[ntlk]

Agreed that the stigma is unnecessary and likely stops many people from getting the support they might find helpful.

In my case the hearing damage is not sufficient to warrant a hearing aid, but it’s also enough to make it hard to understand conversation when there’s background noise. I don’t have the numbers on this but I’d assume there are a lot more people like me, who benefit from added clarity in specific situations, who would not need or even qualify for an actual hearing aid. In those cases a device you already have and use in other context hands down wins over a specialised medical device.