08/06/2026
One patient encounter I'll never forget left me wondering... What if hearing aids weren't something people tried to hide, but instead something they were proud to show off?
A woman came to the clinic I was working at years ago. I tested her and found that she had a flat, moderately severe hearing loss.
When fitting some hearing aids for demonstration, she was completely blown away by how well she could hear. I still remember watching her eyes widening as her head tilted forward, her jaw dropping. "Is that all real? You hear all that?" She was stunned and, without any further thought, insisted that she had to have them.
She walked out that day with the biggest smile on her face.
Fast forward a couple of weeks later, and she came back in for a scheduled follow-up, still in high spirits about all the wonderful things she was hearing.
Then there was the "but..." There's always a "but."
Like some other patients, an issue of vanity poked its way into the conversation. But I was surprised it wasn't the usual, "I don't want people to know I'm wearing hearing aids; please hide them."
No, rather, this woman's worry was being stylish with her listening experience.
"Don't you have anything that has a little more shine, maybe with sparkle or shimmer to it?"
"No," I said, "you've got some of the best hearing aids on the market in your ears right now. That value should already speak for itself. Everyone knows hearing aids are expensive."
She sat back in the clinic chair, looking a little deflated, then glanced over at me, leaning forward again and placing one of her hands behind her ear, bouncing it with the aid keeping in sync with her ear.
"I just think people would like to see my hearing aids if they were more fancy. Showing them off would be so much fun."
I grinned faintly, knowing I didn't have what she was looking for. She was looking at them as more than hearing instruments. To this woman, she wanted them to be accessories. While I was able to meet her hearing needs, I wasn't able to meet this inspiring need for vanity.
She was a one-of-a-kind patient, and I've always wished this vanity issue was more common than the "make it look like I don't have hearing aids" issue. If it was, I likely would have happened into the sphere of offering handcrafted hearing-aid jewelry, much like the trinkets pictured here.
I've reflected on that experience time and time again.
It's true that the stigma of using hearing aids is slowly starting to dissipate, but unfortunately, many people are still holding on to "grandpa's hearing aids were like this" and "grandma's hearing aids were like that."
But I've never heard, "Grandma's hearing aids were blingin'" or "Grandpa's hearing aids were off the chain."
And it leaves me thinking... perhaps there is some space in my clinic's inventory and display case for things like this.
