Do you/ your DH/P have hearing aids for Age Related Hearing Loss? Share your experiences – you could win a £250 voucher NOW CLOSED

Why is it that deafness, more than any other disability, is so very misunderstood? People have so little patience or understanding and if you ask for something to be repeated, they often can't be bothered and say, Oh never mind, it doesn't matter!
I have been profoundly deaf most of my life and feel continually excluded from general chat. I can only understand one to one so social occasions can be a nightmare. Hearing aids do help but they do not restore normal hearing, and people cannot be heard if they don't face me, if they put a hand over their mouth, if there is not enough light, if there is background noise, if they mumble, if they have an accent of some kind - the list goes on and on.
To have to put up with this and then have a family with little tolerance is so hurtful. I've had people moaning because I need subtitles and they don't like them. My response to that is to turn off the sound and say "see how you like it then."
Any other disability and you would find people understanding and sympathy and help, but with deafness you are a nuisance and an irritation.

Had hearing aids from local hospital about 15 years ago. I persevered for months but couldn't get used to them. Went back for adjustments a number of times but still no better. In the end gave up. Two years ago my GP suggested I try again. Appointment for hearing test came through and when I got there was most surprised to find it was Specsavers. My immediate reaction was how could they possibly be as qualified as the hospital? Had hearing test and walked out with new hearing aids. Slightly smaller than original hospital ones and slightly more comfortable. More perseverance and eventually I more or less got used to them although still not all that comfortable especially when wearing glasses. After eighteen months of wear I phoned Specsavers to see what they were doing about further check ups but found they don't do any. At least the hospital had regular recalls for check ups, maintenance etc. I expressed surprise Specsavers did not do recalls and they said I could just go in any time I wanted. I made an appointment and they replaced the small tubes and that was it. No check to see if my hearing had deteriorated further or anything else. I think that is certainly the downside of farming out care from the NHS services. Also surely the more options that are farmed out to private organisations the more the NHS will be able to close departments down, Saves them money but its always the patient who suffers.

I wish someone would tell my mother to wear her aids, her deafness is ruining our lives, she is argumentative and is always right, she guesses what Im going to say and I scream 'I have just bloody said that you deaf so and so'. I have got to the point that I just don't want to see or hear her. I just shout at her constantly, the funny thing is that some things she hears and I often think she can hear more than she tells me.
my DD has little patience too and we just think that if she wore her aids she could put things right. She says if she wears them it makes other sounds too loud, like traffic or background noise. I tell her that in a few days she would get used to that but she will not listen.
I am embarassed in the shops when she shouts or remarks in a loud voice and people look and all it would take is for her to wear her deaf aids.
She ahs the tv turned up loud all day from 7am till early hours and the person who gave her the aids told her that at her age 80+ she is entitled to have her telly as loud as she likes.
I can see no way out of this situation, her friends seem to be ok with them so maybe she is just being awkward with me. I have refused t o speak to her today and I will continue to ignore her as long as she keeps this up. I would love advice on this but please don't say 'talk to her' as she has never listened to me in her life about anything. She once told me that she is always right and never apologises to anyone and if they don't like her 'tuff'.

If only I had age related general hearing loss. I had a loss in the mid range of sounds . Essentially that means that certain speech sounds are blurred. Hearing aids that go some way to correct the loss amplify other sounds to an unbearable level. I wear them to hear TV but often miss great sections of speech. American accents are particularly bad. I'm told that when I have age related loss it might be easier to fit aids. Huh - something to look forward to.

My main problem was watching TV with my sons. Whichever of their houses I was in, the TV was kept at such low volume that I assumed they all had the hearing of bats. Then, a couple of years ago, I had a lodger. Whenever I went in to watch TV, she was already there with the volume turned to suit her. Obviously, she was another one with bat hearing! After a while, I began to wonder if the problem might possibly lie with me. I also began to wonder what else I might be missing - juicy gossip delivered in a whisper for instance or invitations given to a group that I was part of, rather than directly to me, so I went to my GP and requested a hearing test. This was carried out by an audiologist at my local cottage hospital and revealed that I had slight hearing loss in both ears. The audiologist recommended going for two hearing aids straight away, rather than getting used to one and then having to adjust to another one later.

I have never looked back! The aids took a bit of getting used to as I was hearing things I had not heard for years and I was flabbergasted to find that the world rustled continuously. My right aid whistles frequently (it's a bit like tinnitus at times and rather frustrating) but I have had it checked and been told there is nothing wrong with it so I just fiddle with it when it gets annoying. My sons have got used to me whistling when they give me a hug.

