Compo 10,328 Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 The NHS changed my hearing aids for a new type recently. Now I can hear Skylarks for the first time in about forty years - which is nice. Long live the NHS! 11 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 Glad for you Compo ! Btw, Mrs Catfan say's I'm going deaf, she hasn't cottoned on that I could be "slingin a deaf un" ! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,183 Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 Great news Compo, enjoy your listeing.. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Compo 10,328 Posted June 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 My hearing loss is difficult to correct. I have normal hearing up to 2Khz and then nothing. The graph just plummets like a cliff face. Any normal hearing aids simply amplify across the frequency range, which is no good for me. These new ones can, to a point, selectively amplify so they can leave my low frequency unamplified and amplify the mid ranges. Alas, still no high frequency response. A year or so ago, my brother paid £1,000 for a pair of reconditioned hearing aids that are similar to my new ones; he thought that going private would get him a better service - it didn't. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercurydancer 1,104 Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 Oh compo I wish I had known. I was heavily involved in the roll out of digital hearing aids in 2014. If you have service related hearing loss then it would have been a priority under law. All I would have needed was your letter from Blackpool Veterans Agency. For anyone else, who has a hearing loss, take this very wise advice. Do not be seduced by the adverts which promise many things that are not possible. Go to your doctor. Get a referral to the ENT clinic. Get an NHS audiologist to test your hearing. This will usually be at the same appointment. Get the best technology available for your hearing loss. For free. Waiting time is dependent on status. For service persons is is 6 weeks (if it was a service related hearing loss) 12 weeks for everyone else. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PeverilPeril 3,298 Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 I understand how it must feel Compo. Natural sounds and particularly birdsong is taken for granted by most folk. I heard birds singing for the first time in my life, 20 years ago - thanks to the NHS I can now hear the dawn chorus. Hearing aids can only amplify or adjust what is already there. With me it was always the high frequencies that were totally absent. The range of loss gradually widened until complete deafness about 20 years ago. I had a cochlea implant and a new world opened up to me. The NHS have been fantastic. The implant processor eats expensive batteries, which I get free. Being an outdoors man like yourself, I have been given my environment back - with a bonus. The wind in the trees and grass is a beautiful sound as is the swish of my fly rod. Buggered if I can hear conversation in noisy places though. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DJ360 6,738 Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 Compo #1. That's wonderful! Thing is I'd pretty much forgotten about Skylarks and you've reminded me how lovely it was to hear them over the fields opposite Southglade Road and on Bulwell Common as a kid. All gone now I fear. Col Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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