Help for Hearing Impairment

BigMummaF

Excuse my asking, particularly if it has been mentioned earlier on in the thread...what is the best way to handle excessive wax please? No2 Offspring has always suffered & I'm forever chastising all the family for using cotton buds but those little perishers seem so inoffensive & effective at the same time :sad:

Me muvva has had a rough time recently needing three attempts at syringing to clear hers, & I'm wondering what she could preventively do as she also wears hearing aids. She has a hospital appointment in two weeks for--hopefully--new aids to replace her private prescription, as one has given up the ghost & I think she was a little too keen using the other while we were treating the wax with olive oil

Forgive my not reading the entire thread; I am currently staying with Mum & have access to tintaweb on very irregular & short time-spans at the mo.
Thanks.

Savvy_Sue

I don't have any particular answers, but it's a known problem: wearing a hearing aid may increase the production of wax, because after all its purpose is to rid the ear canal of foreign bodies and a hearing aid is a foreign body!

Could be worth asking her audiologist next time she is there?

Errata

My audiologist told me to get some olive oil in a special spray bottle from the chemist and use it twice a week. Apparently it helps the wax slither out so it doesn't build up, or if it does it's easier to shift for the practice nurse.

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

My audiologist told me to get some olive oil in a special spray bottle from the chemist and use it twice a week. Apparently it helps the wax slither out so it doesn't build up, or if it does it's easier to shift for the practice nurse.

yes I saw that on the shelf at the chemist the other day, we'd been dropping olive oil into DH's ears without noticeable effect, we moved on to Earex drops, but I did wonder if the spray would work better! However the Earex was cheaper.

Guardsman

God it's great to hear the birds in the mornings I never realised how poor my hearing was until I had hearing aids.
As for the wax I have never had a problem with it myself but my sister would use warm baby oil to loosen the wax and after doing a bit of Googeling I found a link that explains how it's done.
http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-ear-wax.htm

hethmar

I shall have to read through all this unless someone can tell me what sort of aid I should be pointing my OH towards please. He has been losing some hearing over at least the last 10 years, I think due a lot to the use of heavy/noisy building tools. I am also getting a bit of hearing loss although the tinnitus and a sensitivity to loud noise seems to be worse than having to ask people to occasionally repeat something.

Anyway back to OH. He now has the tv on so loud that it feels Im going to be blasted into space when I walk in the room - I notice he also strains in situations like talking in a group in a pub or other place with back ground noise and he doesnt hear things like the oven beeping.

Im at a loss really where to start with him. He just says "Everyone loses hearing as they get older" He is only 60 ! And as I say its been happening over the last decade as I clearly remember someone saying to me, does your OH lip read as he watches faces closely when people talk.

Any advice would be gratefully received as I feel he is missing out on a lot.

Errata

"Everyone loses hearing as they get older"

He's correct and those who spent their working life operating noisy tools and equipment lose more of it earlier. It's hearing loss due to industrial injury, and I'd bet my last shilling he didn't wear ear defenders all the time.
This is the RNID's online hearing test http://www.rnid.org.uk/howwehelp/hearing_check/take_online_hearing_check/
Why not try it yourself then coax your OH to try it and compare results?
My stepdad had to finally give in and get hearing aids when my mother refused to have the volume on the TV louder than she could cope with and refused to continue to raise her voice so he could hear what she was saying. Both their lives were then transformed.
An urgent tip for you: make sure you have smoke and carbon detectors he can hear go off when he's alone in the house, your local Fire Service will assess, supply and fit free of charge.

toscat

I've had tinnitus for many years now but recently my hearing has deteriorated to where I can hear voices okay but have difficulty understanding what people are saying especially on tv where if possible I use subtitles. The doctor referred me to the hospital where I got an appointment very quickly and I was assessed with some hearing loss in both ears and was told I would need 2 hearing aids and they would be concealed behind the ears. That was early November and today I phoned to ask them where I was on the waiting list as I had been waiting for 4 months. The lady told me the waiting list is at least 12 months so it will be the end of the year before I get them. Does anyone know if this is the norm or is it only in my area ?

Errata

Waiting times differ from area to area. 3 years ago the list in my district was a couple of years long, whereas in the adjacent district it was 6 weeks.

sunnyone

toscat wrote: »

I've had tinnitus for many years now but recently my hearing has deteriorated to where I can hear voices okay but have difficulty understanding what people are saying especially on tv where if possible I use subtitles. The doctor referred me to the hospital where I got an appointment very quickly and I was assessed with some hearing loss in both ears and was told I would need 2 hearing aids and they would be concealed behind the ears. That was early November and today I phoned to ask them where I was on the waiting list as I had been waiting for 4 months. The lady told me the waiting list is at least 12 months so it will be the end of the year before I get them. Does anyone know if this is the norm or is it only in my area ?

I've always got my new aids as soon as they could be ordered and delivered, I get new aids every three years or so, the same for wheelchairs/powerchair, no waiting involved.

Access to work dont do hearing aids anymore but you could ask them if you need the aids for work, that might mean the NHS can be persuaded to get yours a bit quicker