Studies have shown that people with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before getting hearing aids. Why? Stigma associated with appearing old is one commonly cited reason. But there’s another, simpler reason: inertia. The Bachelor Australia host Osher Günsberg waited more than a decade. But when he finally got high-end hearing aids, his life improved dramatically.
Günsberg says he first started noticing problems with his hearing in his late teens. By his late twenties, he couldn’t hear the difference between an ‘F’ and an ‘S.’ But it still took another decade before he saw an audiologist.
“I didn’t realize it, but when my hearing loss first started to get quite bad, I would avoid dinner parties or avoid going out,” he says in a video produced by Oticon. “And I didn’t know why I was saying no….I just felt that I didn’t want to do it.”
When he did go out, he wondered, “Why was I sitting alone? Because I can’t hear anybody?” And he realized, “There’s no need for you to go through life like that.” He took the plunge and got hearing aids, and his life immediately improved.
Today Günsberg is an “Oticon Ambassador” who promotes Oticon’s high-end Opn hearing aids. A 44-year-old professional communicator, Günsberg gets every ounce of benefit from the latest-and-greatest features of his premium hearing aids.
Premium Features Make a Difference
Among other things, his next-generation of high-end hearing aids feature:
- Advanced sound processing that makes understanding speech in noise much easier. “I feel so much more present in a room full of people,” he says. “It’s not just hearing that we’re talking about. It’s how you’re connecting with people around you.”
- Wireless streaming of audio directly from his iPhone. “I used to avoid talking on the phone. I would send it to voicemail,” he says. Now he can hear phone calls in both ears and use the phone’s app to turn the volume up or down.
- Rechargeable batteries, which have “really helped me to wear them more regularly. Having the dock right by the bed there, and knowing that I’ve got a full day of charge—no problem at all. That’s been really really great.”
Of course, they’re not cheap. Premium hearing aids from Oticon and other top manufacturers can set you back anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 a pair. But according to Günsberg, the cost of not addressing the problem can be greater.
Think of the People Around You
“When you first notice that you’re saying ‘what?’ ‘hun?’ ‘pardon?’, you’re degrading your ability to communicate and connect with the people around you,” he says. “You might not realize it, but that’s starting to act like a sandpaper on the interactions that you have with the people around you.”
Perhaps most important of all, Günsberg has seen the biggest benefit at home.
“When I wear these, I feel more connected to the people that I’m spending time with,” he says. “I’ve definitely noticed a difference with my family—just in the way that we interact at home. That’s, that’s everything.”