Despite growing awareness, many people still feel a stigma around hearing loss and wearing hearing aids. For David Evans, Managing Director at Connevans, that couldn’t be further from his experience.
In this interview, David shares how he first realised something wasn’t right with his hearing, what happened when he sought help, and how hearing aids have changed his day-to-day life.
When did you first notice your hearing getting worse?
I couldn’t hear the fridge alarm! I found that one day, I was at home, and I had left the fridge open. Everyone around the table said, “shut the door, the alarm is really annoying”, but I couldn’t hear the fridge go beep, beep, beep and everybody else could.
Having made the decision to get a hearing test, what happened at your appointment?
At the appointment, the first thing they do is look inside your ears. I had a fair amount of ear wax but because she could see my eardrum, she was prepared to do the test. They did the test and found that I had a severe high-frequency loss. My hearing dropped off a cliff, probably due to all the discos I went to when I was a lot younger!
They said, “well, better have your earwax cleared”, so I waited two to three weeks for that appointment, and I was able to go back to the audiologist the following morning to have a pair of NHS hearing aids fitted.
Once you had your hearing aids, what did you notice over the first 24 hours?
When I first wore them, I could hear things like the crunching of paper and you get a little bit of a tinny effect, but in actual fact, I didn’t really notice a huge difference.
I did spot one thing a couple of weeks after I had my hearing aids. I had to go on a trip to America for an audiology conference and there’s a big park there. I used to walk through the park going to and from the conference and I found that if I took my hearing aids out, I couldn’t hear any of the wildlife or birds. When I put my hearing aids in, I could hear the birds, and the trees blowing.
How are you feeling about your hearing aids now?
I’m thoroughly enjoying the hearing aids. They’re very beneficial and I feel very relaxed wearing them. I notice if I don’t wear them! I think I notice the effect of them more now than when I was first given them. When I take them out now, the world seems very flat.
I haven’t found it too problematic in noisy places. I haven’t had to turn them up and down specifically, although I do occasionally change the programme in a noisy place. So, it’s really just a livelier, less flat world that I live in.
