In this episode, Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., an audiologist with UC Health (University of Cincinnati), shares how hearing changes as we age—often starting with difficulty hearing high frequencies and understanding speech in background noise. You’ll learn why hearing loss isn’t always “just an older-person” issue, how earbuds and modern listening environments can contribute, and what early signals like muffled sounds may mean for your day-to-day life.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Well, joining me now is Dr. Lisa Wenstrup. She’s an audiologist with the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Wenstrup, it’s great to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Thank you for having me.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
I always like to talk about hearing because as I age, I notice differences in my hearing. I can’t pick up the high frequencies. I sometimes can’t pick up what my wife is saying to me, and that’s not because I don’t want to talk to her.
How does our hearing change as we age or does our hearing change as we age?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Well, I think sometimes people think hearing loss is just an old age thing, and that’s not necessarily true, but you’re absolutely right. As we age, those high frequencies tend to taper off, and we start to notice difficulty hearing in background noise. Female voices are typically high pitch, and so I have a lot of conversations with patients about the spousal debate.
So it’s pretty common to lose those high frequency or those high pitches, and that can start to impact quality of life in your day-to-day activities.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So it’s not necessarily an aging thing. I mean, is it now more than ever maybe more pervasive among the younger demographic just because we’ve got earbuds and Beats headphones? And it just seems like, doctor, there’s a lot of noise around when I walk on the street.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
You’re 100% correct. We live in a noisy world. Everything makes the sound.
I do think that, you know, we are exposed to a lot more environmental factors as well. I think, too, the boomers are reaching the point where they’re starting to notice difficulty hearing, and so perhaps that’s more of a population and more people are talking about it. But, you know, children can have hearing loss as well and kind of grow up with that, but I specifically work with adults that most of the time are losing their hearing later in life.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And does the hearing just end? Like, for example, one day I can hear, the next day I can’t, or it becomes muffled, or is it more of a gradual or subtle change over time for most people?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
For most people, it’s a subtle change over time. Now, certainly there are patients that maybe have a genetic hearing loss or a family history where it would progress a little bit differently, but if it’s just traditional presbycusis, age-related hearing loss, typically that it just gradually changes over time.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, and it would be something that if I notice, like, I can’t hear a certain word or things sound muffled, what should I do? Should I contact someone like yourself, an audiologist, go to my primary care physician? Where do I start if I’m starting to notice some change?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
I think if it’s a sudden change specifically in one ear, right? So if you notice I put the phone up to one ear, it sounds okay. I put the phone up to the other ear, it sounds muffled or distorted.
That’s something we consider a medical emergency because if it is a sudden sensorineural hearing loss, we want to get treatment right away. Now, of course, it could be something like earwax or, you know, maybe nothing at all, but I think as an audiologist who’s had experience with patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss, I think it is important if there’s a difference between ears, if you’re noticing associated symptoms like ringing, dizziness, or any other additional symptoms, you should definitely at least go to an audiologist and get a hearing test.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And that hearing test, how does that typically work? Is it painful? Is it difficult?
How would I go about scheduling that and going through the process?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Yeah, I mean, any audiologist can do a hearing test. I think it would be recommended to go get a hearing test at some place that actually has an ear, nose, and throat practice attached to it so that if you do in fact need medical treatment, we can get you there right away. But an audiogram is painless and quick, and it can give us a nice diagnostic picture of what’s going on with both ears and kind of a comparison if you have a previous test.
So I think an audiogram, I’m biased, I’m an audiologist, is an easy thing to kind of give us a picture of what’s going on, and then we can guide you with what direction to go from there.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And is that something that would be covered by typical insurance? So if you have…
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Absolutely, yep.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So an insurance policy would cover some or all of it, depending on what type of policy you have?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Yeah, typically insurance covers an annual audiogram. And if it doesn’t cover it, it’s relatively inexpensive. I would say under $200 for a hearing test.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And is the recommendation, I mean, I know that you kind of focus on maybe people middle, like my age, middle age and older, but for our younger viewers out there who may be 18, 19, 20, do you, is it recommended that they at least get a baseline early on?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
You know, it’s interesting. I think with vision, we’re pretty aggressive, right? I think for the most part, people are getting their eyes checked once a year.
But for some reason with hearing, that’s not always the case. And I mean, we do a good job early in life, but then maybe, you know, in the middle age or those young teenage years, it’s not as important. But I do think it’s always good to have a baseline because then we can compare, which is a valuable tool.
Also, the younger population, we are in a noisy world where louder is better. We’re using AirPods, everything’s Bluetooth, we’re streaming all the time. Protecting our ears now at a younger age is so important because those side effects typically show up later.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, you know, I actually have a hard time now. I mean, I’m, you know, I grew up with, without audio streaming and the internet, but I have a hard time kind of calming my brain because, you know, we’re bombarded with information. We’re bombarded.
