Ep 422: Is Your Hearing Impacting Your Health, Relationships & Longevity?- With Shelli Sonstein

You check up on your general health, you get your teeth cleaned and your eyes checked but hearing isn’t part of a regular annual health exam.  Are you noticing you need to turn up the volume a bit more, you prefer closed captioning when you watch something or you’re having trouble hearing when there’s a lot of back ground noise? Have you used headphones for quite some time and enjoy cranking up your favorite songs?  Your hearing is directly connected with brain health and socialization, two major factors for longevity.  Shelli Sonstein, a New York City radio show host for over 50 years, started noticing her hearing was off when she was having trouble distinguishing consonants in words and back ground noise at social events kept her from wanting to go out with friends.  When Shelli went to find a solution for her hearing issues she discovered, not all hearing aids are created equal, not all hearing loss is the same and follow up with retesting is crucial for success.  She’s now on a mission to educate on the importance of regular hearing testing and the use of hearing aids. In this episode of The Health Fix Podcast, Dr. Jannine Krause interviews Shelli Sonstein on her experience with hearing loss, the importance of regular hearing testing and the benefits of the Widex hearing aids she’s using. 

Resources From The Show:

• Find Shelli on Q104.3
• Widex Hearing Aids – https://www.widex.com/
• New York Hearing Doctors – https://www.newyorkhearingdoctors.com/

Our Partners

Podcast Transcript

JANNINE: [Intro] Welcome to the Health Fix Podcast, where health junkies get their weekly

fix of tips, tools and techniques to have limitless energy, sharp minds and fit

physiques for life.

Hey health junkies on this episode of the Health Fix Podcast.

I have Shelli Sonstein from Q104.3 in New York City on today, and she’s going

to be talking about hearing loss and why she is a big proponent of everyone

getting tested annually to know where they’re hearing is at. Now, Shelli’s had a 50 year career

in radio and rock radio at that. So you can imagine she likes to crank it up and has definitely

been to a few shows where she’s probably had a little bit of hearing damage happen over time.

But she’s really wanting to highlight the importance on our health and longevity, our cognitive function,

but also her experience using the Widex Moment Sheer hearing aids.

This is an interesting conversation with someone who hearing is so vital to her career

but has noticed so many things that people are missing out on when it comes to hearing.

So let’s introduce you to Shelli Sonstein. Hey Shelli, welcome to the Health Fix Podcast.

Happy to have you on and so excited to talk about hearing loss and how it works, especially

in this industry that we’re in with radio broadcasts

and all those different things.

SHELLI: Thank you for having me.

I’m happy to be here.

JANNINE: Well, you know, when I was pitched to bring you on,

I thought, “Oh, this is great,”

because I think a lot of folks don’t really realize

what all of the headphones and loud music and concerts

and all these things do over the span of time.

Now, I’ve read this correct, right?

50 years in radio.

SHELLI: Yeah, 50 years in radio.

JANNINE: Wow, wow.

And I think, as we start to get older,

you imagine how much we use in terms of listening to music,

we listen to things as we’re hiking, biking,

whatever we’re doing in terms of workouts,

and we have these headphones.

And now, since the advancement of time,

we’ve got all these air pods and things of that nature,

I can only imagine what some of us

who are getting into our upper 40s and 50s,

we’ve had 30 plus years of having these things in our ears

and I think to myself, my goodness,

this is such a great time to talk about

what kind of things we could be looking at.

So tell us, what was kind of like your first clue

in terms of, wow, something might be off with my hearing?

SHELLI: I was hearing words, but I wasn’t hearing

like the consonants.

I would think that I hear,

Oh, like when I was picking up my son from preschool,

that was a long time ago.

And I was talking to another mom

and I asked what her daughter’s name was

and she said, “Kate.”

And I thought she said, “Cake.”

Now that was a long time ago,

but of course it got progressively worse.

And my parents and grandparents all had hearing loss.

And for the longest time, I was just in denial.

And of course, I remembered the kind of hearing aids

they all had, and I wanted none of that,

the ringing that you would hear,

and they still couldn’t hear you,

and they looked awful,

and that’s just not the way things are anymore.

And by the way, I have to correct you,

because they are actually,

the hearing loss is showing up in children,

because think of it, it’s anyone who uses earbuds.

You tend to crank it up, especially if you like

what you’re hearing, and that’s where the damage comes.

