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Whoopi Goldberg, Rob Lowe, Bill Clinton and Eric Clapton — they’re among the most famous people in the world, each of them immensely talented and with a roster of accomplishments to back up that talent. But did you know each of them also suffers from hearing loss?

The average hearing aid can last up to five years. Most people, however, would love to get more time out of their devices. It’s not just a matter of expense. They feel like a part of you. You wear them from dawn until dusk most days, and you rely on them to help you hear what’s going on in the world. When you find hearing aids you truly love — ones you have adjusted to deliver just the right auditory levels and that actually feel comfortable in your ears — you want them to last for as long as possible.

From time to time, all of us have trouble hearing. You may have fluid lingering in your ears from an undiagnosed infection, or you might be in a loud place where it’s difficult to discern what anyone’s saying. Very occasional bouts of “Huh?”, “What?” or “Can you repeat that?” are nothing to be alarmed about.

Hearing is a complex sensory function that many people take for granted. It requires the precise coordination of physical structures in the ear to sense vibrations, or sounds, and the mental functioning in the brain to interpret those sounds.

Have you ever been somewhere really loud — at a concert, say, or driving past a construction site — and noticed how long it takes for your hearing to return to normal?