Topic: Hearing Loss Awareness on the Tonight Show

Beck: Good Morning Mr. Crosby.

Crosby: Hi Dr. Beck.

Beck: Its an honor to meet you. Ive watched your work from the other side of the television for probably more than 35 years.

Crosby: Thanks. Ive been very fortunate that my career has sustained over the years. Making people laugh is the best and its been just fantastic.

Beck: I am very tempted to just ask you to do a few minutes of stand-up for us, but then well never get to the issues about hearing! So lets do this, well start with your thoughts and impressions about hearing loss and hearing aids this time, and then next year at the Starkey Gala in Minneapolis, Ill transcribe your whole routine?

Crosby: Thats sounds like a plan.

Beck: So, if you dont mind, can we start by talking about your hearing loss and your your experience with hearing aids?

Crosby: Absolutely. I think my hearing problems started during my military service. I was on a sub-chaser in the North Atlantic and the depth charges made a terrific sound, it was very loud and you could feel it through your bones. The hearing loss came about slowly, it was not that one day I was suddenly deaf, it was a gradual thing that came on slowly over time.

Beck: How did you realize you had hearing loss? In other words, at what point did you say This isnt right, I need to get this checked ?

Crosby: It wasnt me that noticed! Actually, after I was discharged from the service, I went back home to Boston, and it was my mother that noticed. She set me up with an ear doctor, and he did the tests and everything and said I had hearing loss.

Beck: Did he recommend hearing aids at that time?

Crosby: Yes he did. He was very smart, and that was many decades ago. I was about 19 or 20 years old, and it was a little awkward but the hearing aids worked! I had the big old thing, I think it was called a body aid. I stuck it in my pocket and there were cords that went up to my ears it looked kinda funny, but it worked very well. As time went on the hearing aids got much better and much smaller. Luckily, as my hearing got worse, the hearing instruments have improved dramatically with regards to controlling some of the background noise, and certainly the overall sound quality is excellent for one-on-one speech understanding. People like Bill Austin at Starkey are always trying to make hearing aids better, and they are so successful it is sometimes overwhelming. To see how far this industry has progressed, and how quickly it has progressed- its just wonderful.

Beck: What type of hearing aids do you wear now?

Crosby: I currently have Starkey Digital Hearing Aids. I wear the two of them behind-the-ear (BTEs) and they make all the difference in the world. Frankly, when I dont wear the hearing aids, I hear absolutely nothing. Its as simple as that. Dr. Beck, youve seen my audiogram, I am pretty deaf without the hearing aids!

Beck: Yes, you would, indeed, be categorized as deaf. You have a profound hearing loss in both ears, and in fact, the term profound actually refers to hearing loss of 90 dB or worse, and your loss is closer to 100 dB in each ear. Mr. Crosby, what can you tell me about the cosmetic issues?

Crosby: Well, as I said, cosmetics may be terrifically important to some people, but to me -- I just wanna hear! Besides that, I think hearing aids look fine, and again, theyre much smaller now than before. In fact, even the big ones are just about invisible.

Beck: If you dont mind, can I take a close-up of your ear so people can see how the BTE looks?

Crosby: Sure, if a photo of my hearing aid helps people try hearing aids take two! Id much rather have better hearing than be better looking! But seriously, I do know that people are very concerned about what it looks like, and thats something each of us has to think about and then decide whats important for ourselves. To me, to sacrifice hearing and worry about what it looks like is absurd but I respect the decisions others make too.

Beck: I can say without any hesitation that even though I know youre wearing two BTEs, I cannot see them from 4 feet in front of you. However, when you turn your head to the side, I get a slight glimpse of them, if I look for them.

Crosby: Yes, I hear that all the time. Most people never notice them at all.

Beck: Are you still the spokesperson for the Better Hearing Institute?

Crosby: I was the first spokesperson for the Better Hearing Institute in Washington. And thats the message we tried to send out there is hearing help out there, and the technology and options are amazing. I was the first person to receive the Golden Ear Award, and I think I was the first person on television to talk about hearing loss and hearing aids. I did Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore and Mike Douglas, and I got thousands and thousands of letters from people who went out and got hearing aids because they were inspired to do that because they saw it on TV.

I remember telling Johnny Carson, on the air, that I had a wonderful new hearing aid, and I told him it had wonderful new audibility and decibels and augmented transfusions and I could tell he was really impressed. He asked What kind is it ? And I said About a quarter to eleven. So he let me bring this up and make it a topic for discussion in Americas living rooms.

Beck: Mr. Crosby, how well can you hear on the phone?

Crosby: Excellent. I do fantastic on the phone.

Beck: Do you use the telecoil?

Crosby: No, as a matter of fact I dont. I just put the phone right to my ear against the ear mold and the hearing aid and its great. There are times I hear better on the phone than I do face-to-face!

Beck: Mr Crosby, it is an honor to meet you. Thank you so much for sharing a little of your time with me. And thanks for all youve done to help promote better hearing.

Crosby: Youre welcome, its been fun for me too.