So actually, it’s showing up, like in children and in teens,

and it’s really kind of scary because it’s all preventable.

But like I said, when you like something,

You turn it up, like I was all,

you always wear headphones in the studio.

And I started in rock radio.

I’m still in rock radio today.

And like I said, when you like a song, you turn it up.

And it did damage.

I don’t know if mine was congenital

or if I did it myself or if it was both

but it really doesn’t matter.

What matters is if you needed glasses,

you wouldn’t hesitate to go to an eye doctor.

In fact, I remember my mother taking me

to the eye doctor every year, starting at a certain age.

We don’t do that when it comes to our ears.

Why are we not testing our ears every year?

why are we not taking our children to an audiologist every year and seeing is there an issue,

right? But it’s still not happening. 

JANNINE: That’s true. It’s true. It’s absolutely not happening. I mean,

I remember grade school was probably the last time anyone checked my hearing unless I electively

said, “Hey, I need some help here.” And I definitely know with working with patients in my industry,

folks will always be like, well, if I go to the audiologist, they’re going to find something

and they’re going to sell me hearing aids. And that’s kind of the stigma that I know in the older

community, in term, you know, of us or I would say probably 30 plus in that department, but for

kids, gosh, yeah, beyond, I don’t think anyone had any hearing testing in high school for me

that I can think of. 

SHELLI: Right. And think of it as an adult. You don’t make a yearly

appointment with an audiologist. You just don’t unless you know you have hearing loss like me

and you want to get checked every year and make sure that things aren’t getting worse.

JANNINE: Yeah. So how old were you when you first went into set to check and see like is there something

going on? 

SHELLI: Well, there was something that drove me to go get it checked and that was that I was

really having trouble hearing my grandkids who live on the West Coast. I was really having trouble

even hearing them on FaceTime calls. And my husband would say, “Why are you talking so loudly?”

And I was talking loudly. I think you started talking loudly when you’re not hearing somebody.

So I wasn’t hearing them. And I thought, “Well, this is kind of ridiculous.” I mean, I only see them

every couple of months, really the way we’re communicating is face timing. And I

knew that I had hearing problems. You just know at a certain point when it gets really bad like

that. When you’re always saying, “What? What? And don’t get me wrong when you get hearing aids.”

And I have really good hearing aids. I have Widex hearing aids. It’s not like you get back the

hearing of your youth. That doesn’t happen but things are vastly, vastly improved. But that’s

what drove me to go. Now, here’s the story because I first went maybe three, four years ago and I

just assumed like when you go to an optometrist and they say you need glasses, you have a prescription,

you get the prescription filled and you have the glasses and you’re going to see properly, right?

Well, I found out that not all hearing aids are created equal. And the first set that I had,

I was really, really unhappy with, but I thought, oh, I guess that’s the way it is. It makes things

a little better, but that’ll hold a lot better. And it took what happened with my first audiologist

was we reached the one year mark with the hearing aids, and they didn’t give me another hearing test,

and I thought, well, that’s kind of peculiar. You know, if you reach the one year mark, shouldn’t

they be routinely testing your hearing again? So immediately I switched, and I switched to

the New York hearing doctors, and thank God I did, because that’s when I learned not all hearing aids

are created equal. Just like not all doctors are created equal. But I just assumed

you go, you have your hearing tests, you get your hearing aids, and you’re fine. And that’s

not the case. And it’s not the case when it comes to over-the-counter hearing aids as well.

What my hearing aids do is so much greater than what you get over the counter. I know that because

my husband tried the over-the-counter. And after one day, he sent him back. It’s just not the same.

I mean, it’s not like you just need to enhance the sound. That’s not what it’s all about because,

like I told you, my problem is I’m not hearing consonants. I’m hearing, but I’m not hearing the

the words properly all the time.

And not all hearing loss is the same as well.

My problems may not be the same as somebody else’s problems.

I have some a colleague of work, another DJ on the station

and his hearing issues are completely different from mine.

And he has, he reached out to me because like me,

he didn’t like his hearing aids.

And he had heard about Widex and wanted to hear from me

how I felt about it and how it was working for me.

So it’s a whole different world

and you don’t know these things.

Why would you know these things, right?

You just kind of learned by trial and error

and I’m trying to spread the word

about how important it is to get the right hearing aids

for you and get to the doctor

to get your hearing test every year.

and I’m gonna urge taking your kids.

JANNINE: Yeah, yeah, it makes sense.

