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Baby Boomers are starting to experience hearing loss. After years of cranking up Layla, Brown Sugar, and U2, is it any wonder? Fortunately, the marketplace has responded with invisible, open ear, and Bluetooth hearing aids.
Baby Boomers and Hearing Loss
Well, hip music-loving Boomers have always known that hearing loss will catch up with them eventually. There is just no way that a Boomer Chick or Boomer Dude could stand that close to those huge pounding speakers and have fans screaming next to their ears without some kind of sacrifice. Yes, those Rolling Stones’ concerts were worth it, but now it’s time to face the music.
Baby Boomer Trends
Hearing loss is nothing new to rockers, as well as music fans.
Pete Townshend, from The Who, has severe hearing damage and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) which causes him pain.
Neil Young, from Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, went acoustic in the 90s because of damaged hearing.
Bono, from U2, actually got his nickname from a hearing-aid store in Dublin called Bonavox Hearing Aids.
A few others are Sting, Ted Nugent, Phil Collins, Cher, Mick Fleetwood, Bob Seger, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton (from his wawa pedal), Bob Dylan, and the late George Harrison.
Hearing Aid Hipness
While price is always a consideration when buying a hearing aid, a more important factor for Baby Boomers is that they never look like "seniors" and are never called "seniors". So, hearing-aid companies are responding in three ways, by making newer models:
Smaller and more invisible
Hipper looking
Available with Bluetooth technology
Digital Hearing Aids
Quick, what kind of hearing aid does Bill Clinton wear? Who knows? He started wearing hearing aids in both ears when he was 51 (1997), but they were CIC hearing aids (Completely In Canal) so few people knew of his significant hearing loss during his presidency.
Modern hearing aids are small and effective "mini ear computers” and are similar to something Steve Austin “The Six Million Dollar Man” would have worn. Boomers, with CIC aids, should think of themselves as first generation Cyborgs (cybernetic organisms).
Digital hearing aids can adapt to the preferences of the wearer. When environmental sound becomes too loud, the volume automatically adjusts. When sounds are too soft, they are cranked up a notch.
Pros of CIC Hearing Aids:
Reduced distortion and acoustic feedback
Increased comfort
Cosmetically superior
Cons of CIC Hearing Aids:
Cost
No manual volume button
Extra maintenance problems
Hip Open Ear Hearing Aids
Not all hearing aids look like a grandchild has stuffed Silly Putty into the ears. Some "aural accessories", like the Siemens Vibe have become fashion statements.
The Vibe comes in leopard or racing-flag checks and sits in the crest of the ear, where it can be seen, leaving the ear canal unblocked. This device looks like the user has adopted a trendy new style of ear piercing.
The Vibe has cool technology to:
Minimize irritating noise (papers rustling, pots and pans banging)
Block feedback
Change microphone placement (Sound directionality uses the ear’s natural funnel shape.)
Siemens is not the only company to come out with cool hip “sonic perception upgrade devices”, so look around for other kinds of attractive gadgets. There are lots of options.
Bluetooth Hearing Aids
Bluetooth is a short-distance wireless technology. The Bluetooth headset/earphones are those devices that many young people stick on their ears so they can talk on the phone wherever they go.
Now, hearing aids work with Bluetooth or look similar to Bluetooth headsets. Instead of making these hearing aids smaller and less visible, the idea is to make the wearer look like a young techno-savvy hipster.
There is no shame in rocking Boomer Chicks or Boomer Dudes admitting to hearing loss. Noise-induced sensory recession can be caused by many loud sounds, but rock music is a likely culprit. Thankfully, Baby Boomers make up a big market and have inspired a new wave of hearing-aid design.
Center For Hearing Aids
E-32, Hauz Khas Market,
New Delhi-110016
E-mail : ramavision@satyam.net.in
ramavision@hathway.com
24X7 Contact no: +91 9810074489
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