Don't Let Hearing Loss Keep You Home

The beach is my favorite destination!

It's almost summer time and many people are thinking about how to spend their vacation. In the U.S. gas prices are high and air travel is a hassle, so I can understand if some choose to stay close to home. But I don't want anyone to use hearing loss as an excuse not to see new places! With a little planning and self assertiveness, you can get where you want to go.

Can you see the palm trees
reflected in the window?

Last Saturday, I attended a seminar on travel tips for people with hearing loss by Tina Childress, an audiologist who's late deafened and wears bilateral cochlear implants. I'd like to share a few of the many things that I learned from her and offer my own thoughts and experiences.

For Travel by Airplane

• Don't pack any hearing aid or cochlear implant equipment in your checked luggage. The scanner for this luggage is much stronger than the one for carry-on bags. I've had my luggage lost before, so I never put anything of value in there.
• It's OK to walk through the metal detector with hearing aids or ear level CIs. But a body worn CI has more metal and may set off an alarm. I've wondered about the effect of metal detectors on my hearing aids and even asked security staff if it was OK... but even though they gave me the go ahead, I always felt a little leery about it. I never had any damage or problems occur, but I feel better knowing from a hearing professional that it's all right.
• When you reach your gate, let the staff at the desk know you have a hearing loss so you can be informed in case of delays, gate changes, or other announcements. It's in your best interest to sit as close as possible to the desk to make it easy for them to find you. I have not actually approached airline personnel about my hearing loss, although I do sit as close as I can to the desk. Now that I know Tina has done this, I will be more assertive myself.
• Hearing aids and CIs will not interfere with the plane's navigational instruments and do NOT need to be removed during takeoff and landing. I don't like to wear my hearing aids on a plane because of the engine noise. I was surprised to hear from Tina that occasionally cochlear implants are mistaken for Bluetooth devices and the difference has to be explained. By the way, if you ever meet Tina yourself, be sure and ask about her Redtooth story - it's hilarious!

For Travel by Automobile

• Turn on the light at night for better lipreading. I wasn't sure that was legal. Good to know!
• Purchase an extra wide rear-view mirror which eliminates blind spots and reduces headlight glare. That sounds like just what I need! That's a good tip for everyone in fact.

General Tips

• When traveling alone on a plane, train, or bus you may want to let the person sitting next to you know about your hearing loss in case an emergency announcement is made. I might do that if the person were friendly or solicitous, but for me it would definitely depend on the person! Some people make me feel uncomfortable. Use your gut instinct on this.
• Bring along the customer service number for your hearing aid/cochlear implant manufacturer. If you need a new part, you can get one shipped to your travel location. I had never thought of that. It would be very helpful to have that number looked up in advance. Just in case.

Tina is an outstanding speaker and there was much more than this to her presentation. If you ever get the chance to attend "Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Travel Tips for People with Hearing Loss" or any of her other workshops, I highly recommend it. 

I wish you all safe travels wherever you choose to go this summer. Do you have any plans made?

Is Surgery Worth the Risk?

I received the following comment on my blog post, "Does Research=Hope for the Hard of Hearing?" and I thought Steve's question at the end (which I marked in bold) was worth posing in a separate blog post so perhaps more of you will post an answer. I would especially like to hear from anyone who has had cochlear implant surgery to know if losing all hearing is one of the risks of the procedure.

Personally I agree with Steve and I'm not ready for surgery (although I have envied the audiograms of people with cochlear implants that have better hearing than I do). I will cope with the hearing I do have for now although I do hope for a better hearing aid when it's time to buy a new one.

Here's Steve's comment:

I'm not really much bothered about a cure for my hearing loss. I've accepted my situation and I don't think my life would be any different today if I had full functioning hearing. I'd say, "eh?" a hell of a lot less but that'd be it. But for all the people suffering because of their hearing loss I'd love to see a science breakthrough that'd make things easier for them. Thing is though: there's a lot of people out there who can't afford to buy aids, would they be able to afford surgery? Probably not. So it'd only be helping the people that are currently being helped by hearing aids. Not that I'm knocking the science progress, of course. A question: would anyone here go through surgery to restore their hearing even if there was a chance that it could go the other way and leave you profoundly deaf?

Another point I'd like to address is that in the United States, insurance companies are often more likely to cover a surgery than a hearing aid. That may not be true elsewhere in the world.

What do you think?

Update: Dan commented that everyone should check out Sara's blog as she has just been implanted and discusses her surgery experience. I agree with Dan that what she's written is completely relevant to the discussion in the comments.