If you love golf, you know there’s nothing better than a beautiful day spent out on the course with friends. Just as golf can seem like a deceptively easy game—you just pick a club and hit the ball, right?—it can come as a surprise that golf strongly engages your senses as you play. But it’s true—and your senses need to be just as sharp as your game, so a limiting condition like untreated hearing loss can put a damper on things.
You might not always think of it, but in golf, hearing is a crucial part of the game. Not only do you need to hear well for your safety, but hearing also plays into whether or not you have an enjoyable time. Being able to hear the sounds around you, from the birds chirping to the satisfying strike of your clubface hitting the ball, enhances your experience. Plus, being able to hear and participate in the conversations happening around you is an important part of your social life. If you’re struggling with hearing loss, you may find these normally enjoyable situations to be challenging or stressful.
Some common hearing loss symptoms include:
It’s important to be aware of these signs of hearing loss since many of them develop over time and can easily go unnoticed.
When you’re playing golf, hearing the sounds around you are important. If you have to strain and struggle to hear, you’ll likely have trouble focusing, tuning in your spatial awareness and playing well. You also might feel on edge if you’re not able to understand what people are saying. And if you’re unable to make out a warning call from another player, it can be a safety issue.
Hearing and balance are closely connected. The inner ear houses essential hearing anatomy like the cochlea, as well as the vestibular system, which has specialized cells that are highly sensitive to movement. Signals from both the auditory system and the vestibular systems travel along the same nerve pathway to the brain.
People with hearing loss, then, may be more prone to struggling with balance issues or have more risk of falling. Just as problems with hearing and balance can be intertwined, so can solutions. If you’ve ever wondered “Do hearing aids help with balance?,” the answer is “Yes.” Balance is a general safety concern for many people. But for golfers, good balance is also essential to maintaining your form as you move through the process of hitting the ball—whether you’re at the tee or on the green.
The sound your club makes when it strikes the ball can tell you about the quality of your swing and whether or not you need to work on your technique. A crisp, sharp sound usually means that you swung well and with control. If your strike sounds muffled or just “off”, it could indicate that you didn’t hit the ball as precisely.
So how do hearing aids help this aspect of your game? It’s all about maintaining your ability to sense those sometimes subtle differences. Hearing aids enable you to pick up on the sounds that might have become harder to sense with hearing loss, giving you the sensory awareness to make corrections and fine-tune your game.
If you have ringing in your ears (a common condition known tinnitus), it can be very distracting. Some golfers even find that the quiet calm of the links can make tinnitus more noticeable.
So will hearing aids help tinnitus as well as tuning you into more of the sounds of the game? Yes. Hearing aids can help balance and enhance the sounds around you, which can reduce the perception of ringing and the distraction it causes.
Most golfers have been caught in the rain at one time or another, and are well aware of the risks and the need to get indoors when a storm kicks up. That’s even more true when wearing hearing aids. Can you wear hearing aids in the rain? It depends on the model that you have, but some hearing aids can be damaged if moisture gets inside them and affects the electronics.
In any case, you should take steps to make sure they stay dry in the event of a weather surprise, such as wearing a hat with a brim that extends over the ears. Luckily for golfers and outdoors lovers, Miracle-Ear now offers its most waterproof hearing aids, Miracle-EarBLISSTM, which give you added protection from the elements.
If you’re dealing with hearing loss, book an appointment at a Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center. You'll receive a free hearing evaluation and have the opportunity to connect with a hearing care professional who can give you expert advice tailored to your lifestyle.
