Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: RickF on May 28, 2009, 04:06:12 pm
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Hi Guys,
I've finally had to admit my hearing has got so bad that it's time for an appliance! Since it seems no one make brass ear trumpets these days, I've got to get one of these miniaturised electronic gizmos. So I'm off to Specsavers tomorrow.
Seriously though, has anyone had any experience with them? Is there anything to avoid or to watch out for? All help gratefully appreciated - but please write loudly!!
Thanks
Rick
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I know someone who has one, seems to work ok :-))
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Hi Rick,
I've been profoundly deaf for most of my life and have two of the NHS' most powerful digital devices so I can be deaf in stereo! Yes STEREO!
The service from my NHS audiology unit has been really good and of course everything is free!
If your hearing has deteriorated you need to know why. Getting an aid just helps compensate for the problem, it doesn't treat it so you do need to know whether there is an underlying cause that needs to be treated rather than just advancing old age!
Also, while an aid will help you to hear, it wont necessarily restore your hearing to what it was so things will probably sound different, particularly music where you can lose much of the tonal range.
I use subtitles on the TV but I also have a set of ordinary remote radio headphones so I can listen at a level which is comfortable for me and doesn't have the neighbours reaching for the earplugs!
Whether you use the NHS or Specsavers, you will have a hearing test which will be used to generate a frequency profile. This is used to tune the digital aid to help balance up the frequencies but it frequently requires adjustment as a test room isn't the best place to test your aid, you need to use it in a normal environment. Also, despite what they say, aids still tend to be pretty omi directional and amplify just about everything around you so you will still have problems in hearing the person you are speaking to in a crowded room or meeting.
Finally, private aids are notoriously expensive! But when one of mine developed a fault recently the NHS clinic just replaced it there and then!
Colin
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MY MOTHER-IN-LAW SOUNDS LIKE SHES TRYING TO TUNE HERSELF INTO THE HOME SERVICE (pre Radio One radio station for our younger listeners) WHEN SHES USING HER HI TECH GIZMOS, BUT AT LEAST WE DONT HAVE TO REPEAT OURSELVES ALL THE TIME, I SAID, AT LEAST WE DONT HAVE TO REPEAT OURSELVES ALL THE TIME.
SHE'S GOT THE STERIO ONES FROM SPEC SAVERS AND SHE'S STILL BLIND AS A BAT.
THEY WORK FOR HER. :-))
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I also have a NHS supplied hearing aid in my right ear, didn't cost a penny and really help, especially watching telly....the wife no longer has to shout at me to TURN THAT DAMN TV DOWN, YOU DEAF G*T!
Of course, it dosn't stop her shouting at me about pretty much everything else.....
Make an appointment with your GP Rick, and he will refer you to the Audiology clinic for tests, and if he agrees with you he'll get the wheels in motion.
It takes a long time to get used to a hearing aid, but I'd not be without it.
Eric.
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My mum needs a hearing and all I can say is once assessed get a second opinion!
Certainly not all devises are equal and you need to find one that suits you (sir!)
.... and they do take a bit of getting used to.
Martin
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Seriously though, has anyone had any experience with them? Is there anything to avoid or to watch out for? All help gratefully appreciated - but please write loudly!!
Quarter past eight...
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For some reason there is a significant proportion of the population who regard being deaf as a source of amusement - they are obviouly well represented on here! Unfortunately this lack of empathy is a well documented affliction and those of us who are on the receiving end do eventually develop a degree of sympathy of our own for these poor souls.
But don't worry, the time will come when you too are not firing on all cylinders in one way or another and then you will find yourself on the other side of the fence where things look a bit different. What goes around, comes around!
Don't take any notice of the "jokes" Rick, get yourself sorted out, as Eric says, you won't regret it.
