Hearing loss

[PerkyOchrePeer]

I've developed somehearin̈g loss and had ears checked and thought it was wax but had wax removed and things didn't improve so dr said i had cattarh in ears. ENT specialist said no cattarh so I'm getting hearing aids. What I find frustrating is some people speak very softly and I cannot hear them others have louder voices why do people speak si quietly. Is it me or them.

Sometimes it’s them, but sometimes it’s that their pitch is on a frequency that is weaker for you if that makes sense.

I had some issues with blockages but once they were resolved, I still had some problems. Balance issues were what led to finding out that I had moderate hearing loss and I’ve had aids since last year.
Some pitches are clear but lower tones drop massively when seen on the audiologist’s chart.

The friend I was with a few days ago spoke so softly I gave up trying to converse with her and I asked her to speak up and she didn't so I just said forget it. I find that with other people as well. Im wondering if hearing aids will actually help. Team meetings are no good at work because I cannot hear what's being said so there's no point attending

We dont have anyone taking minutes at meeti gs so I cannot get the minutes and read up on the meeting. Those days are gone. I did ask why nobody takes minutes at our meetings. And they said to me, if you want to take minutes do so otherwise we re not going to bother

Have you tried hearing aids?

I would say it’s more you and frequency issues

It definitely seems as if you will benefit from hearing aids. How long until you get them? If you’re struggling to hear in quiet environments then the difference should be really noticeable.

It is you. Unfortunately one of the issues with hl is inconsistency. It may not even be the volume of speech but the pitch or the background noise that is difficult to filter out . What type of hl do you have? Hopefully ha can help and there is a specific thread for hard of hearing.

I’ve tagged you in the other thread

I’m sorry to hear you’ve learned you’ve got hearing loss. I learned I have it about 9 years ago. Over that time, my hearing has deteriorated (not sure this is the general experience as they have said a couple of times that mine has deteriorated more quickly than expected) and now when I get frustrated at everyone muttering and all the background music on tv drowning out the speech, I realise it’s time to get my hearing tested again ☺️.

For me, hearing aids make a big difference - it feels like I’m taking out ear plugs. Hopefully, they will help you a lot. (As an aside, I noticed when I first started using them that I had a lot more energy and realised I had been exhausted from lip reading and straining to hear.)

i don’t know if it’s possible to attend your staff meetings on teams or zoom, but I think both of them have the option for close captions or note taking, which - if your work agrees - would mean you could follow along or read the notes afterwards. There are a few tech options out there, but you will need to find out what might work for you - there’s an access to work scheme that can potentially fund things to help you continue to work if needed. Your audiologist will be able to give you more information.

One thing to say, I don’t know if you use subtitles - I need to even with my aids - but not all shows on catchup offer subtitles (even if they do ‘live’) so often we have to record shows to watch them with subtitles.

Re tech - you can get a sort of remote that connects to some hearing aids that you can put in the centre of a meeting / near a speaker for the sound to travel direct to your hearing aids. Ive also read about glasses with subtitles of live conversation across the screen and hearing aids that translate - I’m waiting for things to get better to invest, but it’s potentially exciting.

I do understand your frustration at people not ‘speaking up’, but people do seem to struggle to do it consistently even when they try to do it. What’s even more annoying to me is that people get frustrated with me not being able to hear them, even when they know I have hearing loss…

Hope the hearing aids really help.

Don't they have to make reasonable adjustments for your hearing loss though? https://rnid.org.uk/information-and-support/work-job-employment/supporting-deaf-employees-staff-hearing-loss/how-to-effectively-manage-someone-who-is-deaf-or-has-hearing-loss-or-tinnitus/

My hearing has been like that for years. The nature of hearing loss in most people is that you hear some things and some people better than others.
Mine is low frequency loss. I have the ears of a bat for higher frequencies. That means I can hear female voices better than male.
It's harder when people mumble or don't look at you.
Hearing aids are transformative. They take a bit of getting used to but it's worth the effort. They are quite clever these days, you can connect to Bluetooth and so your Teams calls will be perfect. Make sure you tell the audiologist about your difficulty on teams. You can listen to music through them and phone calls go straight to your ears, no more struggling to hear on the phone.

You can get speech to text apps which are really good for meetings or a conversation in a noisy environment.
Alternatively ask your manager if you can attend via teams and use the captioning on there. Or you may be okay with headphones.