I mean, people scroll now. Most social media posts have some type of audio and video. So, I would imagine that, I’m sorry, go ahead.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
No, go ahead.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, I think that it’s something that if I’m younger, if I knew now what, if I knew then what I know now, I would get myself tested. How, you mentioned the audiogram. I know that Apple, for example, with their AirPod Pro 3 or 4, they have some level of a hearing test.
How does that compare relative to the work that you and other audiologists do to do the measurement? I would imagine what you do is a lot more intensive.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Yeah, so what we do is a full diagnostic audiogram where we do a lot of other tests that look at kind of the full picture. But I think the AirPod test is a great screening method to at least tell you if the ears are different. But we’re obviously testing in a soundproof booth in a really quiet environment.
Whereas if you were doing a screening at home, that might not be the ideal conditions with your AirPods, even though they’re noise canceling and they do a very good job. It doesn’t equal a diagnostic audiogram, but it is a good tool to have that is readily available to a good amount of people.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
You mentioned that perhaps it might be a good idea to seek an audiologist who’s tied to an otolaryngologist, ear, nose, and throat doctor, a practice, a doctor’s practice. If I have hearing loss, could that be indicative of other types of diseases, for example, brain-related diseases? Because my understanding, and you’re the expert, is that there’s connectivity obviously between the brain and the different senses.
So would that potentially be not only predictive of hearing loss, but you could also have a bigger, larger problem?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Yeah. I mean, hopefully we catch a larger problem earlier, but I think if there’s an asymmetry or if there’s other concerns, then I think it’s always good to get a medical evaluation as well. Certainly if you just have traditional hearing loss, you can be fit with amplification and go about your merry way.
But the brain is the powerhouse of our body. The hearing organ and hearing nerve is sending that information to the brain. And so, yeah, I think it’s important.
Our hearing is very important. It’s something we use every day. It’s a sense.
And so, yes, I think I’m biased. I’m in academic medicine, but I do think it’s important to be evaluated by a physician as well as an audiologist to kind of look at everything and get a good case history.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
In terms of treating hearing loss, I know the FDA approved over-the-counter hearing aids. If someone goes to an audiologist to get treatment, what are my options? I mean, do I just arbitrarily decide to go over-the-counter, go to my local Walgreens or my Best Buy or wherever they sell those devices, or is it best to be measured and treated with the right device to support your hearing?
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
I think what over-the-counter hearing aids did was provide access to other patients that wouldn’t otherwise seek going to an audiologist, driving to a big city. So I think it improved access, but it is really only for those mild hearing losses. And so, if you don’t have a full diagnostic audiogram that kind of looks at the big picture and there’s something else going on, we might miss that if you’re just going over-the-counter.
I’m biased, but I would think that if you’re making this big purchase of amplification, that the success of the amplification really is bent on having a good audiologist. I think if you have a good relationship with audiologists, they understand your lifestyle, understand the challenges that you face, then we can help customize those hearing aids or amplification to best suit your personal needs. And that’s different for everybody.
So I’m a proponent of going to an audiologist, but of course that’s what I do on a daily basis.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, but you’re a professional, you’ve been trained and treated. And I would, look, I’m somebody, I’m old school, call me old school, but I’d rather go to somebody who has a lot of experience and expertise than me try to quote unquote, wing it. You mentioned some of the amplification and hearing aids.
Do you think the stigma, I know that technology has really evolved, now there are Bluetooth hearing aids and they can be tailored for your specific needs as an individual, but has the stigma, I remember the old, my grandparents having the hearing aid that sat outside the ear, maybe they were a little conscious about that, but has the stigma kind of declined about using, I don’t know if I would have a problem with using a hearing aid, even at my age, because they’re like hidden.
You never see them.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Yeah, I think yes, because of the wearable world that we’re in, we all have watches, we all have AirPods, we all have Bluetooth things. So I think the acceptance of having something or wearing something that’s visible has improved. You know, I think the challenges as audiologists is that we do have those patients that did get hearing aids and my grandma had hearing aids and she just put them in the drawer, right?
So as audiologists, we’re constantly trying to overcome that. So I think that’s why it’s important to have an audiologist fit you with appropriate amplification and have a good relationship to make sure you’re successful with those devices.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, I mean, they’re so tiny. I’ve seen them and they’re so tiny, you would never know unless someone told you, they really sit inside the ear. I mean, it really, you know, in today’s world, you have 2026, things have evolved so much.
I’m sure that I’m sure the hearing devices now use artificial intelligence to help tweak the data.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Yeah, they have amazing technology. Some of the manufacturers have things that are able to detect if you fall, for example, which is a big deal in the aging population. So I think the ear can give us a lot of information or feedback back to the hearing aid as well.
So yeah, I think the technology, the size rechargeable have all improved the acceptance of amplification for sure.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, absolutely. Well, Dr. Wenstrup, we’re going to have to leave it there. Thank you so much for making a few minutes for us.
And we look, we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.
Lisa Wenstrup, PhD., UC Health
Thank you so much.
