General Chat

My hearing has been getting worse over the years. I stopped being able to hear in my right ear about 4/5 years ago.

That was OK, my left ear was fine, I just had to turn my head a little. Then that started getting more difficult from early 2019. Towards the end of the year, I started asking around about hearing centres .............. they're all private over here, and the doctors don't give references, so it is a matter of asking friends etc where they went, what was it like, would they recommend that company, etc.

I'd got as much information as I could, went away for Christmas determined to make the decision and appointment when we got home.

Of course, I didn't do it immediately we got home, but just as I was deciding, covid-19 arrived

At first we were in lockdown, places started opening up as per provincial orders, but I'd decided to isolate and not go anywhere that I wasn't sure about their efficiency in safety precautions, especially when working around my head.

I did have a couple of appointments with my doctor last August to have my ears syringed ........... first time I'd ever had that done. Then other appointments during May because of muffling in my left ear.

I finally went to the Hearing Clinic on Thursday

I do need hearing aids, but seemingly the eardrums in both ears are not working as they should (not vibrating) and I need to go to a ENT guy first.

The left ear might be caused by infection.

The right ear drum might also be caused by that, but a strong possibility is that it was actually damaged when I was 4 and a V1 rocket landed two streets away. The bomb blast took out all the windows around, as well as destroying several houses and killing about 24/25 people.

I remember some things, including looking out next morning and seeing the street covered with broken glass ..... every house except ours had had their windows blown out by the shock wave which hits the house and then bounces back, anything not solid enough goes with it. (simplistic way of describing it, I know!!).

We didn't lose our windows because Dad had had to spend a couple of months down in London at the start of the war and his landlady had told him that when the siren went, he should go round the house and take the catch off all the windows. This meant the glass had a little room to move in the frame, just enough that it doesn't break.

The rocket was aimed at either Manchester or Liverpool, but fell a little short .............. on the western side of the Pennines!


I sometimes wondered if that shock wave had caused any damage, because the other thing I remember is screaming and grandma trying to soothe me. I have to say that I was never aware of any problem hearing until the last few years.


Now, I have to wait and see what it means for getting hearing aids.

I go to the family doctor a week on Monday, and she has to refer me to an ENT specialist for an appointment ..... who knows ho long that will take. After s/he has seen me and suggested whatever needs to be done, I can go back to the clinic and see about hearing aids.

The person I saw did say that if there is a long wait there are a few options they can suggest that will help me while I wait

I hope all goes well at the doctor's appointment and that the referral doesn't take too long.
There are so many good aids available now and you will be amazed at how much you didn't realise how much you couldn't hear.

My audiologist at an NHS hospital has been really helpful and patiently tried different ways to give me the best help available.

I hope you find someone equally helpful, patient and well informed.

Thank you, Gwyn.

Like Gwyn I can empathise with you Sylvia. You are lucky to have got this far without aids if your drums are affected. As Gwyn says you will certainly hear the difference when you get aids. I hope your appointment comes through quickly, nothing more frustrating than missing bits of conversations. A lot of the trouble I found before aids is that people don't speak clearly, they often 'gabble', they hold their hands over their mouth, they speak from behind a newspaper or a coffee mug. And, of course the worst culprits are face masks. And with the TV they speak too fast. Do you use sub titles? they are a great help.
I managed to get a badge I could pin on which says.... 'hard of hearing, please speak clearly'.

I bought my hearing aids privately as I wanted rechargeable ones which don’t have to have the batteries changed. I can also control them via my phone.
It was amazing driving home after I picked them up and hearing the rain pattering on the windscreen. I council hear the birds in the trees. You don’t realise how bad your hearing loss is because it is a gradual process

When I worked in the cosmetics factory they had quite a strict policy of nobody working past pension age.

One day a very old Lithuanian woman turned up to work which caused uproar as she was quite evidently well over pension age and she was deaf an mumbled to herself all the time she worked so nobody had much to do with her.

I sat on the line with her one day and, with the job being so dull it would make your tits drop off, I would even join in with the many conversations that went on about 'having it all taken away'. I got chatting to the lady.

She was actually 58 at the time and was deafened when they were walking across Germany . carrying all they owned because the Germans took their horse when they left Vilnius to avoid the Russians and a bomb went off beside them.

I'm not deaf yet but find some on tv are hard to hear. As Ann says some people speak very fast and not clearly. I often have trouble following Naga Munchetty on BBC Breakfast, yet her co presenter is easy to follow. I hope the specialist can throw some light on things for you Sylvia.

Thank you .

Yes, everyone mumbles or talks too fast.

OH and I have been having quite the struggle for the last couple of years, as he "forgets" (he says) that he has to come closer to me if I am to hear what he says. Of course, he also maintains that he enunciates every word :-(

I don't watch TV, or very very rarely do so. The last time was the US President's Inauguration back in January!

I also know that we always had the radio (and then the TV) louder when I was a child, because Dad worked in a very noisy environment (foreman in a brass foundry) and his hearing had been affected. But he had also been in the ARP during the war, because he was in restricted occupation and so at home. They went out with hard hat and gas mask, but no hearing protection.

Rollo .........

............... I know everything that you have posted, and much much more, but I consider it not relevant to the this thread. It was enough to say it landed close by and caused a shock wave.

I'm sure it is not necessary to say any more than that. I will if you like start another thread will all the gory details, and then you can give us your experiences in full.

Rollo ...............

go away!

I wonder how many people on here had never heard of a doodlebug and what it could do. Is everyone who has been deafened by something going to get a full explanation of whatever is was?

Rollo cannot complain if someone takes one of his threads off in another direction which he often does to other people. But then, I suppose we are all so stupid that we wouldn’t notice

Sylvia, I hope all goes well with your assessment :-)

Now look, you silly women.

If you cannot fully appreciate and be in awe of Rollo's manly ability to use Google and generate copious amounts of the substance that drops in profusion from the botty of the big boy bovine, then there is no place here for you!

Sharron .......... :-D :-D :-D :-D

I can direct Rollo, and anyone else who might be interested, to a much better site than Google for explanations ;-)

Mind you, we don't all have relations who have been involved in every possible incident that anyone could mention, and thus give "personal information".

Thank you, maggie

I got the impression that there are things that can be done to help me

To be fair Sylvia didn't say it was a private thread she just said it was more details about an irrelevant aspect of it all.....does it matter where the V1 was going just that it landed close enough it's almost certainly had some effect on her hearing.
I know from what my relatives have told me that if you heard the engine you were safe because it was already past you, never heard of any that landed engine running but then again who knows or cares.

More to the point glad to hear the mystery of the lack of hearing is being solved Sylvia, trouble is now you have no excuse if you didn't want to do something OH asked you to do.

Caroline .................

that's true

Drat!

Plus you also read my messages correctly, unlike some.

I know lots more, but as you so correctly noted, I only used what was relevant to this thread.

I could put another thread on this site, as there is nothing I would say that requires me to go onto a private site, but I really don't think too many people would be interested .........

if anyone is, then I will direct them to another site, one that deals not only with this rocket but also with the prisoner of war camp that was also in my home town. ;-)

It was interesting to me that Pocklington should have been mentioned. Interesting to me but totally irrelevant to this thread. The village adopted HMS Volage that Fred was serving aboard when he earned his Arctic Star. (You remember Fred, he was my relly!)

Could someone tell me which post actually queried the launch method of the V rockets. :-S

I have no idea.
But, it appears we needed to be 'educated', as we have been asked if we've 'Got it now?'
Do we have to write an essay on the subject?
If so, what spelling do we use, English, American, or the RTR 'speciality' spelling?