by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
I had forgotten that May is Better Hearing and Speech Month until a mailing arrived on May 1 from a local hearing aid center.
As I have written before in The Quiet Coalition’s blog posts, I’m not a big believer in special days, weeks, or months, except perhaps birthdays. If something is worth celebrating, commemorating, or doing, it’s worth celebrating, commemorating, or doing every day, week, month, all year long.
But when I write that, I go on to add that it isn’t a bad idea to be reminded about important things, either. Hence this blog post.
To be completely accurate, something we at The Quiet Coalition strive for, according to the special month’s sponsor, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association:
Each May, Better Hearing & Speech Month (BHSM) provides an opportunity to raise awareness about communication disorders and the role of ASHA members in providing life-altering treatment. For 2023, our theme is “Building a Strong Foundation”
Of additional interest this year is a “teaser” announcement from ASHA about a forthcoming name change for BHSM:
Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) has been recognized by its current name for more than 50 years. The name will remain the same for 2023. However, later this year there will be an announcement about the future of the month’s name. Related information will be available then.
Shakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Regardless of what the special month is called, what I think is new this Better Hearing and Speech Month is the growing body of literature supporting the idea that untreated hearing loss contributes to the development of dementia, and that treating hearing loss with either hearing aids or cochlear implants for the profoundly hearing impaired improves cognitive health and prevents or delays the onset of dementia.
That’s big news, and something that might encourage people with hearing loss to overcome their reluctance to try hearing aids.
But I also want to take this opportunity to emphasize that noise-induced hearing loss isn’t part of normal physiological aging, but largely represents noise-induced hearing loss. It shouldn’t be called “presbycusis” or “age-related hearing loss,” but rather “noise-induced hearing loss in the elderly.”
Noise-induced hearing loss is the only type of hearing loss that is entirely preventable. If you hear loud noise, leave the noisy environment, or use hearing protection and your ears will last you a lifetime.
Because if something sounds loud, it’s too loud, and your auditory health is at risk.
