Hearing aids

[661-Pete]

I've looked through the "TV Sound Quality" thread with some interest, but without contributing: TV isn't the biggest thing in my life I hope. Nevertheless I'm of 'a certain age' when I have to accept that conversation isn't all that clear, when music sounds 'wrong', when tinnitus becomes bothersome at times, etc. etc.

This is the first time I've thought about tackling the problem face-on (should that be 'ear-on'?). However just a quick google shows me that it's a minefield out there, dozens and dozens of companies all vying with one another to provide the 'best' digital solution - at prices ranging from a few tens of pounds to many thousands.

I'm not looking for something cheap and cheerful: I'll pay whatever it takes to provide a once-and-for-all solution for me. Digital goes without saying: I doubt if any purely analogue solution would meet my present needs.

So what I'm asking is: what are people's experiences? Anything to avoid? Anything to put on the 'plus' list?

[Mick F]

I can only tell the story of Mrs Mick F's as I have good hearing ............ so far.

She became a bit hard of hearing as she was in her mid 40's. Her family is plagued with poor hearing, her older sister is very bad with it.

Mrs Mick F works at a primary school and by the time she was in her late 40s/ very early 50s she started to have difficulty, so went to the doc. He referred her to a hearing clinic for a test and some months later she was called forward to the local audiology department. They tested her again and made a pair of moulds for her ears, then a few weeks later went and had her aids fitted to them.

These aids were a bit bulky but worked well, and she was tested every couple of years. Any variation/deterioration of her hearing was allowed for via software and a computer. Eventually, she received new aids - this time very small units and instead of a mould, there's a thin tube set just inside her ears.

My advice is to go and see your doctor and lay it on with a trowel. Really push your point about poor quality of life or difficulty with your job etc. You'll have to wait a while, but the NHS hearing aids are brilliant.

................. and totally free - including the batteries - so don't pay a fortune for private equipment. Go and visit your doctor.

[thirdcrank]

Go to the NHS.

For long enough, the NHS avoided offering digital hearing aids and I will take some convincing that that that wasn't caused by lobbying by hearing aid manufacturers.

I just got my GP to refer me and it took ages to get an appointment, although that turned out to be a cock up rather than a long waiting list. Once that was sorted out, I got a quick appointment and good service. I made the point about the private part of the industry having an interest in restricting the availability to one of the medics I saw who explained that digital hearing aids of the type I was prescribed cost the NHS under £50 each and a private patient might pay a couple of grand (although that obviously covers a lot more in the way of checks than the basic cost of the hearing aids.)

My own hearing loss is worse in my right ear than my left. There is a fairly narrow band of sound - it seems to coincide with the noise of devices like electronic alarms - where my hearing is worst affected and in my right ear I am now profoundly deaf in respect of sound at that pitch. After my hearing had been tested, the chap doing it asked if I had been in the army because my hearing loss is characteristic of anybody who has used firearms. It's now some 40 years since I was trained in the use of firearms in the police.

My hearing aids do work pretty well with the proviso that if it's a noisy environment, the background noise is also magnified. They have a setting for use in those places displaying the icon of a big lug. (Press a tiny button on the hearing aid and it picks up that signal rather than noise.) They can be tiring to wear all the time. For some reason, mine have no on/off switch so the only way to turn them off to conserve the batteries is by opening them and risking the battery coming out. (Batteries are free on the NHS so the cost of replacements isn't a personal problem, but I don't like waste.)

A general problem is the high level of unnecessary noise in society: hearing aids just magnify that. Our wheelie-bins are marked CE 89 dB which I take to mean that the Common Market has rules on how much noise bins can make "Where you bin, man? " "Shush." But supermarkets can make as much racket as they like.

(Mick F has posted faster than I did.)

[honesty]

My 2 year old is profoundly deaf. She got her cochlear implants through the NHS and the service is excellent. Whilst this is different for kids as it is for adults the process Mick F has outlined is spot on. Definitely go to the NHS first, push for an audiology appointment and they will test you and if you drop below the required boundary fit you and provide aids for free. I don't understand how these private companies exist in the UK actually....

[661-Pete]

Thanks for the feedback TC and Mick (I was expecting answers from both you guys ). I'll wait to see what others come up with.

[georgew]

I would recommend the NHS hearing aids as they are first rate. Nothing much in the way of controls as they are digital and give superb performance.

I have high frequency hearing loss in both ears so wear two. This is usually the result of gunfire as has been said, and mine was a result of being a Bren gunner in the Army in the early sixties. No ear mufflers in those days unfortunately.

What's worse is that I'm almost positive that the Queen knows nothing about it.

[661-Pete]

I have high frequency hearing loss in both ears so wear two. This is usually the result of gunfire as has been said, and mine was a result of being a Bren gunner in the Army in the early sixties. No ear mufflers in those days unfortunately.