At first, I thought the aids were not essential and I didn't wear them all the time but nowadays I miss them when I am not wearing them. My lodger came into the room one day when I was watching TV and said, "Do you know how I can tell when you are wearing your hearing aids? I can't hear the TV from upstairs." I wonder how much of my TV the neighbours used to hear in my pre-aid days! My best moment came when I visited my eldest son and actually had to ask him to turn the volume down on his TV.

A hearing aid anecdote: I am a member of an am-dram group. One evening I was on stage with an actor who wore a hearing aid. During the interval, the director complained that he was speaking too quietly and should project more. During the second act, I had to slap his face and, in doing so, I dislodged his hearing aid. Luckily, no one noticed as he caught it and tucked it into his pocket. However, from then on, he could be heard clearly from the back of the auditorium!

Just read the other comments. It's depressing to read how people go into denial about hearing loss. Somehow it's more of a taboo than eyesight changing. Just about everyone needs reading glasses from mid-40s onwards, and most over-60s have some hearing loss. It won't be enough to be limiting to start with, and we get used to the gradual changes, so it gets ignored. There's also the memory of those clumsy aids from the past, with separate boxes and wires and fat pink slugs in or on the ear. They have gone. Modern aids are tiny and +/- invisible, maybe if you have no hair they would show from behind but they do disappear to normal viewing.

It is age related for most people. So in an ageist world, that may be why people put off getting help. Just do it - it will take a while to get through the system, For me it was three or four months from first GP appointment (for referral) to collecting the aid, so you can take that time to get used to the idea, and meanwhile keep cursing all those mumbling people and beardies who make life annoying.

I have some hearing loss that makes it hard to follow group conversations and meetings. I got a free NHS aid last year, for one ear (I believe less because one ear is a bit worse, and more because cuts are dictating that we all only get one now unless much deafer, I was lucky, because now moderate hearing loss does not qualify you for free help in some places). Mine came from within an NHS Audiology department so there was no pressure to spend on extras.

I use it for those tricky meeting situations, and it is helpful. I never thought that unlike glasses which bring you back to normal sight, that aids can replace parts of the spectrum that are missing. They can't, but they do somehow focus the sound, they sharpen up the top end and make speech clearer. The sound of my feet on the carpet was quite shocking for a while but this did wear off - and the birdsong that comes though loud and clear is lovely. I don't wear it all the time as I live alone.

To those worried about great chunks of plastic - this thing is tiny, about 1" by 1/3" tucked behind my ear and a transparent pipe that carries the sound into the ear. Invisible unless pointed out. You can also get them in bright colours for those who want to be out and proud, also this sends a visible signal to others to speak clearly.

It has drawbacks, sometimes it picks up eg a high-frequency fan noise, the last thing I want. It could be that a posher one would have controls that allow users to cut out specific parts of the spectrum, and my NHS one has an optional expensive remote control so I guess that's the sort of thing that commercial providers would try to sell you.

I'm 65. My mum was quite deaf as she got older and her aids did at least make it possible for her to hear enough to get by. It helps if people around you don't mumble and look directly at you when speaking - lessons that should be universal so it's automatic.

I wear two Specsaver NHS aids. I get two substantial consignments of free batteries a year which is great as I only wear the aids for tv, visitors or visiting. I can hear my small grandchildren much better now and am glad I took the step. They are not conspicuous. My only small complaint is that they occasionally whistle and sometimes it is confusing as to which direction a sound comes from but I would advise anyone with a problem as it does improve your quality of life.

Both my husband and I have hearing loss and wear NHS hearing aids.

I first noticed at work or on my daily commute I seemed to be missing some parts of conversations with anyone who was slightly behind me. I would have to turn round to see the person behind me on the bus to hear what they were saying. In the office I noticed sometimes I could not hear softly spoken customers on the phone properly.

I certainly noticed a difference from day one wearing my aids. It was autumn and walking in the street it sounded as if every tree was on fire as all the dry leaves were cracking with their crispness as they waved in the breeze.

I find lots of the American drama programmes much easier watching too as I find that not all of the speech/pronunciation is as clear as it could be.

The funny side of wearing our aids is that sometimes in certain circumstances they give off a high pitched whistle when we get close.

i very reluctantly decided to get hearing aids when i needed the volume on t.v. to be 24, and my son and granddaughter needed it to be on 12!
i knew i needed them, but stupidly had ignored it, then i remembered how my mum had always refused to admit she was deaf and insisted it was because people talked too quietly. i realized i was always asking people to repeat what they were saying, and even then couldn't understand what was being said. (there's a limit to how many times you can say 'eh?')
when i first got the aids everything seemed far too loud, but after a couple of days things were fine. now i sometimes have to turn the t.v. UP for son and g.d. (i like it to be on 10)
i can honestly say that getting them was one of the best things i have done. they are very small and discreet, comfortable to wear, and unless i tell people no one knows i have them. i now wonder how i managed to go for so long without them.
they were free and the batteries are free too. easy to clean, and the only thing i have to remember is to take them out before i wash my hair or have a bath. (that's because i forget i am wearing them).
the reason i put off getting hearing aids was because i didn't realize that the modern digital ones are so different from the older much larger ones.