You know, it definitely makes sense.

I know how I was when I was younger

and definitely all the different exposures

and things of that nature.

I mean, my dad was a race car driver

and that I was around the loud noises too.

And so it’s definitely something for kids

to, you know, parents and kids too.

I mean, I think anybody listening to this

can definitely relate and go, huh,

maybe there are some things that I have going on

or things that maybe you don’t even notice

but you can stay on top of too.

think that’s another thing to be aware of as well. 

SHELLI: Definitely, definitely. But it’s really interesting.

You know, a lot of people say, well, how did this affect your career? And it’s not like in the studio,

I have difficulty hearing because in the studio, you wear headphones and you can turn them up

if you’re having trouble hearing a phone call or something like that, it’s the conversations I was

having off air that would make, I would notice that there was an issue. And then I review movies

for my radio station and I was finding that I was having more and more difficulty hearing

the audio, you know, in a film. Now that said,

millennials from what I understand, like me, always like to have the close captioning up,

because a lot of people are having problems hearing the verbiage in movies and on TV shows,

and you don’t want to crank it up so much that it annoys your neighbors, especially, you know,

you’re in an apartment. But I find it really interesting that the younger generations are using

closed captioning routinely. 

JANNINE: Yeah, I see that. I see that. And also even on the Instagrams and

things of that nature, everyone’s very dialed in on what it says on the closed captioning. And

you don’t think I’ve seen it, but I really didn’t kind of put it together to go, oh, could that be?

why? 

SHELLI: But could that be? But could that be too? I mean, I know why people say they do that.

In all honesty, are you having trouble hearing the dialogue? Is something perhaps wrong with your

ears and you don’t know it? Right? I mean, this is a whole generation. What if everyone got their

hearing tested? What would you estimate would be the percentage of people that had hearing loss?

I mean, I don’t know what the answer is but I’m just kind of brainstorming with you here and thinking

Maybe we’re missing something. 

JANNINE: definitely think it’s higher than then we would suspect

I mean, I definitely think so. I mean, I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older for me

It’s not you know, obviously the headphones not as much

But if I’m out in a very busy restaurant, and I’m– 

SHELLI: Oh my god, that’s the worst I

that is– that– oh that was– it got to the point where I didn’t want to go out with friends to a

restaurant because it’s one thing if I’m just speaking to my husband and telling him you know

what I’m sorry I don’t hear you and it but I was really avoiding those social situations now

Widex has this really cool device because I still have trouble in those situations and especially

at parties where they’re pumping the music but the whole idea is like at our company Christmas

party. The whole idea is to talk to other people but you can’t hear the other people

because they’re blasting the music anyway Widex has this external mic so I can place that on the

table front right in front of my husband so his only his what he is saying is amplified to me

it’s the coolest thing ever 

JANNINE: Wow wow tell us more about that so you can place the mic there then

how does it transmit to you as a Bluetooth? How does that work?

SHELLI: It’s Bluetooth. Yeah, like I’m listening to you now. We’re talking over the phone,

we’re doing a zoom over the phone, but your voice is coming directly into my ear.

And I can adjust that. But the external mic is really the coolest thing. I think what people have

to get past is the shame. You’re not going to feel shame when you need eyeglasses. You’re

just going to wear them. And in fact, they’re cool. I don’t even want contact lenses. I like

playing around with eyeglasses. I love glasses. I think they’re cool looking. But you have to get

over that. And also we’re all wearing earbuds in our ears. You know, so I don’t know if you

could see. You can barely see. 

JANNINE: They’re very tiny. 

SHELLI: They’re very tiny. Even when I wear my hair up,

I swear nobody notices. When I first went to visit my son after getting hearing aids and I was

wearing my hair up, he’d never even noticed. I had to tell him that, “Hey, don’t you notice

anything different?” And I was like, “No, you really don’t.” And the Golden Bachelor,

I mean, there he is wearing his hearing aids. 

JANNINE: Yes, yes. I mean, it’s starting to become

more accepted. Let’s put it that way. But we still need more chat on it, I think,

because obviously that’s why you’re here.

But I think the biggest thing is a lot of people

have questions once they start getting the hearing.

It’s kind of like you were mentioning,

we need to be retested.

We need to make sure that the hearing aid

is actually doing what it’s supposed to be doing for you

because amplifications, one thing,

but not hearing the concept.

I mean, there’s different things these devices need

tweaking for you.

