Overcoming hearing difficulties can be transformational - Emily Woodmansey
One of the first senses to go tends to be people’s eyesight. How many people do you know who buy glasses online, or from a supermarket, to avoid having to go to an optician?
Potentially wearing completely the wrong glasses, and worst case doing more damage to their eyesight by wearing them.
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Hide AdOur five senses are the most important things for us, it is how we see, hear, touch, smell and taste the world around us.


They enable us to enjoy the environment we are living in and make the most of our lives. With age, they do start to deteriorate, with eyesight and hearing the first to be impacted.
However, sensory impairment can happen at any time in someone’s life, but aging is a significant factor, as are infections, genetics and injury.
Remember the impact of Covid during the pandemic and the sudden loss of taste, people eating food they felt they no longer enjoyed.
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Hide AdSmell is ironically one of the first senses to be impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, massively impacting someone’s ability to live on their own. How can you smell food to ensure it hasn’t gone off, or even more seriously a gas leak. All five of our senses help us to live rewarding and fulfilling lives and as soon as we lose one, it has a significant impact.
Starting to lose your ability to hear directly impacts your communication with people both within your own home and the wider world. Communication is key to interacting with others and can have dire consequences if it breaks down. I am sure we have all had the grandparents who need to have the television on at deafening volumes to others. The meals out whereby you are trying to talk to someone and they appear oblivious to what you are saying.
Losing your hearing is a huge thing for someone to go through, but there is so much support out there and the social isolation it can cause, does not need to happen. Firstly, recognising and accepting your hearing is more challenging is stage one, and do not underestimate, it is a big hurdle to get over, be proud of yourself. Stage two is acknowledging this to friends and family and stage three is getting appropriate help.
Through accepting the challenge you are facing and speaking to others, they can show more consideration to what you are going through.
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Hide AdSpeaking directly to your face and not behind your back or where you are not aware that they are talking to you.
Choosing to meet in locations that are less noisy, or with better acoustics, so you can hear them. Taking you somewhere to get additional help.
This is where we step in with providing the right hearing aid to improve and restore their hearing. No longer do devices look like the 1970s cream monstrosities that most generations refused to wear and kept on the coffee table like an ornament or frequently lost and misplaced. Hearing aids are now discreet, they are so much more effective and they do transform lives.
Emily Woodmansey is the managing director of The Hearing Suite.
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