Colin
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I am high tone deaf, my father is profoundly deaf, my wife has severe tinatus which affects her hearing and my neighbour wears two aids. However, we have all kept our sense of humour and enjoy a harmless joke as much as the next man. There is humour in all things, in my experience some of it can be quite black, but as long as no one is being made fun of because of their condition I see no harm in it. JMO
Doug
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MY MOTHER-IN-LAW SOUNDS LIKE SHES TRYING TO TUNE HERSELF INTO THE HOME SERVICE (pre Radio One radio station for our younger listeners) WHEN SHES USING HER HI TECH GIZMOS, BUT AT LEAST WE DONT HAVE TO REPEAT OURSELVES ALL THE TIME, I SAID, AT LEAST WE DONT HAVE TO REPEAT OURSELVES ALL THE TIME.
SHE'S GOT THE STERIO ONES FROM SPEC SAVERS AND SHE'S STILL BLIND AS A BAT.
THEY WORK FOR HER. :-))
Is it me only, or did anyone else read this loudly in their heads - wheres the paracetomol
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but as long as no one is being made fun of because of their condition I see no harm in it. JMO
Yes Doug, that is exactly the point. Shared humour is fine, being the butt of a joke by somebody who has no understanding of the situation isn't.
Colin
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My point was that I didn't think anybody was being made the butt of a joke here. Nuff said.
Doug
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For some reason there is a significant proportion of the population who regard being deaf as a source of amusement - they are obviouly well represented on here! Unfortunately this lack of empathy is a well documented affliction and those of us who are on the receiving end do eventually develop a degree of sympathy of our own for these poor souls.
But don't worry, the time will come when you too are not firing on all cylinders in one way or another and then you will find yourself on the other side of the fence where things look a bit different. What goes around, comes around!
Don't take any notice of the "jokes" Rick, get yourself sorted out, as Eric says, you won't regret it.
Colin
OK Colin, my emphysema is killing me and I will die a lot sooner than you, even though you are probably older than me. If you think I was taking the p*ss out of the hard of hearing please feel free to take it out of my illness as I am past the stage of getting stroppy when it is mentioned and I do have a sense of humour.
Anyway RickF did ask us to speak up.
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Absolutely no offence meant at all, was just a pun on the
please write loudly!!
part of the original posting :-))
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Thanks Guys - and yes I appreciate a joke as much as the next man. Life's too serious to be serious about. Please don't start a war n my account.
The point of my question was that Specsavers have all sorts of models at all sorts of prices - everything from Lada to Rolls Royce - and I just wondered if anyone had experience of them in particular.
I mentioned my hearing difficulties to my GP a few months ago during a routine heart check-up. His reply - "Specsavers do a free test - get yourself down there". So much for the NHS
Rick
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I have an NHS hearing aid.....I was refered to the audio centre by my GP. I will take some time to process.....however the small earpiece is brilliant. So, go for it , it just takes a little longer , plus its free on the NHS...mick :-))
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Not meaning to get at anyone in particular and no offence taken. But as soon as Rick had made his initial post I said to myself - here come the jokey responses - and so they did. I am just a bit puzzled why people will take this attitude towards deafness when they would never dream of doing so to blindness, severe physical disability or, as in Dicky's case emphysyma. i suppose it is a cultural thing.
Anyone who has a disability is faced with an uphill struggle of one sort or another and humour definitely helps to ease the situation. After all, there is nothing much you can do about it so why not laugh at it? For those who are afflicted, it's important that people accept you for what you are and treat you accordingly. If you are in a wheelchair for example there is a tendency for people to deal with the person pushing the chair - does he take sugar in his tea? No offence is meant but a lot is given.
Apart from deafness, I also have a form of Glaucoma. At the moment it is under control. But just imagine the prospect of being deaf and blind wiith a fully functioning intellect!
Colin
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Since the original post was "jokey" I wouldn't expect anything else {:-{
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No, I suppose you wouldn't.
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I have been reading this post with interest,my other half has emphysyma as well,and DickyD has a brilliant sense of humour.
She is not as bad as others but has other problems as well.
I personally will not make jokes of other peoples health problems,as i might suffer them later on in my life.