So tell us a little bit about what Widex,

what they’ve done, what the group, did I hear New York?

– Hearing doctors.

SHELLI: Hearing doctors, okay.

– New York hearing doctors, yeah.

It’s just a whole other ball game with Widex

because it’s Bluetooth.

I have an app on my phone.

I could do something simple as turning it up a notch,

but I can also specifically have certain settings

for certain situations.

For example, when I’m in the car with my husband,

he’s a very low talker.

And his car is not great when it comes to being quiet.

And so what I can do is, through the app,

do a setting so that the sound from him on my left

is being amplified, nothing else.

When I’m driving with my grandkids,

I can use that same directional to the back of the car so that that is being enhanced.

JANNINE: Wow.

SHELLI: So it’s, yeah, it’s really kind of cool.

And then there’s a setting for listening to music.

I can listen to music at the gym, again, through the app.

It’s just a game changer.

And again, you don’t get that with over the counter, right?

You don’t get the yes when you first get fitted things need to be tweaked and you have to go back and

There’s a three-year warranty

These are really intricate

Electronic devices things can go wrong. I have a three-year warranty if something goes wrong. I get another pair

JANNINE: Not bad, not bad, not bad at all. So tell us, like did the New York hearing doctors introduce you to Widex or did you research it on your own?

How did you come to the Widex product?

SHELLI: I had researched it on my own after realizing that not all hearing aids were like and that I wasn’t happy with the ones that I had.

But again, they were the hearing aids that were top recommended by the New York hearing doctors.

So you want something that they’re recommending as well. Now some,

you know, that when you go to an audiologist, they don’t necessarily have every brand

of hearing aid, you know? So it’s just like when you go to an optometrist, you’re not going to get

all the same frames that you it’s not like everybody carries the same frames. So you have

to do your homework. All I know is that I am so much happier since switching to Widex and

you know that’s that’s the bottom line for me. 

JANNINE: That’s huge that’s huge. I mean it’s important

because I feel like it communication is so important and connection with others is so important and

and if we’re missing out on valuable conversations,

maybe valuable information in certain cases too,

it’s going to have a huge impact.

Now, of course, I always love to hear stories

about you and your husband,

’cause I’ve hear stories about folks fighting

because of not hearing very well and things of that nature.

How do things change for you two now

that you’re able to even give them the microphone

in a busy restaurant or out and about?

SHELLI: Well, that has helped immensely,

but what is totally frustrating to me

is after my husband had the experience

with the over-the-counter,

and he really didn’t like the way it felt in his ear,

and he’s very stubborn.

Well, we’re both, you know,

we’re both stubborn and a little obstinate.

He won’t get hearing aids now, despite my experience.

So it’s my frustration now, not hearing him.

And it’s my frustration that he has the TV turned up so loudly when I don’t need it,

but I realize, “Oh my God, that’s the way it used to be for me.

That’s really bad.”

And he gets so frustrated if he can’t get closed captioning because of my role as a

movie critic, they’ll send me links to movies that just opened, but they don’t always have

the closed captioning option, and he gets very frustrated because he really needs help.

And look, he’ll come to his senses eventually, but it’s frustrating for me, and now I know

how it was for other people when I was when I wouldn’t hear them.

And yeah, so it’s like the flip side, but I am not a nag and I’m not going to, you know,

I think you learned by observing, so he’ll come to his senses, eventually.

Oh, and also, now this is important with Widex.

He’s a musician, not professionally, but he’s a singer-songwriter.

So that was one of the things he didn’t like about the over-the-counter.

He didn’t like the way music sounded in the hearing aids, whereas Widex has perfected

that sound.

I mean, they actually worked with professional musicians to make sure that you get pure natural

sound.

And the irony is that’s so important to my husband.

But see, now the other thing is I go to New York hearing doctors.

I work in New York. We live 75 miles away. So he was already turned off to the audiologists

around us because of my experience. But he’s thinking, oh, now I got to schlep into New

York. Well, sometimes John, yes, you have to schlep into New York. I tell you the best

doctors are in New York. I’m sorry I’m biased. We have, you know, I’m very, very biased when

that comes to New York doctors.

My kids laugh at me.

JANNINE: Well, you know, I mean, experience tells, right?

You have your experience, you know what you like

and you know who does well.

So I think it’s important for folks to stick

with their guns on that.

Now in terms of looking at your career,

’cause a lot of folks are probably wondering like,

do you wear the hearing aids with the headphones?

