Hearing aids

Tashyboy

Tashyboy

Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
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Anyone got one or two.

Bottom line, I have suffered from Tinnitus and Noise induced hearing loss for as long as I can remember.The hearing loss is from Mining. The tinnitus is 24/7 and at times drives me mad.
I saw a programme a few days ago about dementia and it mentions hearing loss can help to bring it on. Sod that. Pride has probably stopped me having a hearing test ( which is now booked in). Now I have heard that you cannot get NHS hearing aids in our area.
But what exactly am I looking for re hearing aids, I have read about different frequencies, blue tooth, linked to phone etc etc. but is all that necessary.
Thoughts please me duck.
 
upsidedown said:
Head off.and see your GP to get on the list for a hearing test , could take up to 6 months but very thorough and end up with NHS hearing aids.Has help my tinnitus,still there but more background
Click to expand...
I rang them this morning and they said they don’t do referrals. Just to go along to Boots or specsavers. 😳
 
Tashyboy said:
I rang them this morning and they said they don’t do referrals. Just to go along to Boots or specsavers. 😳
Click to expand...
Dad's the same NHS trust as you. Was told there was no point sitting on a waiting list for months when he could get better from Specsavers within a couple of weeks for £1000.

Have you looked into compensation?
www.gov.uk

Get compensation for health problems caused by mining

Claim compensation for coal workers' pneumoconiosis (‘black lung’) if you worked as a miner for the British Coal or National Coal Board - find out how to claim for other conditions such as vibration white finger (VWF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), mesothelioma and noise induced...
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
As a hearing aid user, they haven't helped my tinnitus much if at all. However, they have definitely improved my quality of life. Expect them to be a bit tinny and high pitched at first. They're not of course - you've just got used to those frequencies being missing. After a couple of days everything will be fine and you'll be used to them. Then when you take them out you realise how muffled things had gotten before the aids. They help loads with listening to people in crowds etc. You can focus on people much easier.

Bluetooth is quite useful. Connect them to my phone and use for 95% of phone calls. Mine are good for listening to podcasts/audiobooks etc, but are fairly rubbish for listening to music. If you do use them for the phone you have to be aware that anything you can hear - so can the person at the other end of the phone!

Mine were private thru Boots. They cost a small fortune, so definitely press the health trust. Apart from the price Boots have been very good with me tho. Mine are "behind the ears" ones, but they quite small and kind of blend in with the arms of my glasses so they're not very noticeable at all.

Overall, even with the ridiculous cost, I'm very happy I got them.
 
I waited 6 months for an NHS appointment without getting one. Got the GP to refer me to Specsavers. Within 10 days I walked out with a free pair of Bluetooth aids. They work well for general hearing, you can connect them to your phone & listen to music & calls through them. They are also adjustable on the phone via a mobile app. Also, the NHS ones would have come with those big, moulded earpieces. Mine have small ear units connected by an almost invisible tube. I think you'd need to spend a lot of money to get anything better.
 
upsidedown said:
That's weird , definitely chase up your NHS Trust . My mate in Yorkshire was fine going to GP with his tinnitus as I did . Good luck
Click to expand...
Am bloody livid, Ave got off the phone to the audio department at our local hospital.They have told me point blank that the GP surgery should have referred me. But if they refer they have to pay. 🤬 The lady told me that I was referred in 2013 and saw a dr in 2014. They can compare my audio results and see if there is any change. She mentioned the hearing aids have come on massively in the last 10 years.
I then rang back the drs and have told them I will be putting in a complaint. I also mentioned that the recorded message starts by saying this call is recorded. I told them I am Not impressed one bit.
 
RichA said:
Dad's the same NHS trust as you. Was told there was no point sitting on a waiting list for months when he could get better from Specsavers within a couple of weeks for £1000.

Have you looked into compensation?
www.gov.uk

Get compensation for health problems caused by mining

Claim compensation for coal workers' pneumoconiosis (‘black lung’) if you worked as a miner for the British Coal or National Coal Board - find out how to claim for other conditions such as vibration white finger (VWF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), mesothelioma and noise induced...
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
Click to expand...
I got a claim from the coal board re my hearing loss, not at the time if you had more than 50% loss in both ears you could claim. I did have more than 50% but in just the one ear. 👍
 
I've had NHS hearing aids for some years now but hardly ever wear them as my hearing loss is mainly the higher pitch sounds, so I hardly ever wear them. I found, needing a test recently for other issues, talking to the team who arrange the appointments,areoften helpful as there's always a load of cancelled appointments. I had, off and on, 5 different appointments then finally they said they had a cancellation in 2 days time, so I took that and cancelled all the others.
 
I have NHS hearing aids supplied by a local optician and hearing centre.

They are not the thick chunks type, just a small plastic insert connected to the slim tube.

Trouble is I don't wear them because they make my ears itch, (what a wuss), I suppose if I persevered I would get used to them.

At the test they said my hearing was slightly down but enough to warrant having them.

Have to say, when I did wear them it reduced my tinnitus quite a bit!

So the moral is Tash, go get them and if it only helps with the tinnitus - result! 👍
 
I got mine last year on the NHS. It took a while for the initial test, and then for me to get the hearing aids, but I have them now. I have Tinnitus and, tbh, I don't think they help it much.
I'm amazed your local NHS don't offer them. As has been said above, I would challenge that.

There was an earlier thread on this:
Hearing Tests
 
I think some GP surgeries are trying to get away with anything they can. My friend has an issue with pain in her ear which she thinks is blocked ear wax. Called the GPs and was told they don't deal with it and to contact a pharmacist. Called into local pharmacist who said they can't examine her ears and she'd have to see her GP. Joke.
 
Tashyboy said:
Anyone got one or two.

Bottom line, I have suffered from Tinnitus and Noise induced hearing loss for as long as I can remember.The hearing loss is from Mining. The tinnitus is 24/7 and at times drives me mad.
I saw a programme a few days ago about dementia and it mentions hearing loss can help to bring it on. Sod that. Pride has probably stopped me having a hearing test ( which is now booked in). Now I have heard that you cannot get NHS hearing aids in our area.
But what exactly am I looking for re hearing aids, I have read about different frequencies, blue tooth, linked to phone etc etc. but is all that necessary.
Thoughts please me duck.
Click to expand...
My middle brother had tinitus and was becoming hard of hearing. He has1 in each each, they are smaller than the fashionable buds many now wear and charge wirelessly each night when he puts them in thier case. They link to his phone as well. They have made a world of difference to his hearing and the cutting out of tinitus. I think he went through boots, and TBH were a very good choice.
 
HIDs had been referred privately (her issue was presenting an extreme dizziness, which they thought was vertigo) but no private referrals were imminent, so she just went to Boots specialist hearing centre instead. Found out she had deafness but only in one ear, so got 1 aid only. It wasn't cheap but they offer annual check-ups as part of the price and it seems (fingers crossed) to have cured the vertigo symptoms, so for her, it was well worth it
 
So today Tashyboy rang the GPs and basically asked what was going off. After a few apologies but she didn’t know what the apologies were for. She told me that my records were being assessed by the go and he would make a decision re whether to see me or not, but either way to refer me onto the audio department.
I am keeping my appointment with Boots on Friday, primarily to see what they say and to see if I end up with hearing aids from the NHS or boots.
 
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