Love, hearing loss and Bluetooth settings
Barry and I were on vacation in the Bahamas, soaking up the sun and enjoying island life until he caught a nasty virus. The next morning, he woke up and said, “I can’t hear out of my right ear.”
Just like that, his hearing was gone.
He saw a doctor on the island who put him on a steroid immediately. Once we got home, he started a series of injections right into his ear to try to restore the hearing. Nothing worked.
🧏🏼 That’s when reality set in
He’d permanently lost the hearing in one ear.
At first, it was just little things. We avoided our favorite restaurants because they were too noisy. Conversations turned into misunderstandings. I’d start to tell a story, then stop halfway through because it was frustrating for both of us when he couldn’t quite catch the details.
Barry, like a lot of people, didn’t want to get a hearing aid. “They make you look old,” he’d say. And I get it, no one wants to feel like they’re falling apart.
But hearing loss doesn’t just affect one person. It changes how we connect with the people we love. We’ve been married 25 years. I wanted us back.
📱 Tech to the rescue
I helped him tweak his iPhone when he first lost his hearing.
- I went into Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Balance to shift sound to his good ear.
- While there, I turned on LED Flash for Alerts for texts and calls so he wouldn’t miss them.
- I also activated Background Sounds to cut out unwanted chatter.
That really didn’t help much.
So I bought him a new pair of AirPods, and he took a hearing test at home using Apple’s test. Here’s how you can do the same.
- Connect your AirPods to your iPhone under Settings > Bluetooth.
- Then, go back to Settings > AirPods (you’ll see your AirPods by name).
- Under Hearing Health, tap Take a Hearing Test.
Yup, he had mild to moderate hearing loss. Next, I tried the AirPods hearing boost feature, but it did nothing. That was the turning point. Seeing how much he was missing convinced him to try hearing aids.
🙏🏻 What a difference
Now Barry wears his hearing aids every day. The TV isn’t blasting anymore. Just last night, he smiled and said, “I just heard you coming down the stairs!” We can go out to dinner again. And best of all, we talk and laugh without all the “What’d you say?” moments.
If someone you love is struggling with hearing loss, or maybe it’s you, don’t wait. I’ve seen firsthand how hearing loss can sneak into your life and chip away at your relationships, confidence and independence.
Most hearing aids have only one processor. The Horizon IX has two, processing speech and background noise separately for clearer hearing in every environment, from meetings to parties.
They make the entire process easy, discreet and even kind of exciting. You’ll get a free consultation, at-home hearing test and a 45-day no-risk trial with expert support the whole way. No pressure. Just help.
These aren’t your grandpa’s hearing aids. They’re sleek, smart and nearly invisible.
👉 Ready to hear life again? Take the first step right now and see if you qualify for a 45-day risk-free trial. You’ll be glad you did.
Tags: accessibility, Apple AirPods, audio, hear.com, hearing aids, virus
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