Shakin' Street — A Parkinson's Blog

The Parkinson’s support group I’m leading had its first meeting last week. 24 PWP’s and caregivers sat in a circle for an hour, sharing frustrations, fears, tips, and tricks.

Post-meeting reviews were positive, with one consistent negative expressed: we sometimes had trouble hearing each other.

There were three factors making it tough to hear:

1. We were meeting in a very large room — a community center gym with high ceilings. Sounds tended to float away.

2. We’re (mostly) an over-60 group, and our hearing may not be as good as it once was.

3. Parkinson’s is notorious for making voices softer.

My co-facilitator and I will be a addressing Issue #1 before our next meeting by purchasing some portable microphones and speakers.

Issue #3 can be tackled in some cases with programs such as LSVT Loud or the Parkinson’s Voice Project.

But last week’s meeting got me thinking about Issue #2 — hearing loss, and how it affects people with Parkinson’s and their care partners.

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My new hearing aids are great. I can now hear the safe word. – Andy Huggins

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A FEW NUMBERS TO CONSIDER

• According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, more than 50 million — about one in seven — Americans have some degree of hearing loss.
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• More than half of them could benefit from hearing aids, but only 20% use them.
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• People wait an average of nine years after noticing a hearing problem to get it treated.
  

The situation is even more concerning for those of us with Parkinson’s:

• A recent study in the publication Movement Disorders reports that people with Parkinson’s are almost twice as likely as the general public to suffer from hearing loss.
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• Untreated hearing loss is linked to depression, social isolation and increased risk of falls in older adults.
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• In a study tracking 639 adults for 12 years, researchers at Johns Hopkins “found that mild hearing loss doubled dementia risk. Moderate loss tripled risk, and people with a severe hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia.”

If you can stand just a few more bullet points, I’ll sum up the situation:

• Those of us with Parkinson’s have almost double the risk of having hearing loss.
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• While correlation is not causation, untreated hearing loss may increase our odds of falls, depression, isolation, and dementia — all of which are common symptoms of Parkinson’s anyway.
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• Many of us wait nine years or more to deal with the problem. During those nine years it’s likely to get worse.

In conclusion, please get your hearing checked.

A NOTE TO CARE PARTNERS

My spouse and care partner, PDXKnitterati, attended several “care partner” meetings at the World Parkinson’s Congress. At one of them, a presenter asked the room, “How many of you have had their hearing checked?” Very few hands went up.

As your PWP’s Parkinson’s progresses, speech difficulties may make communication more difficult. If you’ve got auditory loss of your own, the combination of their soft voice and your less-than-ideal hearing will cause unneeded frustration.

Please consider getting your own hearing tested, too.

SO, PHIL, HAVE YOU FOLLOWED YOUR OWN ADVICE?

For once, I have!

Like many Boomers, I spent much of my youth at gatherings featuring loud music. These days I wear ear protection at concerts; back then I didn’t bother.

So once a year for the past three years, I’ve had my hearing tested by an audiologist. She reports that I have a bit of loss on the high end, but do not need hearing aids yet. I’ll be back in her office in December to check again.

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW

You may think your hearing is fine, and maybe it is. But hearing loss can occur gradually, and there may be a difference you haven’t noticed. A professional has tools to find out for sure.

For your own benefit and that of those around you, please find out.

If you learn you need hearing aids, find a way to get them. With the introduction of over-the-counter models, they’re often cheaper than they used to be, and there are some financial assistance programs available.

And finally, if you get hearing aids, they won’t work if they’re sitting in a drawer. Please wear them.

At the NE Portland Support Group, we’ll do our part. We’ll have microphones and speakers at the next meeting. See you July 15.

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PEDAL SUPPORT 2026 Is Almost Here

Regular readers will know I’m a volunteer at Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon, an organization dedicated to supporting people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers in Oregon and SW Washington.

We’re having our annual fundraising bike ride, Pedal Support, on Sunday, June 28. We’ll be riding the beautiful Banks-Vernonia Trail.

If you’re in the Portland area and would like to ride with us, I invite you to join my team, the Shakin’ Streetfighters. If your out of town or otherwise unavailable, and can swing a donation, it would be appreciated.

To sign up to ride or to donate, click here.

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AI DISCLOSURE

The image at the top of this post was done with WordPress’ AI tool.

Every word of this post was written by a human being, Phil Bernstein. This was written by me. Me, me, me.

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Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom

Want to support this blog?

When I think of Bobby Darin, I think of the crooner who did “Mack the Knife,” “Dream Lover,” and “Splish Splash.” This is VERY different.

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Nancy Sinatra might or might not recognize her hit, reimagined.

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Turns out YouTube has all sorts of renditions of the “Freebird” guitar solo. This one might not be the most technically accurate, but it’s impressive.

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“Bad Moon Rising” works pretty well as a ragtime piece.