But i give my respects to people who have a disability,and can look on the lighter side, and make a joke or laugh about the situation
Mark
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Has anyone (apart from me) taken the telephone test given by the RNID. The number is on their website. You ring it and listen (doh) to some numbers spoken against a hissing background, then tap them into the phone.
I got a 'clean bill of health' which I know is rubbish as I'm an audio visual manager (well, with the high frequencies gone and the varifocals I'm barely managing {-) ) and I know that my hearing is getting worse as I have to employ young people who take a GREAT delight in informing me of the "hiss" in an audio system and can't I hear it?? But I take it in good heart and beat them about the head which seems to even the score!
I'm looking forward to retirement so I can stop 'bluffing' and have a proper check up :-))
What with that, the hypertension, excessive ectopic beats, prostate problems, overweight, etc, I ought to have a competition with Dicky {-) but if you don't laugh about it, you won't live any longer - it will just seem so %) %)
Something about "death and taxes" ;)
Danny
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The hearing test is now online -
http://www.rnid.org.uk/howwehelp/hearing_check/ (http://www.rnid.org.uk/howwehelp/hearing_check/)
See how you get on (I'm now "below normal" - hope they mean just my hearing) <:( <:( %)
Danny
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My other half and i have 2 aids each, after 6 months i gave up on them as Colin said they make everything LOUDER and i still couldn't hear voices above background noise or unless the speaker is facing me. my computer desk is close to large windows and i get a feedback loop in one aid from sound bouncing off the glass. They also make my ears itch like crazy after an hour or so of use.
My son is arriving for a weeks visit next week with missus & our grand daughter we havent met yet. I guess i'll have to wear them for the week they're here.
Damien.
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Colin, I was very interested to read your comments on modern hearing aids. My wife is completely deaf in one ear, and uses an aid in the other which allows her to hear reasonably well. Because she can only hear with one ear, she has lost the ability to know which direction the sound is coming from. Even though her aid is one of the whizz-bang high tech variety, she still has trouble in crowds plus, if a TV program has music behind the speech, she has trouble hearing speech, and finds the "background" music extremely annoying.
You must have a very different health system to ours, as we had to pay more than half of the $2000 cost of the hearing aid, the balance was covered by our private health insurance.
Peter.
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People criticise the National Health Service but the people who deal with hearing problems in my area are very good indeed. I did have to wait a few months for the latest aids but that was due to a national shortage.
As for having a giggle, I visited Egypt a few years ago - "Deaf on the Nile!" :}
Colin
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My wife says the good thing about having a hearing aid is, if I'm watching something on TV she doesn't like, she can just turn the aid off. Bl***y annoying if I try to talk to her, though, she just ignores me.........come to think of it, she does that most of the time anyway O0
Peter.
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My mate Jimmy in California, he paid over $6,000 for two hi-tech bionic 'ears'. Although it has brought him closer to civilisation again, he still suffers the same problems as Pete Fitness's wife: still awkward for him to distinguish voice from background music - especially that from radio or TV.
For my part I lost pretty much all hearing in my left lug and down to about 75% in the right one, all because of too many years standing in front of a couple 4x12 speaker stacks, playing at stage volume. Consequently, bass frequencies tend to drive me nuts, while middle to high-range frequencies tend to come through okay.
For me, at least, a simple cure to hearing better TV/radio is to route the audio through a hi-fi graphics equalizer. It lets you filter the audio response to your particular hearing range.
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Aust. Gov't, paid 100% for our hearing aids the only cost is a yearly service contract of $35 that covers all batteries and any repairs or tweaking needed. We let the contracts lapse as we didn't use the aids often enough to warrent the cost.
We recently were told the aids would be replaced every 2 years with latest models so we emailed the Gov't and were told this is correct. just waiting on paperwork and we'll see if another hearing company can make a better fitting ear piece.
Damien.
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I have been reading this post with interest,my other half has emphysyma as well,and DickyD has a brilliant sense of humour.
She is not as bad as others but has other problems as well.
