Get your hearing tested

As musician Roger Daltrey's audiologist, I will not let musician John Mellencamp's vow to never wear hearing aids pass without an answer.

Mellencamp says he avoids restaurants because he can't hear, lives with constant ringing and pulsatile tinnitus, and expects to be "totally deaf" after touring — yet he refuses help because his grandmother warned him that once you get hearing aids, "you can't live without them."

That myth is surrender, dressed up as strength. Hearing aids don't damage hearing. They restore it — like glasses for your ears. Today's devices are nearly invisible, and they work best before loss is severe.

Daltrey chose differently. He says that hearing aids let him keep doing what he loves. From the stage, he urges fans: Get checked, no embarrassment.

Don't withdraw from the people and the music you love. Get your hearing tested.

Dr. Ronna Fisher, founder, Hearing Health Center, Chicago