Even total deafness offers no escape from traffic and aviation noise, which have much of their energy in the lower frequencies. City planner Clifford R. Bragdon has reported that a totally deaf man living near Philadelphia's airport conveyed to him that he was constantly awakened by vibrations from low-flying aircraft.
Hearing aids are no panacea. For one thing, they are not always helpful for deafness attributable to noise. For another, their use can exaggerate the impact of sudden noises.
From an article in Today's Health comes this information: "Another problem of hearing aid users: sudden loud sounds. The roar of a jet, the scream of a police siren—these can be extremely painful." The article indicates one possible solution, an automatic gain control that cuts out when the sudden sound signal is intense, and comes on again when the noise diminishes.
Note that the hearing aid user is twice a victim—when he suffers his hearing loss, and when he discovers that the device he must use to compensate for that loss in itself adds to his discomfort and alienation from his fellow man.
For the deaf aged, aural separation from the world of wanted sounds adds to loneliness, itself one of the most painful afflictions of old age. Thus in what should be their golden years, our senior citizens must lose their ability to hear the comforting sounds of their loved ones, and must be cut off from the warming, stimulating sounds of music, nature, and so forth. I don't know why I say "our senior citizens," as if most of us were not destined to become senior citizens.