I personally will not make jokes of other peoples health problems,as i might suffer them later on in my life.
But i give my respects to people who have a disability,and can look on the lighter side, and make a joke or laugh about the situation
Mark
Southampton supporter Mark, really do need a sense of humour for that.
Find it great in my wheelchair Colin all the young female shop assistants take pity on me and I get to do an awful lot of queue jumping.
Peoples attitudes to people in wheelchairs has improved over the years.
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For my part I lost pretty much all hearing in my left lug and down to about 75% in the right one, all because of too many years standing in front of a couple 4x12 speaker stacks, playing at stage volume. Consequently, bass frequencies tend to drive me nuts, while middle to high-range frequencies tend to come through okay.
PMK that is why I used to use a combo amp. However I still have lost some of my hearing in my right ear where the Bass player in my band used to stand with a 600w amp, he has a constant hissing in his ears now and he was the lead vocalist as well so his career has been cut short. I used to laugh at those musicians that used those ear plugs on stage. Who's laughing now.
Regards David
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In my previous life as a BBC TV cameraman, regularly videoing motor sports and music bands, I'd be issued with "dead cans" (large headphones that cut out lots of noise) and we'd have regular noise level checks by the Engineering Manager. That said, I only every saw one group ever wear earplugs. They also asked for the foldback monitors to be turned down.
(The B52s doing Love Shack, if you're interested!)
Andy
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Hey, Bigfella.
Constant hissing, eh? Tell me about it. I believe they call it tinitus. It seems there is no cure, and that's when you realise just how much you miss having a decent set of lugs.
I bought me a small 15-watt combo' and forgot just how loud such a small amp' can be. I daren't crank the volume past "3" for fear of upsetting the neighbs'. But even volume 3 is heap plenty loud for messing around indoors.
All I need now is a wheelchair, 'cos I really dig the idea of queue jumping.
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{-) {-)
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Peoples attitudes to people in wheelchairs has improved over the years.
Glad to hear that, quite a few years ago after my dads stroke and with a "dicky ticker" it used to amaze (and annoy) me that people would talk to me as opposed to him when we were out and he was in the wheelchair or even his electric buggy. Some strange assumption that his inability to walk any distance affected his intellect.... When shopping I would leave him alone so that assistants and others had to talk to him.
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Why is it that, when you ask people to repeat what they have just said, they slow down to idiot speed -
I said they slow down to idiot speed
Its the volume thats low, not the brain cells (er ...... possibly) %)
Danny
PS Did you just read the second line slower O0 {-) {-)
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I always tell people I'm deaf - well, it's better than letting them think you are stupid. You do get a variety of responses though, but most of them are well meaning and things tend to sort themselves out. One to one situations can be coped with, but as others have said, it's trying to cope with the crowded room/meeting situation that's the killer!
Colin
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I am amongst the registered Deaf! (hearing deficiency) I also have tinnitus which is very annoying if you let it get to you! I have a pair of aids which I do wear, but not at work! as they are not compatable with ear defenders! for work in the engine room so for 28 days I listen to an annoying noise (including the skippers) then I wear my aids while at home and can say that it does help in the "quiet times" Vanity is a big thing with aids when I first started to wear mine people started to raise voices and talk slower to me? My audible range has changed as well, I can hear some ranges that other people can not, the one thing that really gets on my nerves is the pelican crossing bleeper (they hurt! its like being thumped in each ear with every bleep)
The one thing I did find was that the aids had to be kept very clean or the inner ear could become sore or even infected and then the aid would cause more problems and then NOT being able to wear the aid would cause a problem and so I got into a vicious circle, now I am so much wiser I have learnt to care for and live with or without the aids depending on what I am doing.
I wish you all the best and a speedy learning curve, I never realised how much I "could NOT hear" until I got my aids
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Don't know about deaf people, but a former Technical Director I worked for treated non-English speakers like that.
