Are you a helper or an enabler. Are you one of those people who always want to “make it better?” Do You try and fix the problem?  Do sometimes you just sigh and keep quiet?  We all do it.  We try to help.  We take the easy way out.  We avoid arguing, we avoid confrontation.  We just ignore the issue.  And of course, if you live with someone with a hearing loss then WE REPEAT... AND REPEAT...AND REPEAT!  LOL!    If you find yourself doing this, you too, are an ENABLER! 

You may have a parent, spouse, or a friend that just can’t understand what you are talking about.  Maybe the TV is blaring.  Maybe they continually tell you that "You never told me that"...They just order what you do at the restaurant because they can't hear the waitress.  So, you help. 

 While helping is good, just make sure you are not enabling them.  Don't enable them to "just get by".   Find out why they can't understand!   Often people don't really know just how bad their hearing is.  They compensate by turning up the tv and taking shortcuts like ordering the same food.  They really believe that you didn't tell them something.  The human ear is tricky... it can even trick the person that it is attached to.  Often it is the other people in our lives that notice hearing difficulties first.

I have many patients that have very moderate hearing losses and simply state, " I just turn up the tv and it’s better. “ Or the waitress just talks to fast.  After a hearing evaluation and a demonstration of what corrected hearing sounds like.  (We have a live theatre fitting room in which the hearing instruments are programmed).  It is rare for an individual to not want to hear better.  Just last week I had a sweet 85-year-old lady... married 68 years, light up after correcting her moderately severe hearing loss.  Her best comment.  "I don't think I have ever heard this well.  I wouldn't have come if they had not made me."    THEY were her son and her husband.   They had decided to stop being "ENABLERS".  Hearing is vital to your memory, health, and your relationships.  It's more fun to laugh and make memories with the one u love than to repeat, repeat, repeat.  STOP ENABLING TODAY!!!  If you need help to stop enabling your loved one... call and set up an appointment for a hearing evaluation... We will help you!  385-3497.  To hear better is to live better!