Mr Andrew Lanwith:
Mr Langwith served in the Army in the REME regiment for 38 years! During this time he was exposed to loud noise.
In 2019 Andrew turned to the Veterans Hearing Help for hearing support through the British Legion Hearing Fund, however Andrew was one of many who got turned down due to the funding ceasing. Since then the UK Veterans Hearing Foundation have been successful in supporting Mr Langwith, and he has now been taken through our pathway for hearing support.
The affects of his hearing loss:
Mr Langwith suffers with constant tinnitus which he finds distressing, he has trouble hearing high frequency sounds and has problems with background noise. Andrew cannot hear people from a distance and struggles with clarity of speech, especially in social situations. He also has problems whilst watching the television and often relies on subtitles.
Hearing Assessment:
The UK Veterans Hearing Foundation referred Andrew to Hear4U, here is where he was looked after by Mr Roger Stokes.
Mr Langwith’s audiogram shows a mild-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. This type of hearing loss is typically associated with difficulty in noisy environments due to the loss of sound across the high frequencies. Complex listening environments in which there are competing background noises or when hearing is required over a distance will be most difficult for an unaided sufferer of this kind of loss. 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 and conversation over the phone will be very difficult due to lack of visual cues.
Andrew has been fitted with Phonak hearing aids, this hearing system will provide Mr Langwith with a clear and rich sound. When wearing this system he will have access to speech sounds that he currently struggles to hear, providing better intelligibility in noise and less listening effort. This will enable Mr Langwith to participate in social activities without feeling anxious. As the hearing aids are rechargeable, he will not have to change batteries – which can be fiddly and inconvenient.
We wish Andrew all the best with hearing well again, and gaining back the quality of life he has been missing for so long.
The UK Veterans Hearing Foundation would like to show gratitude to the Veterans Foundation (Veterans Lottery) for exceptional funding that has allowed us to improve Andrew’s life.
Mr Langwith will now continue to receive the UK Veterans Hearing Foundation’s support as well as ongoing support from Hear4U.