He would talk slowly and clearly as though to a five year old
if they didn't understand he would repeat himself
S L O W E R A N D C L E A R E R A N D L O U D E R
if they still didin't understand he would repeat himself
S L O W E R A N D C L E A R E R A N D L O U D E R
if they still didin't understand he would repeat himself
S L O W E R A N D C L E A R E R A N D L O U D E R
After five minutes you could hear him across the factory
Wom
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I suppose one of the most annoying things that is said to me when I say that I'm a registered 'deaf person' is ay or pardon
its such a corny retort it drives me to distraction :((
(being registered deaf does not mean that you can not hear)
R,
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I know that this thread is mainly about deafness, but the comment about bleepers on Pelican crossings hit a nerve. (No pun intended). I have AMD in my right eye and these Xenon headlights on some cars cause real pain in the eye (both eyes, actually). I wonder which terminally insane idiot allowed these things to become lawful. Halogens are bad enough, but these "new" blue things are dangerous. BY.
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I agree, Bryan. My eyesight is good - for my age - but I find the the Xenon headlights extremely annoying to the point of being dangerous.
Peter.
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Brian & Peter,
Yes the light are very bright but you should see them from inside they
are very white and light the road surface much better making your driving safer,
but not necessarily for the oncoming traffic......... :-))
Roy
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Hearing problems are individual to each person and it only takes a few minutes of conversation to tune into each persons needs.
My friend Geoff (... rather ironic I know) hearing is failing due to a sinuous problem, all I have to remember to do is stand on his right side when talking to him. Clive, make sure I have his attention before speaking. Mum, slowly and make sure she's looking at me.
One thing I've noticed is how much we lip and face read without knowing it!
My brother purchased a £550 hearing aid from the States a month or 2 back... it wasn't any better that the NHS one.
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One thing I've noticed is how much we lip and face read without knowing it!
I can say you are 100% on that Martin. having worked within a noisy engine rooms most of my working life (early years without any ear muffs) it was easier to lip read than to hear the actual spoken word, even now I still read the lips of people talking to me. (and some of the time people in conversation on the other side of a noisy pub! nothing like picking up a good bit of gossip {-) )
B S L is also a help.
R,
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Re: BSL, it was Doug 99 that once pointed out that the spoken intonation is usually far removed from that of the written word. I think maybe similar applies with body language. Just because some some gal flashes her bits at you, does not necessarily mean what you think it means. I know - I've still got the black eye to prove it. :embarrassed:
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Hi Guys,
Just thought I'd draw a line under this topic. I've had my hearing test, been parted from considerable amounts of holiday money and as of yesterday I'm the proud possessor of two very discrete hi-tec hearing aids. Still under training with them - only set up on one program and only to be worn at home for the first two weeks.
Three things are immediately obvious: my hearing was far worse than I thought, the DSM has been shouting at me for years without either of us realising and the toilet sounds like Niagara when it flushes!
All going well so far
Rick
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Good on you Rick!
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Rick, my wife made similar comments when she first wore her hearing aid. It will probably take you some time to become accustomed to everyday noises after not hearing them as you should, for so long.
People will also have to learn that you can now hear, and stop making nasty remarks about you {-) {-)
Peter.
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I have to say that the NHS service round here is perfect, I can't understand why anyone would go private. I think round here you get seen within a few days.
The digital hearing aids are wonderful, they amplify the range of frequencies that you are missing, higher pitch in my case, I have better than average in the deep notes. If they had blue tooth to connect to phones etc it would be nice...one day maybe.
My only problem is on hot days when I get a bit sweaty and damp gets in then.
Completely free service...batteries as well, not found anything else the batteries fit in though.
An odd thing with the digital ones, on the T setting for audio loops you can pick all sorts of electonic noise as well, like when you swich on the ignition in the car, or cross a level crossing..... Once, in a theatre I picked up a mike back stage that must have been left on the loop but not the sound system. Interesting, you soon know when they are swiched in the wrong mode.
I have to agree with Colin that many people think deefess in others is funny. Not nice.