The Importance of Hearing Aids
Why hearing aids are important to me explained in a post I wrote for Action on Hearing Loss:
Original Action on Hearing Loss Blog Article Posted on: Monday, February 2, 2015 by Lola Olson
I am a hearing aid wearer with mild to moderate, high frequency hearing loss. I have worn digital NHS hearing aids for the last eight years. To say that they have transformed my life is no exaggeration.
Looking back over my pre-hearing aid years I wonder how I managed. As a middle school teacher in charge of the PE department but teaching half my timetable in classroom subjects I struggled constantly. Hearing what children were saying in the gym or on the field was a perpetual problem and I was repeatedly complaining about children mumbling and speaking indistinctly in the classroom. Staff meetings were a nightmare. My brain had to work overtime to try to keep track of discussions that I was too often reluctant to join in as I could not be sure what had been said. Although I did not realise it at the time it has become apparent that the sheer effort of making sense of conversation throughout the day was what caused me to slump into a coma-like sleep every evening - thus robbing me of true rest and relaxation activities. On occasions when I started watching a television programme I often had to ask family members what had been said only to be told that I should pay full attention. I rarely saw the end of programmes.
It is only in retirement since receiving my first NHS hearing aids that I fully appreciate just how hard the struggle was during my working years. No longer do I need the subtitles when watching television. Now I can enjoy conversations with family members, friends and acquaintances without repeatedly having to ask for repetition and suffering the ensuing embarrassment of still not having heard properly. There are only so many times one can ask for repetition and there is always the added worry of instigating the often uttered dismissive response, "Oh! It doesn't matter." Only recipients of those few words will truly understand the frustration they cause. The constant worry about being filtered out of the group whilst also dealing with the strain of trying to stay connected is now gone.
The strain on family members and others should not be underestimated. A friend told me that people with hearing loss should do something about it as it was extremely frustrating to have to repeat things so much. I was angry with her at the time but on reflection she did me a favour. Conversation is designed to flow and repeated repetition spoils the flow. It is difficult to move on when constantly moving back. Continuity is disrupted and both the hearing and the hearing impaired become frustrated. This is exacerbated on the telephone - a complete nightmare for the hard of hearing and those trying to communicate with them.
Retirement offers release from a lifetime of closely structured activities but also presents challenges of its own. How will we justify our continued existence in the world? I decided to become involved in local patients' committees. Why put myself through the agony of yet more meetings? I am a communicator and I wanted to continue to contribute to society. Despite further deterioration in my hearing my NHS hearing aids allow me to do just that. Devastated is a much overused word these days but it fully describes how I would feel without my hearing aids. Social outcast would not be too strong a description. (I actually thought one of my seven grandchildren had a serious speech impediment as I could not understand anything he said. This fear proved unfounded once I received my hearing aids.)
As a walker and a cyclist I rely on my hearing aids to help alert me to potential hazards associated with those activities. In addition devices such as doorbells, timers and alarms would be inaudible without them.
I feel driven to keep up the fight against any potential cuts in NHS hearing services. I, and so many like me, would become seriously socially isolated and vulnerable with all the other problems associated with being excluded from normal everyday activities that those without hearing problems take for granted.
Kathleen Hill
Member of GP PPG, Wyre Forest Patients’ Group,
NHS Wyre Forest CCG Membership Scheme
Action on Hearing Loss (Formerly the RNID) Volunteer
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