Meet Brothers Scott & Brad – They Were Surprised By How Much Hearing Loss They Had

“I began experiencing hearing loss probably in the late ’90s. Your hearing gets worse, but it creeps up on you. You keep lying to yourself that you’re okay, thinking, ‘I can get by with this, it’s okay.’ Suddenly, you realize, but others notice you’re asking them to repeat questions. I kept telling my wife and kids, ‘Look at me when you speak, I can read lips, and the sounds help me understand.’

After 20 years, it ramped up so bad I couldn’t have a conversation with my grandkids. We quit going out because in a restaurant, it was a nightmare.

My tinnitus sounds like a constant ringing, a dinging-type sound, and it got so annoying I had to do something.

My tinnitus got so bad I’d wake up with my ears ringing in the middle of the night, affecting conversations and many things. I knew hearing devices would help. When I came here, I didn’t know to what extent the staff would help you.

You fill out the paper, they take you back, put you in the sound-proof room, let you do a hearing test, fit you with the device, and turn it on. We left with the device as a trial, and it’s so wonderful that, yeah, you’re not taking it back; we’re going to keep it. The day we left, we got in the car, turned on the turn signal, and I said, ‘Do you hear that?’ She goes, ‘What?’ I thought they quit making that sound years ago.

I think mine was in a similar situation. I didn’t hear the fan anymore in the car, and I looked at my wife and said, ‘What is that sound?’ She says, ‘What sound?’ I said, ‘That sound, what is that sound?’ We were driving down the road, and finally, it’s like, ‘That’s the fan motor!’

Now, after three years, I barely even notice it. I can sit and do whatever I want, have conversations; it doesn’t affect my social or family life like it did. It was a smart choice to come here.

The biggest deal for myself was the ringing; I have to get the ringing under control so I can hear something else. That’s a big difference in my life now; I can actually understand people. Our hearing devices are rigged to your phone; you can turn them up and down in a noisy environment, adjust them according to your environment. If it gets too loud, you just get on your app and turn your hearing devices down, sit there and smile, and it works great. You still have a conversation perfectly; it’s great.

I don’t think there’s probably anybody better than the staff that works here. If they’re open, you can walk in; somebody will help you. It’s just, hey, I’m in town, can I get this adjusted a little bit? Five minutes later, you’re back out the door. 

When you walk in the door, you’re greeted with a smile; they’re happy to see you, genuinely happy to see you. You’re not a name at the top of a file in a cabinet; you’re a person. They know your name when you walk in that door; they don’t have to look you up. That’s about everybody that I’ve ever met here is that way. Their friendliness is off the charts.”