th grade, and two that I'm still getting used to. My loss started at 25% loss in each ear, if you give each ear 100% to start with. Now it's about a 60% loss. Be easy on Art.
Most people with a hearing loss do not hear correctly around corners, in another room or through glass. Oh yes, if you're yelling at us, we can tell by the tone if you're mad, or screeching in pain, or screaming in delight, but we can't understand your words.
The biggest insult is someone saying we have "selective" hearing, or if we'd "just listen." That's like telling someone with a missing leg, "if you'd just walk."
Now that Art knows, have him take his ears to the person speaking to him. He needs to ask them to wait until he gets his ears to them. It's kind of like owning a dog: say his name first, (to get his attention,) then give the command or statement. Trying to listen to one person in a noisy room is horrid for someone with a hearing loss. If I answer incorrectly, my friends know I didn't hear the question correctly.
Hearing aids are about $3000 to $3500 each these days, and many insurances cover $2000 to $3000 total of the cost. (It makes for an assured medical deduction on your taxes one year.)
Hearing aids are very tricky to get used to, and take numerous visits to the audiologist to get the right feeling.
Yes, it's not fair that Art can yell at you to do things, and that you can't yell at him to do things. It's not a two-way street when one person is hard-of-hearing.
Be careful about taking too many naproxen (Aleve,) as it can be ototoxic, meaning it can decrease your hearing. I could tell when I'd taken several for 2-3 days, then some hearing would return when not using it around the clock. (Yep, only 1% of the people with a sensuroneuro hearing loss have this sensitivity to naproxen.)
I still think Art's a keeper, after all, this is the first thing "wrong" with him that we're aware of! I could blab for hours. My Dad got hearing aids when he realized he was missing what the grandkids were saying as they ran by, and when the birds didn't chirp much.
Aloha, DrumMajor
I just LOVE having your expertise available, DrumMajor! You're the best! I wish you were my nurse practitioner. Let's not tell Kathy though.
DeleteKay - You two better keep NP Kathy. She's a Master's level nurse practitioner. I'm an R.N., which is what Kathy was and still is, and most NPs are dynamite. It was good of her to ask how Art's hearing has been. Might want to let her know of the cricket in the back of your head...and have your hearing checked? Egads, I'm going to have to loan you two my hearing aids! DrumMajor
DeleteI think I can hear perfectly fine. It's just that constant chirping in the background that I normally don't pay attention to usually. However, now that I'm writing this post, I'm hearing it all the time. Sheesh!
DeleteBy the way, shoot the dishwasher. Mine doesn't make a sound, and I hadn't heard of one that buzzed until you got to it! DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteI think DrumMajor is right and knows whereof she speaks. Would that we could all put such understanding into action! I used to think Mike had some kind of 'wife deafness' until I saw his audiogram and realized he does amazingly well for someone with so very little hearing left. Sadly, that insight doesn't always stop me from being annoyed with having to repeat and interpret and be distracted by closed captioning on the TV. But I try to be better.
ReplyDeleteOlga - I'm laughing out loud. Of all the terms, I hadn't heard of "wife deafness" before. You could write "HOH" for hard of hearing on Mike's forehead to help with your daily strife. Developing your own sign language for common things between the two of you helps, too. Since nurses aren't supposed to yell down long halls, I've trained most staff to understand some hand signals. Thanks for the laugh, DrumMajor
DeleteHa, you have a point there Kay, poor Art, Garry has that as well, very annoying!!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband has "selective hearing".
ReplyDeleteIt is great that Art went to get his hearing tested so at least he knows what the issues are. I think we all gave our kids that same advice about loud music and concerts and they all mostly ignored it. My 41 yr old daughter went to a Bon Jovi concert last night and I thought about how loud it would be.
ReplyDeleteTinnitis--oi, poor Art! I'm sure that would drive me crazy.
ReplyDeleteI've always called it selective deafness; children and teenagers are the greatest sufferers of selective deafness and then they seem to grow out of it. I'm pretty deaf in one ear and yet I still seem to hear better than Christopher, who keeps assuring me that his hearing has been checked and is fine!
ReplyDeleteMy kids had selective deafness too. LOL
ReplyDeleteGee I have tinnitis too. I haven't had it checked but I think it's from having a bad habit cleaning my ears too much with ear diggers and cotton swabs. It's a very bad habit akin to your nail biting. I've developed it a couple years ago, trying to stop is so hard. It started with a small piece of hair I thought was stuck in my ear tickling it. I asked my Kaiser doctor a few years ago if there was a hair stuck in my ear and he said it is very dry that's why it itches so much. It is so hard to remember to use baby oil to keep it moist when it itches. I don't suppose Art has this nasty habit.
ReplyDeleteL...w
Gosh! I clean my ears with those swabs too and I know you're not supposed to. Don't they say you're not supposed to put anything bigger than your elbow in your ears?