How does it work when you’re in?  Give us the scoop.

SHELLI: Yeah, you know, I do.

Now, this is interesting.

My colleague who has hearing loss

does not wear the hearing aids with his headphones,

but he works solo.

I work in a room with two other people.

So when the headphones are off,

I need to hear what they’re saying.

That’s why I wear them.

But I wear headphones that have smaller coverings

so that you don’t want feedback and I don’t get feedback.

But that’s why I wear them on air.

If I was working solo, no, I probably wouldn’t.

But I’m working in a room with other people

and when we’re not on break

and we’re just listening to the music,

we’ll be having conversations about the show.

I need to hear those conversations, right?

JANNINE: Absolutely, absolutely, that makes sense.

You mentioned something, you mentioned the feedback.

And that’s something that a lot of people

have told me over the years.

Like I just can’t deal with these hearing aids

because of the ringing and the feedback

and the like static kind of stuff that happens.

SHELLI: You don’t get that at all.

Don’t get that at all with Widex.

– No, they’ve perfected that.

And they’ve even perfected, they have different size,

well, what are they called?

But you know, our ears are not all created equal as well, you know, and one of my ears

is harder to fit than the other ear, but oh, they have domes.

They have different sized domes, and then they can actually work with the dome if it

doesn’t feel wrong.

So all that is really important because you want that to be comfortable.

You don’t want to be aware that you’re wearing your hearing aids.

I’m not aware that I’m wearing them because they’re comfortable and I’m used to the sound

and that’s that and there’s no ringing and there’s no static.

There’s just this pure natural sound.

JANNINE: Which is incredibly important for folks to hear because that’s one of the objections

I get when I talk to clients about the hearing aids, it’s going to be staticky, there’s going

to be bad sound, it’s going to hurt my ears, which makes sense to have the fittings and

making sure that you go back and you make sure things feel good in a way. 

SHELLI: Right.

And a certain percentage is covered by my medical insurance, a pretty decent amount,

and that’s important, like check with your insurance and make sure you have the right

insurance, where hearing aids are covered, because you were talking about what can happen

if you have hearing loss and that goes untreated. Well, what happens ultimately is you could have

cognitive decline, because if you are no longer communicating with people, if you’re not going

out and you’re not getting together with friends and you’re not talking on the phone and you’re

hermiting that is really, really bad for your mental health. We need to be able to communicate.

We really have to communicate. And so you don’t want to shun these social situations. They’ve

actually found in recent studies that being social and having friends and getting together with

friends is one of the things that prolongs life. It’s not just your diet. It’s not just exercise.

It’s not just sleeping. Humans are social beings. We’re social animals. We need that

by our very nature. And to communicate unless you want to learn sign language and everybody else

wants to learn sign language, you got to hear. So again, this is just so immensely important

for the quality of your life. 

JANNINE:  And I mean, like you’re saying quality of life, longevity,

like you mentioned, yes, the Blue Zones all have those connections to community. And it makes sense

that if you’re starting to hermit, which I see in my patients, I see my father who still refuses

to get hearing aids. You know it’s it’s hard it’s really hard to make my father had a situation like

like your husband he tried him once they were awful and he has now deemed them all awful

and that’s where I would hope to to inspire folks a little bit listening to this maybe they’re not

all so awful maybe not well you know obviously when it’s in the situation with someone close to

us it’s harder to convince them but– 

SHELLI: And you don’t want to make here’s the thing you don’t want to be

that person that, you know, that’s something I never wanted in a relationship, you know,

that’s not what we’re about. I really am convinced that at some point he’s going to say, like me,

at some point he’s going to say, okay, enough already. All right. And also, so go to an audiologist

And have them, they, they have, you know, testers, have them put some in your ear and you’ll be

amazed if somebody puts the widex hearing aids in your ears, you are just going to go,

Oh my God, like I did, like, Oh my God, what a game changer. And that was before that they were

fitted for me. 

JANNINE: Wow. Wow. I mean, that’s a lot for, for even just folks who don’t suspect that

they have anything going on, you guys listening, you could go to the audiologist test out something

and you might have a whole new world opened up for you. 

SHELLI: Exactly. And it will change your life.

I promise you, it changes your life when you can hear again. You have one life, right? Live it,

live it and love it. 

