Yesterday completely got away from me between an unplanned meeting and then an appointment that took much longer than it should have. On the other hand, the result of the appointment was more good news than bad. For those who have never dealt with it, I have now entered the group of millions of people with tinnitus. The good news part is that the high frequency hearing loss that probably triggered it is not bad and my “ear health” is fine. The discussion with the ENT doctor was informative and since it took me nearly three months to get through the initial and follow-up visit with my primary care physician and then the appointment with the specialist, I have been adapting to this new condition. I can’t say that I’m happy about it, although since I am knocking on the door of my 61st birthday, there are certainly many worse chronic problems that I could have.

We discussed options that I could try that are successful with some people and I might check into those. We also discussed the reality that hearing does often diminish with age and the signs to be alert for. In fact, the doctor made an interesting observation about how people who have problems seeing don’t mind going to an optometrist, but they’re willing to accept some hearing loss without seeking help.

That brought to mind the elderly relative who had significant hearing loss, was well aware of it, absolutely refused to do anything about it, and yes, she had worn glasses all her life and was quite faithful about getting her eyes examined and increasing her prescription whenever that was required. It is a bit curious, isn’t it?