Hearing loss and tinnitus and hearing aids

[IShallWearMidnight]

OK, after realising that I was struggling to hear people speaking, hated noisy places and was avoiding the phone, I went ot the GP and was referred to the audiology clinic. Now I know I should have actually asked this at the time, but I was in a bit of shock about being told I needed hearing aids at age 40

Anyway, can someone translate what kind of hearing loss I actually have, in what ways will it get worse, and what kind of hearing aid am I likely to get? My letter says "constant bilateral tinnitus" (I know what this is, but apparently the hearing aids can help?) and "bilaterally high frequency sensori neural hearing loss for up to 20-25 DB". Now I think this is "old age" hearing loss, so is it likely I'll lose hearing in lower registers, or just get worse in the upper registers? And I'm totally confused looking at hearing aids online (and reading threads on here). This is all NHS btw.

I'd just about come to terms with ditching the hair dye and going grey (teen DDs approve, so it presumably is OK ), but the hearing aids thing has put me in a bit of a spin.

Hi, IShallWearMidnight!

Don't worry about not really asking many questions, it is always a bit of a shock (I did the same) luckily the NHS have a patients website with all the leaflets that we forget to ask about. this one is about tinnitus and suggests the ringing in your ears will go away if you use the hearing aids, as the increased volume of everything else will drown out the tinnitus.
this sounds like it's the type of hearing loss you have, don't take the older people bit to heart are the NHS sorting out your hearing aids? I would get their's first and ask for a more thorough explanation of exactly the kind of hearing loss you have. They might be able to talk to you about digital hearing aids and whether they might suit you or not?

I'm not all that knowledgable about hearing aids (still in the middle of referals) but this might help www.entuk.org/patient_info/ear/hearingaids_html

Snap though mines probably not as bad as yours.
You should have local tinitus support group in your area which can help with quetions
Good luck,
Its not as bad as it seems

thanks, I'd had a look through some of the pages you linked to before, but wasn't sure if that was actually what I had - it's really confusing when doctors put their own words to diagnoses as you can't easily google!

There doesn't seem to be a great deal of support in my area (which is usual, stuff seems to get concentrated at the other side of the county), but I have found lipreading classes in a nearby town, so that will be a start I think, to at least meet other people in the same position. Hopefully I won't be the only non-pensioner there .