The family kept moaning at me having the tv up too loud.! They kept on and on until I finally made an appointment to have a hearing test. I have had my hearing aids nearly a year now. I can hear the birds sing so clearly, the tv is ok although my husband reckons he does NOT need hearing aids - he now has the tv up too loud! When I don't have them in sounds are muffled! Swallow your pride, have a hearing test and enjoy the wonderful sounds again. I chose not the cheapest but a mid way price. It was worth every penny.

I went to my GP with hearing problems and was sent to my local hospital for a test then given hearing aids and sent away. No follow up appt or further help was offered and I find it impossible to fit and use the aids so they remain in the drawer. I find anything I cannot see difficult to manage eg my husband has to do up and undo necklaces for me. I feel I would be better with aids that fit into the ear and are worn all the time but I dont know if I would have to pay privately for these and if so how much?

My DH has just had his hearing tested and hearing aids fitted. It took at least three years of nagging, I was so tired of repeating everything. We like to travel, and I would point out something interesting, but by the time I had repeated myself at least once the bird had flown, literally! I think it was the grandchildren joining in the plea to get his ears tested that finally did it.

He finally went to a private audiologist as he didn't want to be limited to just one supplier, and he would have never worn something clearly visible. He had a thorough hearing test, and was found to have worse hearing in one ear than the other. Two weeks later his customised hearing aids were ready, and he had a 90 minutes appointment to find out how to use them, look after them, and change the batteries. He has another appointment next week to see how he is getting on with them, and even has been giving homework to do, such as finding a T-loop system and trying it out!

They are currently only set at 80%, and to gradually increase to 100% over the next two weeks. His first comment was that he could hear the bird song. He was also warned that rustling noises such as crisp packets would drive him nuts until he got used to it!

We no longer have to turn the TV up, which is a joy, and he can understand much more of what the grandchildren say.

There was one moment when he found one ear uncomfortable, then worked out that the tiny plastic shield right inside the ear was pushed inside out. They are truly tiny, you cannot see anything inside the ear at all, and there is just a very thin transparent wire going up to the tiny controls behind his ears. He is trying to grow his sideburns a little so it is totally invisible, it blends in perfectly with the grey hair. Has had no problems with his glasses, perhaps because the controls behind his ears are so small.

They weren't cheap, but definitely worth it, as he would never have worn the standard NHS ones. Now we can go off on our next holiday and share experiences properly!

I wear two hearing aids, the day I had them I cried with relief - I hadn't realised just how long I'd been struggling with misplaced pride and embarrassment. The audiologist asked me how long I'd been lip reading and I hadn't realised this was exactly what I was doing. I also have tinnitus in both ears, that I've sort of learned to live with.

I still struggle if driving with hearing what my passenger is saying and I try to avoid crowded meetings and venues.

Oddly enough people who I'd worked with for years, didn't know I wore them until I told them!

The only blessing is that when I take them out I can't hear extraneous noise, can sleep through almost anything

I got used to them from the first moment I put them in, no problems whatsoever, and friends and family were relieved not having to keep repeating themselves. I've lost all high level hearing so it's unusual for me to hear higher pitched birdsong but I can live with that

I have some hearing loss in both ears due to tinnitus. My hearing is not that bad but I was missing the higher end of the range in hearing, so decided to do a trial for a month with hearing aids.

At first, the very idea of them discouraged me, but after wearing them for a while, then going back for a few minor adjustments, I have to say they have been a definite help. They are small, my hair covers them, so no one knows I have them, and people no longer seem to mutter. The aids do not affect the use of mobile phones, and when the battery runs out, a voice in my ear says 'battery low.' There is minimal maintenance and I quite forget that I have them in my ears. I put them in afer I have brushed my hair and that's that for the day.

I think that the name, 'hearing aids' should be change to 'sound enhancers' so that the stigma of wearing them is reduced. To be able to hear clearly is a relief and people should not feel that there is something wrong in wearing them. I would add that I went to a private consultant who gave me a sophisticated form of hearing aid that adjusts to the sound around me. It was money well spent, and I was able to pay off for them monthly.

