Will he ever admit his hearing is going?

Gina, you are so right. My OH has worked extremely hard to get the best out of his hearing aids. He wears them all the time and can adjust them to suit the circumstances.He also keeps them in good nick and together we replace the tubes when necessary. Maintemance is very important.

I must apologise for my previous response and have to agree how annoying it must be for a person not to wear a hearing aid if they obviously need one. The NHS provide excellent hearing aids, maintenance or replacement and batteries all free of charge. I gather from the person in charge of my Hearing Aid Department that privately a hearing aid can cost around £2000 plus maintenance and batteries. The NHS by buying in large quantities pay about £200. As a hearing aid user of 48 years I know that wearing a hearing aid is not like wearing spectacles which correct eyesight immediately. You have to wear your hearing aid every day to get accustomed to the sounds and let your brain get used to the new sounds. Only then, with the help of their local Audiologists, will they appreciate being able to switch on to sound again. Please do not leave it too late as your ability to do this gets less and less as your hearing deteriorates.
Good luck to all the partners of people with a hearing loss.

My DH spent thousands on very sophisticated aids but only wears them when out socially. As a result, we do not have normal conversations in the house anymore - I say something, he says what what, I repeat it louder, he says no need to shout, i say forget it, he says what what - etc ad infinitum. I feel like a repeater button sometimes. I now find its best not to bother saying anything unless its something like, dinners ready - he always hears that. The upside is that I can say some pretty terrible things and grumble away to my hearts content without any fear of reprisals!! Its an ill wind!

Well, it is sort of reassuring that so many of you have had the same experiences. I am sorry Gina123 if you felt we were making fun of people with hearing problems. I can assure you we were not. Personally I used to teach deaf awareness to nurses, and also my father was deaf. I love my OH very much but I, like many others, use this forum as an occasional much needed place to vent, and get support and advice from like minded people who "get it".

DH suddenly went deaf in one ear on 16 August 2012, mid afternoon while driving home from a shopping trip. After a month he visited the doctor who dismissed it as essentially the adult equivalent of glue ear that would eventually clear.

A month later he had an extreme dizzy spell and collapsed while on a business trip to Germany. He was rushed to hospital in case it was a heart attack or stroke. He was given the all clear and visited GP on return home who blamed collapse as combination of tiredness, stress and high blood pressure medication. He then had several more severe dizzy spells so went to doctor again and saw a different GP who connected ear problems with dizziness end effectively gave him high-powered sea sick tablets, which are very effective and a referral to a consultant. NHS means a three month wait so we are having an initial private consultation in the next few days.

At least he admits he cannot hear and we all try and stand on the right side when we talk to him.

People do mumble. DH does. And now others have started too!

I have a very close friend who has had hearing problems for a long while and sensibly got some good NHS digital aids. One time when we were having a moan about the the increasing health issues we have as we get older, she made some comment about her hearing and I replied with! Yes! "but you were deaf before you were old." It was not the most elegant way of saying what I meant! It was just as well she has a sense of humour.

That's a male thing anno

One of my grandsons (7) is severely deaf in one ear and wears a hearing aid at school, but is already an adept at 'turning a deaf ear' when his mother wants him to do something.

Hi Gina, I think most of us are poking gentle fun at our DHs , not the condition, it's a habit we have.

I haven't seen you post before so, if you are new, welcome. If I've missed your previous posts I apologise.

If people will not wear hearing aids or insist on having invisible ones then they will not benefit from kind people who on noticing the hearing aid make a special effort to face the deaf person and speak clearly.

My OH is very deaf in both ears. His hearing aids are a mini miracle he can turn them up ,down or off and join into the loop systems where they are available. He has a gadget that picks up the sound from the television and pipes it straight into his ear so I can have the television sound to suit me. He also has a gadget which he can put on the table when having a meal out with friends which just picks up the sound nearby and not the hubbub. These things are invented to make all our lives easier we are foolish and ungrateful to the inventors if we do not take advantage of them,IMHO. Although some of the gadgets he has had to pay for the marvellous NHS aids are free. My father was profoundly deaf from the age of 9 as a result of measles. I still vividly remember the day he got his quite primitive hearing aid. It revolutionised all of our lives. I feel quite strongly about hearing aids, my friend has two which live in a drawer as she refuses to wear them. What a waste-at £1,000 pounds a go!

People are always far more empathetic to people who begin to lose their sight than their hearing yet both disabilities are difficult to come to terms with.

I have had tinnitus for so long I cannot remember when it began. It does impair hearing and I think I am also losing the ability to hear some sounds.

In a group, in a pub /restaurant I have to concentrate very hard to follow a conversation. At a recent wedding with music as well as chat I was lost..sometimes people think I am not well or just anti-social because I cannot join in all the gossip!

I think that a hearing aid in those social situations may not help..but when it gets very tricky I will go to GP for advice!

Gina We are not unsympathetic about the hearing loss - we all find various faculties deteriorating as we get older - we just can't help making some joky remarks to go with it.

Your other thread about the social difficulties of deafness has some more serious posts.

My husband happily accepted the need for glasses and a dental plate, but when I suggested that perhaps he needed a hearing assessment he seemed to take it as a personal insult and was quite huffy about it. Apparently I mutter!!!!!!!

As I person who has had a progressive hearing loss from the age of 11 and worn a hearing aid since I was 17 and now 65 I think most of you should get some "Deaf Awareness". The only person who seemed to have any is anodomini.

Sorry, nanapug could you speak up please and not mumble (like wot I do) Finally got DH to the hearing tests, the hearing aid - hurrah! and he said he had not realised how he had stopped hearing birdsong! Was all OK? NO because after his shower, he needs to let the "ear dry out" so he carries the b***dy thing aroung in its box until we get to wherever he is going and he "remembers" to put it in. In the evenings, the TV is turned down so low I can hardly hear it. Do I need to have my hearing tested?
PS he may be better at hearing, but is still not a lot better at listening!

nanapug if you remind him that it is not just older people that have hearing problems, he may be a bit more willing to get it sorted...

Get a tape recorder, turn it on while his back is turned and say in a reasonable voice "would you like one of these chocolates" or something similar. If/when he does not hear, repeat it a little louder and so on until you are shouting and he turns round to say "yes please" and takes one. Then play it back to his front, pointing out each repeat.

Chances are he will accuse you of mumbling six times before you spoke clearly enough though ......

He`d never pick it up Anno, he`s never read a book in his life!

BTW, if your OH is becoming hard of hearing you will find that David Lodge's book, 'Deaf Sentence' rings a lot of bells and you just might leave it around for him to pick up...

My BiL was losing hearing in one ear and when he had a check up was sent for a scan which showed that he had an acoustic neuroma - a benign tumour which, if it had been allowed to grow, would have invaded the brain stem with fatal consequences. Neuro surgery saved him. So, there's no harm in having a hearing check and it could be a life-saver.

Been there, got the T shirt. I am a mutterer who says all important things while his back is turned or he is upstairs.

Don't they cost a lot, number. DH's were free on the NHS.