General Chat

My OH is very hard of hearing having suffered from Industrial Hearing Loss from working in a very noisy environment without any ear protectors for over 30 years
About 6 years ago he was referred to hospital for his hearing and waited over a year for an appointment. upshot was they did supply him with one hearing aid for the ear that had the loudest tinnitus waited though 9 months to get it !! ,BUT the material used gave him a very sore ear so he couldnt use it . He was then supplied with another aid in a different material but this was awkward to get in place and still gave him a sore ear.
He has got fed up that i speak for him and often say to people sorry he can.t. hear you ,(altho at times i really feel he has selective hearing)
he decided last week to have a free hearing test at our opticians and we went today AND he does have problems with high pitches but not with low, They had expected he may be worse than he turned out to be because of his industrial deafness AND the hearing aid he has from the NHS is totally useless anyway cos it screens out the pitches he can hear. he was fitted with hearing aids for both ears and the result was amazing for him ,Bless him his eye lit up when they switched them on (both ears ) and he could hear so much.BUT then came the blow !! to buy them was a range of prices starting for a basic £1150 each aid !! up to £2700 for the top of the range ones that someone may need if they had a busy life and went to many conferences etc.
Well we are both retired and there are only us two at home so dont need top audio but he need two aids costing £1750 EACH. He is thinking about it but the disappointment on his face was heartbreaking cos the demo aids made such a difference when they switched em on.
I think he should get them He has a five year guaratee with them that covers everything including reprogramming if his hearing worsens . plus six month checks with any adjustmenst needed.
Bang goes by new kitchen but he needs to get his own identity back instead of a wife who keeps apologising for him and speaking for him saying sorry he cant hear you.
Pity though this all comes down to cost !!

Oh Shirley,,wonderful for him,,,,,,,down shot is he can switch them off when you have a nag,:}}}}}}

It will be great for him to hear well and give more independence going out alone,,,so probally worth every very expensive penny,,,,,,and no excuses from him when you send him shopping that he cant because he cant hear...:}}}

Shirley, if I'm reading this right then it's about 5 years since OH was last seen at hospital?
If that's the case then I'd suggest he goes back to see them. There have been some amazing developments in technology available for people with hearing loss.
Don't know which part of the country you're in but do give it a try

He hasn't any confidence in the NHS one .he knows the resources are limited in what they can offer and after speaking today the audio specialist ( yes i know they want to get a sale BUT he wasnt pressured) he realises what he was given was very standard by the NHS and not suitable for his range of hearing loss.He cant wear the ad they supplied anyway so was a waste of NHS money.
I guess he will have to pay privately to get what he needs, the aids they will supply him dont block the ear canal ,there is only a very very small inset in the ear with the microphone at the back of the ear which he can have in the same colour of his hair (silver!!) to disguise it,

Hi Shirley - as Julia May suggests - go back to NHS and tell them what you've leant from this other firm.
He now knows what type of aid suits him - stand your ground and see if (under pressure) the NHS can provide what he wants/needs.
I think it disgusting that we pay National Insurance all our working lives and end up with second rate goods,
If it's the wrong colour - what's wrong with spray paint!! LOL

I would say go back and check first. My first hearing aid was no good at all but when I was given digital aids they made a great difference. However he would need to ask if there is any other earpiece as two have proved to be unsuitable. It may be that they do others. Or maybe the original was badly fitted, the mold was wrong or something.

There are now Government targets for how quickly someone should be seen for audiology assessments. Can't put hands on the paperwork right now but it is quite a short timeframe so worth going back to GP for referral

I have a NHS hearing aid (not digital I prefer the one I have).......and a private in-ear one, and I find my NHS one better.....

I had a problem with the behind the ear one when wearing a riding helmet, so asked the NHS audiologist what he recommended, and he arranged for me to be seen at a BUPA hospital where he worked and got me the in-ear one for £700........ so what I am trying to say is......go back to the audiologist and ask if they run a private clinic, or can get an in-ear hearing aid......

I have two NHS hearing aids......wonderful...I can hear teenagers mobile phones screeching away at about 50 feet but when I am in a party( in a pub) I STILL can't focus on the one person Im trying to listen to, ALL the noises are amplified....the crisp packets the glasses chinking knifes rattling... I still have a job using the phone,it's peace , at times when I take em out!!
I had to see my GP today, prescription review, and yes it eventually got round to the hearing aids
he also has two, cost him 2,500 pounds each, and from what he says I am no worse off than he.........he has the same problems....
I am due for two replacements in a couple of weeks lets hope they are more selective than the ones I already have......

Bob

This is very interesting - I have just been and had my hearing tested today - sick of saying pardon etc and have now been told I have a severe loss- I also have tinnitus. So this will be two hearing aids that I need - rather costly but these apparently shut out the peripheral noises of coffee machines, traffic going past and knives and forks clatter banging and you can hear the person you are with. I am amazed as to what they can do - the specialist I saw said his father had them and told me that if you are listening at a concert and the drums go mad it does not go through you but the hearing aids adjust automatically.
I am booked for an audiology appointment next week - and then I get to try out different ones to find ones that suit me.
It has got so I can't hear my grandchildren talking to me - and when they watch TV - I can't hear it at all. Sick of trying to guess conversations and coming up with the wrong answers sometimes which can be hilarious.

I am wondering if I will need a husband anymore to transcribe for me - LOL.

Perse (NZ)

Thank you all for the interesting comments. OH wont go back to the Hospital as he was told by them that the hearing aids they fitted were the only ones they offer. He has the one that fits into the whole of the ear cavity one which gives him a very sore ear and quite honestly doesn,t enhance his hearing at all. from the consultation yesterday is seems his type of hearing loss isnt suitable for that type of aid as it masks out the low noise he doesnt have problems with.
Must say there was no pressure to buy the private one ,but this may have been a subtle ploy!!. but he did immediately have a good result when the ones they fitted were switched on. this is because they are only very small almost matchstick size aids that still allow the lower noise to get in too because the ear canal isnt blocked off.
I,m not sure what he will do now ,but I think he is going to go for them.
His experience at the Hospital put him off in the way he was spoken down to ,he is a very quiet inoffensive man who will avoid confrontation.

For anyone thinking of going down the NHS hearing aid route, and have concerns about waiting times, see:

http://www.rnid.org.uk/community/forums/products/nhs_hearing_aid_services_a_great_success_story/

We have just gone through the asking at doctor's surgery, getting an appointment at the hospital, and the follow up for the aid to be fitted and the whole process was something like 6 - 8 weeks. (Can't remember without looking back at last year's diary.)

I won't comment on how a 90+ relative is getting along with it. It has been a real laugh - if someone can put the aid in upside down, inside out etc, she has been able to. I think she has changed the battery four times in two weeks, because she was convinced it wasn't working!

I think we are on the right track now, but she isn't convinced a 'private one' might not be better! Anyway, she didn't want people to see she had a hearing aid. I did suggest she wears her glasses without being embarrassed about having poor sight.

Elisabeth

Thanks Lynda
he worked for Fords and the union took them to court about 20 years ago when OH was still working there for all sorts of industrial health related problems.They did a well man clinic which picked up the problems some of the men had .OH did get an out of Court settlement for his hearing loss at the time but of course age related now its got much worse

Just to make you all smile - our local hospital was concerned about the number of missed appointments at its audiology clininc and a review was carried out to find out what was going on.
Turned out that people were turning up and taking a seat, then, when their name was called they didn't hear it and so "missed" their appointments. It was suggested that the hospital invest in electronic call signs which flash up the patient's name - and the attendance rate improved dramatically.
This is the truth!