Living With Hearing Aids

I'm 37 and I’ve had hearing aids full time for around 17 years, but have been deaf for much longer. We first noticed I was deaf when I was 8 years of age. There was a theory that the chicken pox I had at the time killed the nerve in the right ear, though this idea was confusing when my earing became better in the right and less in the left.

I also have tinnitus. It’s hard to describe but it is like a constant buzzing noise in the ear (there are various descriptions as it is different for each sufferer) so I was then diagnosed with Meniere syndrome as I was also experiencing dizziness at the time as well. Meniere is the combination of classic deafness, classic tinnitus, and classic dizziness. But again, this diagnosis was thought to be a spanner in the works.

So after my VSO (Volunteer Services Overseas), I was sent to a top guy in London who decided that we would never really get to the bottom of why I am deaf, but I needed hearing aids and within the year I had them on the NHS.

So that’s the story in a nutshell. Now over the 17 years, I have continued to have a hearing test every three years in the same way eyes are tested every two years or so. At the same time, I have received an upgraded hearing aid. They are digital and the technology in them is always improving.

I have behind the ear hearing aids that are purple—this is because I used to work in retail and I got fed up with customers running around after me, then accusing me of ignoring them when they did get my attention. I’d show them the hearing aids then they’d apologise. So I had my hair cut shorter and got coloured aids.

There are many kinds of hearing aids and moulds. Each person is treated on an individual basis. I have big clunky moulds with moist resistant tubes because I need as much of my outer ear covered to get the best possible sound and the moisture resistance is just to ensure the tubes stay moist free as I was having a lot of trouble with sweat from the ear, as well as working in a food factory which used flour, so I was constantly suffering blocked tubes.

So the mould, whatever design you have, can be small like a popper or big and chunky. It acts in the same way as an earplug. It blocks all the noise out. Then the hearing aid itself acts as the noise filter. The primary aim of a hearing aid is to filter out as much background noise and pick up vocals—speaking—for the wearer to understand.

In most cases, each digital aid has two microphones, one at the front and one at the back. This is aimed to give a good surround sound to the wearer. When in a noisy situation, the aids should cut the back microphones off, giving directional hearing so the wearer can hear the person in front of them speaking.

You may or may not have heard of something called the "T" setting, or the loop. This is a special frequency all hearing aids are tuned to so that in certain places like a theatre, cinema, or lectures they can cut out all background noise and only hear what is being said in front of them. Some shops have smaller versions that will be compatible with the loop. When I listen to music I use a special loop cable that goes around my neck and then works in exactly the same way as other loop devices where I change my hearing aids to loop and it picks up the music or, if I am on the phone, the caller from this wire. It means I can walk downtown and it is not visible that I am listening to music as it is all completely wireless.

The loop setting is being added into landline telephones now, which is just fantastic. When I worked in retail we had the loop on the phone so I would use my "T" setting for the phone and use the normal setting to talk to customers in the store. So I asked for the loop setting and normal setting to be put together on a third setting so that I could listen on the phone and talk to the customer without having to keep changing the settings all the time.

So I have two bits of advice. If you are having any trouble with your hearing please go and see your doctor. They will refer you to a specialist who will get it sorted. And the second bit of advice if you are a hearing aid wearer, don’t be ashamed or afraid to let people know you have them. There are situations like noisy rooms or really loud environments where I do flag them up, though there are times I forget about them and often they are pointed out by people. People are very warming and understanding of the situation and most will certainly accommodate you. If you are new to wearing hearing aids, you will find you can hear more than you wish, but please do keep them in and persevere. It does take time for your brain to adjust to the new sounds and in time things will settle and you will only be hearing what you want to hear.

For me, hearing aids only give a certain level of better quality of life on their own. The rest has to come from me as an individual, the acknowledgment I have a hearing issue and that I wear hearing aids. This means that I am open to talk to people about them, and many are interested in the story behind how I got them. This is not about them getting information to poke fun at you later or to go gossiping. It’s about educating people. When people want to know more because they don’t understand, they don’t have the experience you have of living in a deaf world.