I recall that during my stint in the CCF at school (1960s) when we were taken on a tour of Portsmouth naval harbour, they fired off some shore-based artillery (blanks ) for our 'amusement'. Thing is, I distinctly remember the officer in charge of us, ordering "I don't want to see any of you lads putting fingers in your ears like sissies" or something to that effect. I also recall being left with a splitting headache as a result of that 'entertainment' (I was about 13 or 14 at the time). Would the ossifer be strung up, if he tried that on nowadays?

Since then, I've avoided noisy environments: never went for discos or loud gigs for example, not my scene. I think my situation is purely age-related.

[fausto copy]

My hearing has been deteriorating at an alarming rate over the last few years and I mentioned it when I last saw the practice nurse. She told me to go to one of the chemists offering free checks and if they said I needed hearing aids, to come back and the GP would refer me to the audiology department at the local hospital (although a waiting list of up to 2 years).

I didn't like the thought of going to the chemists, being told I needed a hearing aid and then being subject to the hard sell for a private purchase; and trying to ignore that and then revisit the GP. However, I have recently been assessed as part of a possible industrial injury claim and have been told that my hearing loss is consistent with damage from equipment used. I suppose I could be in line for a payout, but really don't want to go down the private route.

Yesterday, I attended a funeral and sat at the back of our village church. Sadly, I failed to hear most of the apparently lovely words spoken by my departed friend's two daughters. Afterwards, I discussed the matter with two of my mates, who both consider them hard of hearing. Somewhat surprisingly, they both heard almost every word of the eulogies.

Consequently, I have decided that I must do something about the matter and will approach my GP for a referral when I next visit. Thanks very much for the positive feedback from the above respondents over the NHS supplied aids.

[byegad]

The NHS did me proud. First ride out with my digital hearing aid I heard Skylarks singing. I hadn't heard them for nearly five years and thought they were extinct in my local area. I have to confess I stopped and needed to wipe my eyes.

Go, get it seen to, there is no need to go with the simple pleasure if hearing.

[manybikes]

+1 for NHS. My GP referred me but only on condition that if they were prescribed I wore them. Apparently many have them but give up due to some downside. They are:- my ears sometimes itch badly; they do need cleaning frequently; conversation is still difficult in large groups or noisy environments. Positives - lowering of TV, radio etc volume settings, wife being less frustrated with me than before (well sometimes!); music sounds cleaner and clearer; hearing approaching traffic from rear much earlier;and birdsong etc.
My experience was very positive and much shorter period from referral to fitting than others have reported here.

[georgew]

The NHS did me proud. First ride out with my digital hearing aid I heard Skylarks singing. I hadn't heard them for nearly five years and thought they were extinct in my local area. I have to confess I stopped and needed to wipe my eyes.

Go, get it seen to, there is no need to go with the simple pleasure if hearing.

I keep finding strange coincidences in this thread.

The things that caused me the most sadness when my hearing deteriorated was that I could no longer hear the Skylarks singing in Springtime. It depressed me no end and it made me so happy to be able to hear them again when I was given the hearing aids.

[Mick F]

Mrs Mick F still can't hear crickets and grasshoppers. She really misses that.

[byegad]

It depends on what is causing the loss of hearing I suppose, I was losing the range above 4000H, the loss at 4000 is partial but by 5000H I have lost a lot of hearing. In part this is age related but I'm rather further down that path than my chronological age suggests I should be. I was having real issues hearing the consonants at the start of words, particularly if a woman or child was speaking and of course much bird song. This applied from life and on TV. Modern digital aids boost selected frequencies so mine adds progressively more volume over 4000H. The little thing is nothing short of miraculous.

[fausto copy]

I keep finding strange coincidences in this thread.

The things that caused me the most sadness when my hearing deteriorated was that I could no longer hear the Skylarks singing in Springtime. It depressed me no end and it made me so happy to be able to hear them again when I was given the hearing aids.

Strangely, one of the things I am missing is birdsong.
We've stayed in Cardiff a couple of times recently and in the evening we walk past Sophia Gardens sports centre, where there are usually floodlights on, well into dorkness.
Each time we've walked past, a friend of ours comments on the birdsong, as if it's daylight.
I must confess I can't hear a damn thing (apart from the crickets..........sorry that should be cricket bats!)

[quote="byegad"] I was having real issues hearing the consonants at the start of words, particularly if a woman or child was speaking and of course much bird song. quote]

And that's another one.
Lately, Mrs.C has got into crosswords and often asks me one of the clues.
The number of times I mis-hear her because of not hearing the first consonent is amazing.
She always turns to me, glares and make sure I lip read.

[byegad]

Fausto. It sounds like (Geddit? ) you need to get along for a hearing test and aid.