FREE BEER!* By HCC patient, Geoffrey Holdcroft

"Right now that I've got your attention, I want to discuss men and hearing loss.

Ask any medical professional and they will tell you that we men are very bad at seeking help when it comes to health issues. Hearing loss is just such an issue. Hearing loss is a problem which will creep up on you. Whereas the ladies will deal with the issue when they know they have a problem us men just ignore the problem and put off dealing with it. How do I know this? Well, I've lost count of the number of ladies who tell me their male partner has a hearing problem and refuses to deal with it!

Why does it matter, I hear you ask? The posh term the professionals use is “auditory deprivation”. Eh?? In a nutshell the mechanism of hearing is a complex system involving the ears and the brain. If you fail to deal with a hearing problem when you or your family notice you have a problem, the system gets into a vicious circle and you lose the ability to hear. Having a hearing test and getting the right aids for you will prevent the system “forgetting” how to hear and becoming a degenerative downward spiral. Modern hearing aids are a wonder of miniature high tech engineering. I wear hearing aids myself and I can tell you that the aids themselves and the connecting wires are so small, nobody notices them.

My own experience is quite interesting. I suspected I had a hearing problem so I went for a hearing test at HCC. Quite properly I was told, yes I did have hearing loss but I wasn't in need of aids immediately. I decided to go ahead anyway because I had come across an article giving pointers that socially I did need aids. For me the ones that resonated were:

1. Do people appear to be mumbling?       

 Yes especially female check-out assistants.

2. Do you find it difficult to hear when a lot of other people are talking?

Yes our family gatherings are nothing short of riotous!

3. Do you get a very bad headache after attending an event as described above?

Yes this is the killer reason I decided to get hearing aids. I was getting really bad headaches when I had been straining to hear in difficult conditions.

There are lot of other pointers which might apply to you. For example: Do you say pardon a lot? Does your family complain that you have the TV or radio far too loud? Everyone is an individual and there are lots of other pointers.

*Sorry, I'm not giving away free beer I lied - but I do urge anyone, especially the men amongst us to book a hearing test if you suspect you have a problem."

Geoffrey