What’s the first thing you picture when you think of a person wearing a hearing aid? Does it perhaps feed into an outdated stereotype of what hearing aids look like and who wears them? If so, you wouldn’t be alone. It’s why the stigma surrounding hearing aids still widely exists today.
To learn how hearing devices have evolved, why the stigma of wearing one persists (but can also be overcome), and more, we connected with Brittany Finkler, Au.D., an Audiologist with Kaczmarski Hearing Services.
If you weren’t already aware, there have been exciting developments within the hearing aid world, with technology evolving and access being easier than ever before.
“Advancements in digital technology have made hearing aids less noticeable (smaller and often designed with comfort and reduced surface area on the back of the ear or in the canal),” Finkler said, adding that feedback suppression has also improved, eliminating the whistling or feedback that used to come with the hearing aids of old. “Processing in the hearing aids is now using forms of AI to assist with sound classification, which helps the hearing aids make quicker decisions on what settings it should be on and how much noise reduction, speech enhancement, wind/machine noise management, etc. should be active at any given point.”
Another exciting development Finkler shared is that many hearing aids have the ability to connect with an app and cell phone, enabling wearers to discreetly make changes to hearing aid settings and eliminating the need to touch (and draw attention to) the ears.
Even despite these advancements in hearing aid technology, many women who could benefit from wearing a device simply shrug off the idea or don’t even consider it to begin with. Finkler believes this to be largely a carry-over from years past.
“In previous generations, there was a desire to look, act, and ‘be’ perfect,” Finkler said. “If there was some kind of disability or health concern, it was not brought up much to family members, and especially not mentioned in public. I think there was a stigma that ‘something was wrong with you,’ which of course is silly. Just because someone has hearing loss (and there are a large variety of ways one may get hearing loss), doesn’t mean they’re impaired or that they can’t function ‘normally.’”
As someone who has first-hand experience with choosing to wear a hearing aid, Finkler tries to offer patients a new perspective.
“Some patients I meet care very much about the aesthetic and how [a hearing aid] will look,” she said. “I sometimes hear them comment that they think it will make them look old. It’s usually around that time I show them my own hearing aid. Many times, they didn’t even notice I was wearing one!
“I think as women have become more prevalent in the workplace and are in leadership roles, many are concerned about the glass ceiling. Will they be overlooked for leadership or a promotion because they’re a woman with a ‘disability?’”
So how do we make progress toward eliminating this stigma?
“We need to understand that hearing loss means nothing other than there being some deficits in hearing ability, similarly (but at the same time very different) to glasses,” Finkler explained. “We don’t think anyone with glasses has a disability, nor do we treat them as if they are incapable of doing a job. We need to adopt the same attitude toward those with hearing loss.”
If you find yourself among the women who either know they could benefit from a hearing aid (or suspect you potentially could) but have been hesitant to look into it, Finkler encourages you to go for it.
“I’m a 30-something year old woman who wears a hearing aid, and have for several years at this point—don’t let it stand in the way of your goals!” Finkler said. “Being fit with hearing aids earlier helps keep your cognition and processing abilities functioning well, and research has indicated untreated hearing loss has a connection with memory concerns and other chronic health conditions that may be staved off by treating your hearing loss.”
It’s never too early to get your hearing checked, Finkler emphasized, even if it’s simply for a baseline.
“Early detection and treatment make a world of difference in outcomes.”
Written by Sarah Suydam, Managing Editor for West Michigan Woman.
This article originally appeared in the Spring ’26 issue of West Michigan Woman.
