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It’s a little weird in a way, it just gets to a point where you, the child has to help your parents navigate life's big changes that happen with old age. You can usually count on hearing loss happening because it’s just one of those common occurrences that happens with old age. Plus, a lot of people tend to put off hearing tests, too. Well, that and eyesight too (plenty of other major things happen too). But sometimes, it can be like pulling teeth to get your parents to actually “grow up” to just do the things that they might not want to do, but need to do. 

Actually, one of the big ones just so happens to be hearing health, well, specifically, wearing hearing aids. Why, well, it’s not really about the device. It’s about pride, denial, fear, and that weird emotional thing where admitting hearing has changed feels like admitting aging is happening. And sure, nobody wants to think of their parent as “getting older,” but also, nobody wants to spend another dinner repeating the same sentence six times while everyone pretends it’s totally normal.

And it’s not only annoying, but it’s also draining, like really draining. It’s the constant repeating, the misunderstandings, the little tension that builds because people start talking less, or talking softer, or giving up mid-story. And it can all be prevented if they actually just wore the hearing aid that they need in the first place!  So, how can you get a stubborn aging parent to actually take this all seriously?

It’s Best to Just Start with the Real-Life Impact

Leading with “You need hearing aids” tends to land like, “You’re old,” even if that’s not what’s meant. So, it’s probably for the best to handle this bit a little more delicately, so a better move is starting with the stuff that’s actually happening day to day.  Like, conversations are getting harder, maybe they’re getting a bit lonelier. 

Like, group dinners feel stressful, restaurants are basically a nightmare, the TV is so loud that the neighbors could follow the plot, well, you probably get the point by now. But try to focus on the quality of life and what they’re probably missing out on. 

No, Don’t Turn it into a Debate

If their go-to line is “My hearing is fine,” arguing usually makes it worse. It turns into a power struggle, and parents have had decades of practice at not losing those. Don’t do that whole “gotcha” thing when showing proof, but more like calmly pointing out patterns. Ideally, just mention how often people have to repeat themselves. Mention that subtitles are basically required now. Mention how often they ask “What?” in restaurants. Keep it factual, and try to avoid emotions being stirred up by you or them.

Just Point Out that it’s Usually Fear

Yes, you might very well have to go there, which contradicts the last sentence mentioned above, but it’s still honestly for the best to bring up. A lot of parents hear “hearing aids” and immediately picture clunky, old-school devices. They picture looking “old.” They picture everyone noticing. They picture it being awkward, uncomfortable, expensive, and complicated. You get the idea, they're thinking something outdated basically.

But nowadays it's honestly further from the case because the hearing aid evolution has been pretty major, like even what hearing aids looked like 10 years ago, well, they look different now. So you better believe those clunky-looking ones that most old-age people think of aren’t actually all that common nowadays.