DeleteI wonder if men are more likely to get it
ReplyDeleteI can certainly relate to this post. Apparently hearing loss isn't a solid loss of hearing. My husband can hear things I can't, like a whirring sound coming from the TV, the ice maker drives him crazy, etc. That said, he hears almost nothing I say the first time around. I would say that's intentional except my children also have trouble hearing me. A lot of people don't hear me the first time I say something. My voice must have a tone that's difficult to pick up. My husband has lost a lot of his hearing from the years he worked for the railroad and his years in the Air Force. It's not good to have trains and planes roaring in your ears for years. One more thing, I once knew an elderly woman who developed a form of tennitis, she heard sacred music.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know when you are middle aged? Answer: when your children AND your parents play the TV too loud.
ReplyDeleteI've had tinnitis for years now. I can ignore it except when someone writes or says "tinnitis." Right now I'm hearing it, dash it all! :-) It sounds to me like crickets singing on a warm, sultry Midwestern summer eve.
Waaaait a minute.... I hear those cricket things all the time too. I thought tinnitus was a high pitched, one note siren. I hear a cricket drone in my head all the time, but it's not in one ear or the other. It's like it's in the back of my head.
DeleteI haven't had my tinnitis checked by a doctor yet, so I don't know what the high pitched constant wave like sound I'm hearing is. Is this how crickets chirp? I don't really know because I don't hear crickets often enough. I told husband about your post and he said immediately does anyone have shaky vision too? He has the tinnitis problem and shaky vision. He had the full battery of tests including a brain MRI and they couldn't find anything wrong. That was about four years ago. I'm sure if it was fatal or debilitating he'd be progressively worse by now. Nothing other than shaky vision that lasts a minute or so. Oh isn't it fun getting old.
DeleteL...w
Lol I am guilty of that. When the hubby calls sometimes I pretend I don't hear after all I do have slight hearing defect... Lol. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Will do a piece about Nigerians...we really aren't all scammers. www.secretlilies.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteIt's good to meet someone from Nigeria who is honest and like anybody else we'd meet in the street. I have to tell you that I thought your comment was a Spam because you put your web address at the end. That's what I get all the time from Spammers who are making me crazy.
Deletelol Kay, now Art has the best excuse!
ReplyDeleteand thanks again for that tip about not having to enter the numbers in that google spam blocker, using it all the time!
ReplyDeleteLike Henry, I have tinnitus also but only hear it when someone mentions it. Gee thanks, it is ringing big time now. Art seems to have selective hearing regarding "honey do's" :) Think that is a male thing, a special gene they have.
ReplyDeleteThe weird thing is NOW I'm hearing it after Hank mentioned that it sounded like grasshoppers chirping at night.
DeleteI left a message earlier and got knocked out when I tried to leave. Can't remember now what I wrote, but it probably doesn't matter. Yes, we have hearing difficulties in this house too. Dianne
ReplyDeleteOh dear... Sorry about that, Dianne.
DeleteAh well, I'm glad he got his ears checked. I had tinnitus for years after a very bad ear infection in my thirties, and it has only recently lessened. When I get a head cold though my head buzzes and feels like a jackhammer. Thanks for stopping by my Meadowlark Garden post Kay. Fortunately the tree you asked about, I had taken a photo of the name underneath it. It is a Weeping Katsura tree - cercidiphyllum japonicum - pendulum.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much,Denise. I thought I saw that tree in Japan and wondered what it was. It's such a pretty tree.
DeleteI'm hard of hearing and have tinnitus in one ear. And no, he's not using "selective hearing." He can't hear you!!! He might want to go to Costco. They apparently do a nice job of fitting hearing aids. I use a cheap, generic aid, but the co. that makes them went out of business.
ReplyDeleteHe says he's so used to it that he doesn't want anything done. And this way I can go and turn off the dishwasher when it buzzes.
Deleteselective deafness can be heldful...lol!
ReplyDeleteIn our house I'm also accused of "selective hearing." :)
ReplyDeleteDick never hears me, and I'm glad our dishwasher just signals "off" with a light. Dick has hearing aids, but he won't wear them at home, which extends to mean when he is driving to the grocery store, etc. He never hears me, but if I don't answer him immediately, he gets all in a huff, especially if he has just made a pun and thinks it requires admiring noises.
ReplyDeleteI've started using his favorite line right back at him: "I didn't reply because it wasn't a question."
K
My hubby had his ear checked. He's going to a specialist. Not fun...
ReplyDeleteI have the same kind of hearing loss, and Tom knows I don't always hear him. I have to ask him to repeat things. But Tom does not have a hearing loss. He has a listening problem. :)
ReplyDeleteWe men often are deeply engrossed in thinking of solutions to the major problems of the planet when the pleasant voices of our spouses go unheard.
ReplyDeleteI guess it must be so since Art is downstairs groaning at the newspaper. :-)
Delete