Top Five Reasons to Test Your Hearing

by MARTIE EMORY / photos by JODIE BRIM CREATIVE

It’s no secret that hearing well and living well go handin-hand! Clearly, this is the heartfelt belief of Dr. Anna Nichols, as her practice, Nichols Hearing & Audiology in Winston-Salem uses those exact words as their tagline. (Hint: Committing that phrase to memory will also help you remember her website: HearWellLiveWellNC.com.)

Since October 1, 2022, she and her staff have made getting to know their patients a priority and have emphasized how much better hearing can improve both personal and professional relationships. An evaluation at Nichols Hearing & Audiology includes gathering your case history, visualization of your external ear canal and a hearing test in the practice’s modern sound booth, using state-of-the-art equipment.

If you’re pondering a hearing test, you probably already suspect there is at least minimal loss, and there are important reasons to make that call today!

1

Your Relationships: A hearing loss can affect every relationship in your day-to-day life. In the back of your mind, you may be revisiting conversations at home about the TV volume, but also consider those times you’ve been in a work meeting and asked colleagues to repeat comments. Those moments can be avoided!

2

Personalized Treatments: While 48 million people in the United States have some amount of hearing loss, (that’s one out of five people you meet) no cases are identical. Each of their patients get personalized suggestions for their hearing solutions. Rather than do things the typical way, we’ve created a system designed around our patients’ needs. 3

Hearing Loss & Overall Health: Less than stellar hearing (even a mild loss) can also affect a person’s balance, making you more susceptible to slipping or falling. And, if that hearing difficulty affects academics or employment, those stressful situations can be detrimental to overall health even more over time. 4

Anxiety in Social Situations: Hearing loss can contribute to depression and a tendency to avoid social situations altogether. Withdrawing from gatherings with friends may be easier than the awkwardness of keeping up with conversations or meeting new people. 5

Improving Your Mental Sharpness: Researchers believe treating hearing loss early is one of the key things you can do to potentially reduce the risk of dementia. We all know learning new skills and developing hobbies at every age can increase your mental capacity – but putting yourself out there in a new class or interest group can be stressful if you’re not hearing well.

Triad Area Events in April

April offers a variety of interesting and exciting events for families to experience in and around the Triad. Here are some of the top offerings:

Les Misérables

Steven Tanger Center, Greensboro

March 28-April 2, various times

Tickets $29 and up

This staging of the Tony Award-winning musical has been hailed as “Les Mis for the 21st Century” (Huffington Post). In 19th-century France, it tells the story of broken dreams, passion, sacrifice and redemption.

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance

Reynolda House, Winston-Salem

April 1-May 14

Tickets $18

Stephen Towns examines the American dream through the lives of black Americans from the late 18th century to the present. Using labor as a backdrop, Towns explores building the economy, resilience, resistance and perseverance.

Cats & Dogs

Greensboro Science Center

April 1-May 7

General admission/$17.50-$19.50

The exhibit presents scientific, sociological and cultural knowledge about cats and dogs through a sensory and interactive journey of games and simulations. By putting yourself in an animal’s place, you will understand them better and decode their behavior.

Ronan Farrow, Guilford College Bryan Series

Steven Tanger Center, Greensboro

April 4, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $55-$75

Clue

Yadkin Cultural Arts Center

April 13, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $24

Based on the 1985 movie that inspired the board game, “Clue” is a hilarious farce-meets-murder mystery that will leave fans laughing as they try to figure out who did it where and with what.

The Boy From OZ Theatre Alliance, Winston-Salem

April 14-23, 8 p.m.

Tickets $19 and $21

Truliant

The Boy From OZ is the most successful Australian musical ever, and the first from Australia to make it to Broadway. It is a tribute to the late Peter Allen, featuring his career highs and tragic lows.

R.E.M. Explored, Winston-Salem Symphony

Reynolds Auditorium

April 15, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $25-$90

Ronan Farrow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, pulls back the curtain on his works and details how he has broken some of his biggest stories. He details the obstacles that have forced him and other journalists to put everything on the line for truth.

RiverRun International Film Festival

Winston-Salem

April 13-22

Single-movie tickets $12

The RiverRun International Film Festival is celebrating its 25th year. It is one of the premier film festivals in the Southeastern U.S. RiverRun is a qualifying festival for the Oscars in the Animated Short and Documentary Short film categories.

The concert opens with selections from R.E.M.’s legendary playlist which has been newly reimagined for an orchestra. It concludes with R.E.M.’s Mike Mills performing his Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and Orchestra alongside Robert McDuffie, a Grammy Award-nominated violinist.

Kenny Chesney: I Go Back Tour with Kelsea Ballerini

Greensboro Coliseum

April 29, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $30 and up

Kenny Chesney wanted to create a 2023 tour that is as special as his 2022 tour, which played in front of 1.3 million people. The country music singer, songwriter and guitarist has recorded more than 20 albums and produced more than 40 Top 10 singles.