Coping with deafness

I wear NHS hearing aids and have had to go back several times because of 'whistling' Now working really well. Do others sometimes find it frustrating when the subtitles are not in time with the picture? I find I need the subtitles more and more when a regional accent is involved.

I find sub titles necessary when the music is louder than the speech on some programmes

My DH's hearing is terrible but he is totally in denial about it. He does have an NHS hearing aid, but has refused to wear it for longer than I can remember. I have to repeat almost everything I say to him and it was nothing more than irritating until last week, when I tripped over the vacuum cleaner on the landing and fell full length landing heavily on my side. I called out to him to come and help me because I couldn't get up, but, though he was only in the kitchen at the bottom of the stairs, he didn't hear me. Fortunately, I was only shocked and bruised, and when I eventually managed to get down the stairs and tell him what happened he was, of course, mortified, but he still won't accept that his hearing is a real problem. We have discussed it at length. I feel as if I am flogging the proverbial.

I've recently started wearing NHS AIDS in both ears as I'm loosing high frequency sounds which is making my tinnitus sound a lot louder. I've always had tinnitus but it's taken until now to find out its caused by something wrong with my inner ear, possibly from birth.

Anyway, after a few false starts due to them making my ears itch, increased catarrh, small sounds like running water, air noise etc seeming too loud and very tinny, I've increased how often I wear them. I started just wearing them to watch tv so we could turn it down. And two nights ago I actually went to bed forgetting they were there! The catarrh has gone. The itching virtually so. The tinniness, I don't notice (although S's still seem ssshy). In fact when I don't have them in everything now sounds decidedly muffled. My soft spoken DH however, I still can't hear - but at least he now can't say I need my ears tested!

I had also asked my hairdresser to leave my hair longer over my ears (I have it very short) but I don't like it so today I decided to 'embrace' my hearing problems. Using nail varnish I've painted flowers on them (they're silver coloured). They are now a fashion statement!

silverlining48 thanks for replying - glad I'm not on my own! I guess it could be an allergy, I think I'll go back to where I got them from and try again...
Talking about subtitles, it does annoy me when I stay in hotels - all the lifts and signs are in braille as well as printed to help those with sight problems, but TVs very rarely have subtitles and are often limited to the volume (quite rightly) -I'm sure there are a lot more people with hearing problems than have such severe sight problems that they require braille.

Just noticed that Mr Bossy iPad had changed aids to AIDS again. Sign of the times?

When I mentioned this thread to my DD she pointed out that it wasn't the hearing aids making things noisy and tinny and ssshhy - my hearing had deteriorated and what I am now hearing is normal!!

Please don't shout ! Shouting is hostile, and distorts speech.
Get the deaf person’s attention before starting to speak. A tap on the shoulder so they are looking at you.
Face the deaf person.
Make sure your face is not in shadow.
Speak clearly, and slow down your speech (no gabbling!)
Don't cover your mouth with your hand.
Have a notebook handy, just in case.
Please be patient.
Never say ' it doesn't matter', if the person asks for a repeat! It does matter!

I am practically deaf in one ear and have mild hearing loss in the other. My nhs hearing aid can be a hit or a miss. It's no use in crowded places with noisy backgrounds. My local council has loaned (given) me a loop system for the TV which is quite good. I was also given a portable loop system which I take to a writers class I attend. It is the size of these small radios we used to have and a small device sits around my neck. It has made a big difference. These can also be bought online I've seen them on Amazon. I've also used the subtitles on to for a long time now as some of the background music I feel drowns out the dialogue.
I think partial deafness is the one thing that annoys people or that they feel they can laugh about, it's no laughing matter it's a struggle when you find it difficult to hear a three way conversation. I do a lot of guessing and I have to be able to see the peron's mouth when they are speaking. And yes,hearing aids can be very irritating and annoying.

My late mother had hearing difficulties all her life due to perforated eardrums. She twice had surgery to repair the eardrum but it was never entirely successful. She finally bought a very expensive and tiny hearing aid which did help but she would never tell anybody about her deafness. She was embarrassed and ashamed - her mother used to hide her specs as she thought they 'spoiled' her, so poor mother grew up believing anything less than perfection wasn't acceptable. How times have changed. I know a young woman who has had hearing difficulties since childhood and wore quite heavy and cumbersome aids in both ears. She often had nasty sores behind her ears and was miserable about the whole situation. Around 5 years ago she was approved for BAHA treatment and has never looked back. BAHA conducts sound through the bone behind the ear, she had two minor surgical procedures a few months apart where the base unit was implanted into the skull. After these units were firmly anchored with new bone growth the digital aids were just clipped on and fine tuned by computer. It's much like a snap fastener sort of idea and she is absolutely delighted with them. I presume this treatment is possibly only offered to younger people??

I know someone who's son is five and quite profoundly deaf. His aids are large and have Disney characters on them. Perhaps he'll be offered the implants later or perhaps they're only suitable in certain cases.

I think the implants are only used for a particular type, think it's helpful with conductive and not with nerve deafness.

They are used for people with profound / total hearing loss who cannot benefit from hearing aids. There are tests to find if the cochlear and auditory nerve are damaged. The op is life changing but not suitable for everyone as there are various criteria to be met first.

I wonder why so many people are embarrassed about hearing loss. Surely better to be able to hear and join in than just nodding and pretending you have heard.
My 9 month old DGS was born with a condition called Mycrotia ( unilateral ) which means he has a very small ear on his left hand side and no hearing in that ear. He wears a hearing band and will do so until he is old enough to have a BAHA implanted . I certainly hope he will never be embarrassed by something he has no control over.