- Hearing Healthcare Center, founded nearly 40 years ago, has expanded to six locations across the Upstate and offers advanced hearing aid technology.
- Hearing Healthcare Center provides free screenings and works with clients to find affordable hearing aid options, including financing assistance.
The decision to seek a hearing test or hearing aid might be prompted by self-awareness, a physician or a family member.
For Jerome Wilkerson, it was a whisper from his future wife and business partner.
“He wore a hearing aid sometimes, and at other times, he wouldn't,” says Vickie Wilkerson. “I told him, ‘If you ever want to hear me say, “I love you," you need to wear your hearing aid all the time.’ From that day forward, he wore it all the time and cherished the words he could finally hear. We were married in 1969.”
If that decision was easy for the late Jerome Wilkerson, his early life was not. He was born with hearing loss, and at age 11 began wearing a 1950s-era “body aid,” which measured 3 inches by 5 inches and was strapped around the chest.
Even with more modern hearing aids, he struggled. “I answered for my husband; I listened for my husband. I knew there had to be something better than the hearing aid he was wearing,” Vickie says.
In 1986, a hearing aid specialist placed hearing aids in both of her husband’s ears; previously, he had been told to wear only one. “He could hear in both ears. He got two hearing aids. And we both cried,” Vickie says.
Jerome Wilkerson soon suggested they start a business to help others experiencing hearing loss.
The Wilkersons opened Hearing Healthcare Center nearly 40 years ago – first on East North Street, then at 108 Mills Ave., and finally at 331 Mills Ave. in Greenville. The business now has five additional offices across the Upstate.
Vickie describes the business as "a passion.” “My husband and I enjoyed every minute, helping people hear better. What we do is heartfelt,” she says.
Jerome Wilkerson passed away in 2017. Vickie says his death left a “huge hole” in her life personally and professionally. “I run this business with the same passion and energy that Jerome and I felt in 1986. I help as many people as I can,” she says.
Though the goals at Hearing Healthcare Center have not changed, the technology and styles of hearing aids have changed significantly.
People can now adjust hearing aids with an app on their cell phones, and they can stream music and television programs right to their hearing aids. Hearing aids are also small, comfortable and nearly invisible, Wilkerson says.
The most common complaint in the past was that background noise interfered with conversation, she says, but improvements in noise reduction and directional microphones have resolved many issues.
“People who wore hearing aids years ago, and were bothered by background noise, would be amazed by the technology advancements.”
However, waiting too long to treat hearing loss can have consequences. Wilkerson says daily activities may become more challenging; people may withdraw and avoid social situations; quality of life may be diminished; and untreated hearing loss can contribute to early-onset dementia.
All adults should have a baseline hearing test, she says, even if they think their hearing is unchanged. “The test may show normal hearing, mild hearing loss, or something more significant. But early treatment is better for you and those around you.”
People who often ask others to repeat themselves, can no longer hear a car’s turn signal, or must turn the volume too loud on the television – they need a hearing check, Wilkerson says.
The ability to hear sounds and understand speech is a complicated process that involves stimulation of the tiny ossicles of the middle ear and the microscopic hair cells in the inner ear that ultimately relay the message to the brain to interpret.
A hearing test might reveal a relatively simple issue, such as excessive ear wax that can be removed by a professional. And if a hearing aid won’t help a client or something is wrong medically, the client will be referred to a doctor or a surgeon, Wilkerson says.
“A cochlear implant may be the most appropriate and best treatment for severe to profound hearing loss,” she says. “Because everyone is unique, and everyone's hearing loss is different, they need different treatment plans and recommendations.”
The Wilkersons’ sons both grew up in the hearing center.
Today, Dr. Brent Wilkerson is anotolaryngologist/neurotologist and surgeon who performs cochlear implant surgeries that may help people with severe hearing loss or deafness. David Wilkerson runs the Hearing Healthcare Center in Anderson and helps his mother run the office on Mills Avenue. Hearing Healthcare Centers are also located in Seneca, Greer, Greenwood and Simpsonville.
South Carolina requires continuing education, ongoing training and licenses for professionals who evaluate hearing and fit hearing aids, Wilkerson says.
“We've got over a century of experience when you consider all of the specialists who work at Hearing Healthcare Center,” she says.
Staff members at the Hearing Healthcare Center will program hearing aids specifically for each person’s hearing loss and show clients how to use and clean their hearing aids.
Hearing Healthcare Center offers screenings at no charge. Appointments are recommended but not required. The testing takes about an hour.
Wilkerson says she works with clients to find the hearing aid they need at a price they can afford. The team at Hearing Healthcare Center looks into each patient’s insurance coverage and helps arrange financing if needed. Medicaid and regular Medicare do not cover the cost of hearing aids; some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans do.
The price of hearing aids can start at $800; more sophisticated technology can cost thousands of dollars. It all depends on a client’s needs, Wilkerson says.
“Hearing loss can happen at any age and affects each person differently. The earlier hearing loss is treated, the better it is for you and the important people in your life. The ability to hear keeps us connected to those we love,” she says.
“If you have a hearing loss, then we demonstrate how you would hear with properly fitted hearing aids. And 90% of the time, people say, 'Oh, do you have to take them out?' Because they enjoy hearing.”