JANNINE: Oh my goodness. Absolutely. Absolutely. So

Shelli, if folks are like, Hey, okay, these Widex, okay, how do I

find out who has Widex? Do we go to the website? How do we, how

do we find them? How do we find a good Audi– Audiologist? I

think I would love to hear your opinion, because you were

talking about making sure they’re test retesting, making sure

they’re doing certain things. What’s, what’s the scoop for the

folks listening? What should they be on the lookout for? 

SHELLI: You

No, I’m honestly not sure, but you just made me realize I should go to the Widex website

and probably there’s a place where you type in your zip code and you can find an audiologist

near you that carries Widex or if they don’t, then just contact Widex.

All I could say is try it.

the hearing test. Find out what you’re dealing with. You wouldn’t let cancer go, you know,

untreated, right? Now, I know this isn’t going to kill you, not in the short run, but in

the long run it could, like we just said. 

JANNINE: Yeah. 

SHELLI: But try it. Like you go to your eye doctor

every year, go get a hearing test where they have Widex and then try them. And I’m telling

you. There’s no going back. You’re going to say, how soon can I get these? 

JANNINE: I’ve no doubt.

I have no doubt. 

SHELLI: I forgot to tell you now. Convenience wise, I don’t have to change the

batteries. There’s a charging port. I just stick them in the charging port before I go

to bed and they charge every night. 

JANNINE: Oh my goodness. That’s another thing that I think

for a lot of people is a game changer because I think the little changing of the batteries

before it was one of the hang-ups that I believe my father had in terms of his experiment

with hearing aids. We’ll call it that since it never panned out. But yeah, having it

just be a charger. Wow, that’s good to know. 

SHELLI: Easy peasy. 

JANNINE: What other things do they do

that are easy for you. Do they have a carrying case? Do they have? Give us the whole scoop there.

SHELLI: Yeah, there’s a carrying case. They’re easy to turn off and on if you want to put them in the

carrying case and you don’t want them on. For example, on an airline flight, the sound is really

amplified when the pilot comes on. Oh my God, even if you have no hearing loss at all, it’s too loud.

So you don’t need the hearing aids when you’re on the flight, and the noise from the flight

itself is just horrible anyway. So just take them out, turn them off, put them in your little

carrying case. And like I said, the external mic, that was just phenomenal and in restaurant

situations. They’re very easy to put on. You can’t mistake which one goes in which ear,

because there’s a little red mark for the right ear.

I’m trying to think of what else, what else?

Like I said, I just forget that they’re even in.

JANNINE: I mean, that’s hugely important in and of itself.

SHELLI: My biggest challenge is I have to remember

to take them off when I go in the shower and wash my hair

because they are not, you know, waterproof.

So, but they’re so comfortable that I have to actually remember, oh, yeah, there it, you want to

take them out. 

JANNINE: Okay, so no swimming with them in, no showering with them. 

SHELLI: Yeah.  JANNINE: makes sense.

SHELLI: Yeah, you don’t need them in the pool. 

JANNINE: Yeah, that’d be interesting to amplify water sounds in that

case. That’s a whole, that’s a whole nother division of Widex. Let’s put it that way.

SHELLI: Well, looking into the future, they could, because that isn’t that a wonderful sound,

the sound of water. I mean, that would be really cool. Give them something to work on.

JANNINE: I think we just gave them a plug for a new, a new operation.

SHELLI: That’s right. 

JANNINE: Moving forward. Oh my goodness. Gosh, Shelli, so much good stuff, so much

good stuff here. And we definitely will make sure we link to the Widex website and the New York

hearing doctors as well. Because as you said, the best doctors are in New York. And if anyone’s

listening and you guys want to get over there to them by all means, go for it.

SHELLI: But I’m sure there are doctors in the suburbs that carry Widex as well.

Just understand that not all hearing aids are the same and more importantly the most

important thing that I would really want to urge people to do is just go get your yearly

hearing test and take the children, take your teenagers.

If their hearing loss is starting that early,

think of the problems they’re gonna have later in life.

JANNINE: Or even just as they go through college

and things of that nature.

I’m thinking like you had mentioned about the kids,

what’s happening in their developmental stages,

even when they’re, you know, quite young

and going through grade school

and, gosh, dare I even say preschool, you know?

SHELLI: Yeah, as soon as you put those earbuds in,

as soon as you let your kids wear the earbuds,

that’s when the trouble could start.

JANNINE: Wow, you know, I think a lot of us

don’t actually think about that.

