We will all find ourselves at one time or another; taking the advice of other people.  It’s a simple act of asking someone’s opinion and deciding if their advice or information seems valid.  Is it “do-able.”

We take the advice of our friends and family.  We take the advice of the medical professionals that we deal with.  We trust these people so it’s only natural to “brain storm” with them to seek answers to our questions.  I do it too...

Sometimes we take this sought after advice or opinion and still...we wonder if “it is correct or valid”.   If we deem the person that is giving us the sought after advice is credible then we are able to put our doubts to rest.  If the person is not really all that important then another opinion may be obtained

I wonder why we actually rate one person or organization higher that the other.  I think maybe it is the combination of everyone’s personality.  Maybe it’s just a need to have an “answer” or a “direction” in which to travel..  

With our business being the oldest established Hearing Center in Highlands county we are often sought after for a 2nd or even 3rd opinion.  We definitely appreciate the confidence from our community.  56 years in business did take a little work and consistency.  

In the last week alone, we have seen 3 different patients who were told many years ago that hearing aids could not help and that they were a waste of time.   Now, don’t get me wrong...we hear this a lot.  Sometimes, the patients will go against the doctor or friends advise and have tried various products to be disappointed because they didn’t see someone knowledgeable who could really help them.   It is very difficult and upsetting to see patients who obviously could have enjoyed a much happier life if they wouldn’t have lost so many years not hearing.  

All aspects of our body and health can be tricky.  We seek doctors to tell us what to do.  Most of the time patients believe their doctors.  We go to huge facilities like Mayo and Cleveland Clinic for answers.   Hopefully, they provide peace of mind.  

One thing to remember is that timing is also important.  What may be a correct answer or treatment plan today, may be totally different in just a few short months.   For example; if you are told you need 4 stints for proper blood flow with your heart but you put it off...you may end up having a heart attack..thus, the advice and treatment plan may now change. 

If you have ever been told that a hearing instrument can not help you because you have damage to your nerves then you have been advised totally WRONG!   Nerve damage, nerve deafness, Sensori-neural hearing loss... it is exactly what hearing instruments are made for.  It should be a crime that a medical professionals can be so uninformed.  This week alone we have had three patients who watched and “heard” their hearing get worse over the years ( and I mean years..more than 25) and decided not to seek a 2nd opinion or treatment due to the fact that they thought what they were told was the only answer possible.

I would urge all of you.  If you are suffering with anything.  Whether it is your hearing, knee’s, hip, speech, indigestion, back aches, headaches...anything... Seek another opinion.  As we get older, we all just want life to be simpler.  I get it.  Take the extra step.  Life will be better.  Life will be easier.  All three of these patients were led down the wrong path and led to feel hopeless.  They lost years of proper auditory stimulation of the brain.  Make sure and get annual physicals or even sooner if called for.  Get annual or at least semi-annual hearing evaluations.  So many things with your health are related to your hearing.   To Hear Better Is To Live Better!

By: Roseann B. Kiefer, B.A., BC-HIS