Katherine Roth.

It might start when you realize you can’t hear the doorbell, or certain ringtones. Conversation sounds garbled. For Katherine Roth, those signs sent her to a doctor where she discovered she needed a hearing aid. She worried about how to find one, and whether it would be clunky and too expensive. Everyone’s experience is different. But Roth found that hearing aids now can be tiny, easy to use, nearly invisible or even a glitzy accessory. They can also be affordable. Experts say hearing is crucial to cognitive health. You might find an audiologist through your doctor or with the American Academy of Audiologists.