In praise of hearing aids

[Tenkaykev]

There's been some talk that the next release of Apple Airpods will have a hearing aid mode.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I wish my Dad and MIL would take note! They will not be told that their hearing is failing; likely because they don't want to be seen wearing a hearing aid

 

[Tenkaykev]

I'm aware my hearing is sub par, the usual difficulty of following conversations in noisy environments. Mrs Tkk however has excellent hearing and is able to hear when I am stealthily easing the lid from the biscuit tin from the other side of the house " are you at the biscuits again? " 😮

 

[All uphill]

A reminder to all who use hearing aids that you are eligible for a disabled person’s railcard, giving you (and your companion!) 1/3rd of all rail travel. There are no peak/of-peak restrictions. Costs £20 for one year or £54 for three years.

Buy it here https://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/

Thaks for that.

By my calculations I should get 30% off for being old, another 30% off for deafness and another 30% when I accompany my disabled wife. :-)

 

[Alex321]

I wish my Dad and MIL would take note! They will not be told that their hearing is failing; likely because they don't want to be seen wearing a hearing aid

Modern hearing aids are VERY discreet. These are photos taken with them in by the consultant just after I had mine.

 

[Cycleops]

I don't think many realise they may be losing their hearing. I certainly didn't and although my loss is small it's getting more noticeable.

 

[Fastpedaller]

I never knew that.

At 65, I can get a Senior railcard anyhow, which isn't much more expensive. Though it does have restrictions, and the disabled railcard allows a partner travelling with you to also get the discount.

But I hardly ever use the train, so not worth it for me.

As cyclists we should all know the following:-
BUS PASS is when you overtake one
MEALS ON WHEELS is when you get food handed to you during a 100mile or 12Hr time trial!

 

[DaddyPaddey]

Mine were through Clear Hearing Solutions in Barry.

Again, cost pretty ouch, but like yours, they have bluetooth connectivity, so can be used as headphones/microphone for things like teams meetings. And they are completely comfortable to wear all day. And they do come with a 5 year guarantee.

It is Phonak Lumity aids I have now.

I must say the bluetooth to the TV transformed things. Before just could not understand what was being said in a lot of the films, and watching the footy. The former was because of mumbling, latter the backgtound noise, no matter what volume I tried the TV. Still have problems incompany though. Good job I don't have any friends

 

[All uphill]

I was surprised at some of the things the audiologist told me.

He said the main effect of the aids on speech is to give me the hard consonants back, reducing confusion between words such as 'cat' ,'hat','bat'.

He also said the people with hearing loss often find noisy environments louder than people with normal hearing. That certainly explains why I have avoided the cinema in the last 20 years.

 

[Drago]

My hearing is still quite good. Probably the only part that’s still working well!

Mine is surviving quite well, despite being a rock musician.

 

[Slick]

Another here with tinnitus and got desperate for relief and answered an add for a bit of a miracle that turned out to be an overly expensive hearing aid. I tried for 2 or 3 years, and did think it maybe reduced it to a manageable level, but I've long since abandoned it now, with zero effect on my tinnitus. I have also since had 2 hearing tests from work who tell me my hearing is actually quite good and I can't figure out if its them that's crap or the private audiologist charging thousands for a useless device.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Another here with tinnitus and got desperate for relief and answered an add for a bit of a miracle that turned out to be an overly expensive hearing aid. I tried for 2 or 3 years, and did think it maybe reduced it to a manageable level, but I've long since abandoned it now, with zero effect on my tinnitus. I have also since had 2 hearing tests from work who tell me my hearing is actually quite good and I can't figure out if its them that's crap or the private audiologist charging thousands for a useless device.

I had the same, tinnitus but with good hearing. Apparently nothing they can do unless I have tinnitus AND hearing impairment

 

[DaddyPaddey]

There is an amusing side. I find my hearing aid picks up certain voices a lot easiet than others, assume its due to the pitch. We were in the pub for a christmas meal, so it was noisy, but I could clearly hear a lady at the far end of the next table. She was telling a friend all about her new relationship and when we left I so wanted to go over and say "well did you or didn't you"

 

[Cycleops]

I guess we'll never know if she did @DaddyPaddey ?

 

[Slick]

I had the same, tinnitus but with good hearing. Apparently nothing they can do unless I have tinnitus AND hearing impairment

The way it was explained to me was, your hearing loss usually matches the pitch of your tinnitus. Its because your brain no longer hears that pitch, so it somehow recreates the sound. The theory being, you set your hearing aid precisely the same as your tinnitus tone, and your brain thinks it can hear that tone again, so it stops making the noise.

Obviously a load of old cobblers as I've subsequently found out.