Myself and my partner both wear hearing aids. I wear one and have moderate deafness in one ear and he needs two. If you need them get them when you are as young as possible and can learn how to use them properly. Your friends and family will thank you. You will feel less isolated as you can quickly pick up the conversation, without running through a mental list of similar sounding words and making an incorrect guess! When you stop feeling embarrassed about hearing loss, you can start using effective strategies such as explaining your need to face people when listening and correct seating choices when you are out and about. I find it particularly
useful to reposition myself when I am receiving important client information
at work. All of these strategies will reduce the tiredness and frustration of ineffective communication. Modern hearing aids are tiny and people never even see mine even when I point it out. Hearing aids can not give you back your lost hearing but they sure can improve your communication significantly.

I've had a hearing problem for 10 years with loss of certain frequencies in both ears. The only possible explanation given was measles when young but age must play a big part. I preferred then to say I had a hearing problem with some frequencies because of negative attitudes to deafness & to age. I tried the NHS but hated what they gave me & the way I was patronized by a young woman who refused to give me a print-off of my hearing ranges. I went to a private supplier & chose what was then a newish product. I didn't want in-ear aids as I thought I'd lose them & found the light behind the ear ones excellent. I can forget I've got them on. I really needed them for group & training situations at work but still found them difficult as they were quite echoey & I sometimes felt I was on another planet. I got by most of the time without them, especially once I retired but still use them when I really need to. They have developed a lot in 10 years & I now have ones which I can change for different situations. I still only wear them when I really have to however. I use subtitles for TV programmes where diction is poor or regional accents strong & was surprised how quickly they went into the background. The worst scenario is with customer services' people on the phone (banks etc) reading rapidly off a script. DH clearly has a hearing problem but gets angry if I mention it & blames me for mumbling, yet accuses me of being very deaf when I can't hear him. He eventually did an on-line hearing test & has some impairment. He is bad enough dealing with glasses & gets very twitchy with them so I know he won't get hearing aids until the last resort. I changed suppliers when the company seemed to be having trouble keeping their aid consultants who changed constantly. I got some new reduced price aids (about to be replaced by newer models) from Boots but haven't been happy with their after-care. Some of the newer aids have too many gismos for my needs or liking & you are meant to renew domes etc far too often for my liking too.

DH has had 2 digital, privately bought, hearing aids for 2 years now. He has severe high frequency hearing loss, as has his sister. They are vey small, and discreet and most people can't tell he has them.
He has adjusted to them very easily, but still struggles in noisy gatherings and also with tyre noise when driving.
He had a checkup appointment this morning as I felt he was struggling even at home, again.
It turned out, that he had been rubbing the microphones at the top of the aids, with a finger, to test they were working and had blocked said microphones with skin cells.They were cleaned and are now fine.
At his next check in October, he may have the aids adjusted to improve certain noise situations.

I love my hearing aids, they go in when I wake up and stay in until I go to bed, I have even got in the swimming pool and the shower still wearing them! I have two hearing aids, one is a crossover aid so all sound comes in through my better ear. I can now hear people whichever side of me they are standing.
I can not understand people who need hearing aids but don't have them . Why should friends and family have to make allowances when modern hearing aids do such a good job?
I still struggle in background noise but a bit of planning can help to find the best seating, generally with my back to a wall so there is no noise coming from behind.

I don't think there is anything to be uncomfortable about, with regard to hearing aids. What can be uncomfortable is not hearing properly, having to ask people to speak up all the time, mishearing and therefore misunderstanding, getting into a grumpy state because you are sure people are mumbling and it's all their fault you can't hear..etc etc. All this I have experienced with elderly relatives!

Dh had a hearing aid, supplied by the NHS, and a very dinky little thing it was too. He was giving it a go, to see if his moderate hearing impairment would be improved...but only about a month into this, he lost it. He'd taken it out on the train to make it more comfortable to use his headphones, and is not sure what happened to it then. It was not handed in to the train company lost property.

Yes I wear two high powered hearing aids as I am profoundly deaf. If I leave my aids out I hear nothing. I rely on subtitles for TV and DVDs and I believe everything should be captioned.
Thankfully I find lipreading helps greatly, though it is necessary to remind people to face me.
Social life is difficult because background noise is a major problem and I,also find canned music intolerable.

At the moment I can manage without hearing aids but have had moderate hearing loss diagnosed in one ear and also have tinnitus caused by an ear infection. As I have other health problems dealing with my hearing problems comes low down on my list of priorities at the moment.

I don't have a hearing aid but do think one might make a difference for me. Sometimes I have to turn the TV up quite loud and worry about annoying my neighbours. This thread has made me think that maybe it is time a thought about getting a test.

Hearing still all right, but best friend had discreet modern ones fitted and reckons it's the best thing she'd ever done. We are having Deaf Awareness sessions in our town and very revealing they are too. Hearing aids are just one of the helps when hearing starts to go down.