For Ballet Dancer With Hearing Loss, 'It's a Whole New Chapter'

Sara Mearns was missing her cues. She couldn't hear what her dance partner was saying from across the studio, and she was late for her entrances because the music sounded too soft. Without telling anyone, she finally made an appointment to get her hearing checked and learned she had hearing loss. After years of isolation, she got the tools to make sense of a world that had gotten muffled. Now, she's one of the first dancers with the New York City Ballet to wear hearing aids during performances. "I feel like it's a whole new chapter of my life," Mearns, 40, tells the AP.

While hearing loss is common in older adults, it can happen at any age and be caused by things like nerve damage, infection, or head trauma. For Mearns, it may have been a blend of factors, including genetics, medical conditions, and exposure to loud noise. According to the National Institutes of Health, less than a fifth of American adults ages 20 to 69 who could benefit from wearing hearing aids have ever used them. That's due to lack of access, shame, embarrassment, or just not knowing the symptoms. "Hearing loss is often not detected by the person, because what they can't hear, they don't know," says Columbia hearing expert Dr. Anil Lalwani.

Still, "there are a lot of symptoms of hearing loss that are not hearing less," says Mount Sinai's Dr. Maura Cosetti. One thing to look out for is saying "what" more often, as well as not being able to hear friends and family in noisy settings like restaurants. Other symptoms include ringing, a sensation like something is stuck in the ears, or conversations sounding muffled. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mearns couldn't hear conversations when people were wearing masks. "I realized that I was reading everybody's lips to understand what they were saying," she says.

Experts say to let a doctor know if you think you may be experiencing symptoms of hearing loss. They can help you connect with an audiologist or an ear, nose, and throat specialist to get a hearing test. Cosetti says the Mimi Hearing Test app can be useful resource to get a sense of your hearing. Seeing a professional is the best way to figure out what's actually going on—like whether your ears are just plugged up with wax or fluid. Thanks to her hearing aid, Mearns can now hear the full might of the orchestra when she performs—and take phone calls in her ears. "Now that I'm on the other side, I'm so happy," she says. More here.