Mr Smith served within the Army from 1977 to 2000 in the Royal Corps Transport and the Royal Logistic Corps.
How his hearing affected his daily life:
Mr Smith teaches lorry driving logistics and needed to be able to hear whilst carrying his work out. He had difficulty hearing the television and had to have the volume increased and with the volume up so high he could not hear what his wife was saying to him during conversations around the house. David also struggled in social environments where there was a lot of background noise.
Assessment result:
Mr Smith’s audiogram shows a normal-moderate sloping sensorineural hearing loss bilaterally. This type of hearing loss is typically associated with difficulty in complex listening environments in which there are competing background noises. Softly spoken speakers and conversations over a distance will be difficult for a person with this hearing loss, especially if they are unable to see the speakers face. It is often the case that people with this kind of hearing loss start to avoid complex listening environments which in time can lead to social isolation and a decreased quality of life. The preferred volume of the television or radio for a person with this type of loss is too loud for normal hearing individuals.
Outcome:
Mr Smith was refereed to Leanne Jones at Hear 1st who recommended a pair of Phonak Paradise 90 rechargeable hearing aids. The reason for this recommendation is this system will provide Mr Smith with a clear and rich sound in many different listening environments. Wearing this system will enable him to hear soft speech more clearly due to the Speech Enhancer technology and he will also hear much better in background noise due to the noise reduction technology in the 90 model. Using his mobile phone he can then personalise the settings to his preference in different environments. The Autosense feature will constantly analyse and automatically adapt to different listening situations, therefore providing the best possible outcome in many different environments. This will enable Mr Smith to enjoy the TV once again and reduce his frustration with this situation. The Bluetooth connectivity will enable him to connect the aids to his mobile phone so that he can hear more clearly on the phone without distracting background noises
David was fitted in 2020 and will continue to receive the UK Veterans Hearing Foundation support along with Hear 1st support going forward. We wish him all the best with hearing well again!
