Most people associate hearing loss with aging, but it can happen to anyone at any age — from toddlers to young adults to seniors.
Many people who would benefit from hearing tests do not get their hearing checked, or put off doing so for years. Friends, family and colleagues become even harder to hear, and people can begin to retreat from work and social life as they lose their hearing.
Remington Shandro, owner of Professional Audiology Clinic in Edmonton and Sherwood Park, says everyone over 55 should get a hearing test. One third of adults over 65 have hearing loss, but rather than get tested, they push through — “playing life on hard mode” as Shandro puts it, to avoid the stigma or inconvenience of a hearing aid.
Shandro has worn hearing aids himself since the age of three, a personal experience that informs his work and allows him to empathize with his patients.
Often, hearing loss begins with losing high-frequency sound, so it can sound like everyone is mumbling. Keeping up with conversations takes extra effort.
But there aren’t only social consequences to not getting a hearing test. Untreated hearing loss is also associated with health problems, from cognitive decline to depression to increased fall risk. Shandro prefers to focus on what treating hearing loss can add to one’s life, rather than scare people.
“We’ve been able to help people not only hear again, but reconnect socially, going back to their book club or friend group,” Shandro says.
Audiologists don’t just fit people with hearing aids, though. The staff at Professional Audiology Clinic help patients with all things ear related, from tinnitus to earwax removal and hearing protection.
In a world of hearing clinics owned by big corporations and staffed by hearing aid practitioners, Shandro is proud to staff his clinic with professional audiologists, whose primary education and focus is health care, helping people make informed decisions about treating their hearing loss.
“We’re not just hawking hearing aids,” Shandro says. “We want to support our patient’s whole health.”
His passion for personalized patient care is why he bought the clinic from his mentor Kathleen Jones two years ago, and continues to operate the clinic independently.
“We’ve been locally owned for nearly 40 years,” says Shandro. “That’s not going to change.”
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