A lot of times parents are like,

here, just go with that, I got something to do,

I will come back to you.

And then it’s like, oh wow, what could this be doing?

And it makes perfect sense, it makes perfect sense.

Boy, you know, something to think about.

Now, of course, my question’s gonna be,

Did you get your grandchildren to go in?

Has your son, daughter, your children,

got your grandkids tested?

SHELLI: No, they really are too young because they’re eight and 11.

And I don’t, yeah, they’re not even worrying about it.

That’s, yeah, yeah, they don’t have them.

JANNINE: Good deal.

SHELLI: I mean, they don’t have cell phones yet.

JANNINE: Wow.  

SHELLI: I’m very proud of my son and daughter-in-law

for not caving to the early cell phones.

I mean, yeah, even my 11 year old does not have a cell phone.

JANNINE: Wow, I’m impressed, I’m impressed.

‘Cause yes, you’re right.

The early cell phone usage is getting more and more

and then the earbuds and the whole nine.

So it is something we do have to be thinking about,

and especially as doctors,

it’s something we do need to be thinking about

moving forward is what’s all the technology doing.

SHELLI: Right. And maybe there should be some sort of automatic, I don’t know, some sort of automatic

mechanism where it cannot go to a certain level. Maybe just throwing it out there. Maybe we

shouldn’t be encouraging hearing damage.

JANNINE: I absolutely, absolutely agree. Maybe like they put on cars as a governor or something

on– on a little [inaudible]. 

SHELLI: That’s a whole other thing. I’ve never understood with cars. If you don’t want

people going over the speed limit, then why is the car capable of going so fast? I don’t get it.

I just don’t get it. 

JANNINE: I have to agree with you. I mean, my car says up to 130. And I’m like,

I’m pretty sure I can’t go there anywhere in the United States for 130 miles. 

SHELLI: Exactly! Why? Why do we have

capability. Why did they? I don’t get it. No, it’s don’t get it. 

JANNINE: It’s either a teaser. It’s like

maybe, maybe the random person that tries it out. We see what happens. But it’s the same thing,

you know, with, with being able to turn up full, full blast for music, you know, and, and definitely

I know as, as being a teenager once that you had a jam you wanted to listen to, and you wanted to

turn it up loud, like, well, goodness, you were going to do it. And in my age range, it was guns

and roses and you know all of the rock bands for sure and you being in the rock you know radio

industry I’m sure that like you know there’s so many of us that that’s what we’ve done and who

knows all of the things and so this is the time to go get tested and know what you’re working with

so it doesn’t affect your your longevity and your brain function. 

SHELLI: And look at all the rockers who

We have admitted to hearing loss.

JANNINE: Yeah.

SHELLI: Even Dave Grohl.

JANNINE: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s true.

That’s true.

I didn’t even think about that.

That is true.

It seems like every so often we get another person

who’s kind of admitting that.

So see folks, you can be a rock and roller

and still be cool and still have your hearing aids.

SHELLI: That’s right.

No shame. – No shame.

JANNINE: Shelli’s the perfect example.

She’s rocking and rolling and she’s got hers.

It’s, you know, it’s something, I’m glad that you’re speaking to folks about this.

I’m glad that you’re telling your story.

It’s definitely something that we need to hear.

We need to hear.

And I’m happy to share this one for sure.

So if folks are, I’m going to have you give us with some parting words in terms of whatever

you want to tell us and whatever you want to get out there in terms of the folks are

sitting here going, yeah, I don’t know, Shelli, maybe I could put it off a little bit.

little bit longer. What would you say to that person? 

SHELLI: Why do you

want to miss out? I don’t want to miss out. Right. 

JANNINE: Right.

Exactly. No one wants FOMO. 

SHELLI: No, no, so get’er done.

JANNINE: Awesome. Well, Shelli, thank you so much for coming on and

spreading the word about the Widex hearing aids. We’re

definitely going to make sure we put that out there. And I just

look forward to hearing how things go in the future for you

with the hearing aids and love to hear like the recap of after a couple years how it’s been

with using the Widex. Love to hear.

SHELLI: Absolutely. I would love to come back. Thank you so much.

JANNINE: Thanks, Shelli. [Outro] [Upbesat music] Hey, fellow Health junkie. Thanks for listening to the Health Fix Podcast.

If you enjoy tuning in, please help support me to get the word out about the podcast.

subscribe, rate, and review, and just get that word out. Thanks again for listening.