Hubbies deafness is driving me to distraction

I have heard several people say they don't wear their hearing aids- but it does not matter because they didn't have to pay for them. I so wish people would not so often take the NHS for granted and waste it. One of my aunts gets her free repeat prescription regularly and has done for years- and never takes the medicines- she has cupboards full of them

What your aunt does is quite absurd biba - I can’t believe it. (although I’m not doubting what you say) !!

How about writing things down?

I have NHS hearing aids and they do make a difference when listening to someone face to face. But in normal conversation with husband when he often speaks while walking away from me, going into another room, they're no help.
Often he says "I told you that yesterday!" and I say " No you didn't!" and it's usually beacause I hadn't heard him.
Perhaps many people think that the aids will restore our hearing to what it was years ago, but that's impossible.
Just thought of a funny video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOgsNX33byk&pbjreload=101

Puzzler61- when we told friends who are both GPs- they said it was actually quite common in the 'elderly' (which none of us are here, hey ;) )

Back to OP though, it is very common for people to be given expensive hearing aids that they put in a draw and don't use after a while- rather than persevere and get them adjusted properly. Massive waste.

So frustrating. My mum is 90 and has vascular dementia. We went to an nhs audiologist who advised that mum had over 50% hearing loss and prescribed aids for both ears. When they were fitted he patiently adjusted them for mums comfort and she said she was delighted with them. As soon as we got home, she took them out and has since refused to wear them as they ‘hurt’ - something she didn’t mention at the fitting. I now have to repeat everything three times and put up with her frustration at not being able to hear me. I have to face her while speaking so she can lip read and communication from another room is impossible, so a good deal of unnecessary running around is involved. As a wheelchair user I don’t subscribe to some views expressed that it’s a disability and allowances should be made. If hearing aids are prescribed and they help (and mum CAN hear much better with them) then the deaf person should make an effort to wear them, instead of expecting to be accommodated at any cost. I don’t discard my wheelchair and expect people to carry me. Same thing in my view.

My OH was the same - hearing aids in a drawer and had to repeat everything several times over, put up with blaring tv etc. Then he went on a NHS clinical trial of smart hearing aids run by a big London teaching hospital. The audiologist told him that 60% of NHS hearing aids were unused as they either didn’t fit properly or distorted the sound or the users didn’t give them time to get used to them or adjust them. When he had these fitted for the first time he cried- he could hear birds singing for the first time in years, he travelled home on the train and could hear announcements, other passengers talking, we turned the subtitles off the tv and turned it down! I can honestly say having them has transformed his life. They operate through a smart phone, can cut out background noise and if they break he would definitely pay to replace them. He can listen to music through them - no headphones needed - and take phone calls through them. The technology is out there - make sure he gets digital hearing aids and the mould is correctly fitted. It will change both your lives for the better.

Muddynails... are you sure you're not me?
My hubbys the exact same

My DH wears hearing aids but still has problems hearing. It makes for some very strange conversations, bless him.
Last night we were talking to someone we hadn't seen for a while. DH asked him if he knew anyone who had had the virus. He replied 'I know 6 people who have died with it'. DH said 'Oh dear. Did they recover?'. The chap replied 'They passed away'. DH said 'Are they OK now?' At which point I had to intervene!

[grin} --++

DH's hearing seemed to me to be getting worse and, as he had been very keen for me to have my hearing tested, I got him to go to the GP. The GP sent me to Specsavers, he sent DH to an ENT guy at the hospital - that's all right, I know my place! DH came home and told me his hearing was fine, no need for hearing aids. After he died I found the report from the ENT doctor. It said there was some hearing loss but DH said he was happy with it!!!

My OH did eventually agree to have, and wear, hearing aids (NHS). They weren't perfect, but still a massive improvement.

Unfortunately, his hearing has continued to deteriorate but he won't go back to see if they can be altered or changed, despite the problems he's having.

I cringe every time I hear him on the phone.
Nine times out of ten, he can't tell what the speaker is saying, though I can be in a different part of the house and hear them clearly enough - I end up shouting the answers to the caller myself, which I have sometimes thought must make it seem as if there is a very controlling woman in the background who won't let him think for himself!
(Oh will still insist that he couldn't hear them because they were mumbling, even if he was in the kitchen and I could hear them from the bedroom upstairs!!!)