A mobile phone with 24-hour care support for £199, linked to an emergency response centre and a GPS with fencing that alerts the carer if you stray. Are the fences electrified?!  No way would Grandma put up with that!

 

Or you have freedom with the Geemarc CL600 to put 6 numbers of your choice which will be rung in sequence. Neighbours, family and friends can come to your rescue if you call them, from a pendant or wristband. Cool huh? Also the amount is cooler at £119.00. Try it out for 30 days and if it does not make you feel great, return it in its product box, for a full refund.

 

1)      Do you have hearing issues? Do you have tinnitus?  They do not necessarily exist together. Tell your Doctor and ask for a referral to your local Tinnitus Clinic. In southern England they are often attached to hospital Audiology Departments*. The more people who ask for them, the more likely they are to start one in your area. Not forgetting the private clubs that exist, who have done a wonderful job for years in bringing tinnitus to medical attention. Sometimes the hospital will refer you to them.

 

2)      Find your local Sensory Loss Team, usually part of the County Council. They will assess you. Some D/deaf charities have funding to help you.

 

 

3)      DLA (Disability Living Allowance) on tinnitus? Yes but it is very specialist. If tinnitus does not bother you particularly, please leave the application for the more severely affected.   Be very quick. It is being phased out. DLA on hearing impairment can only be awarded if it is severe. If you have had hearing-aids for less than a year, you are unlikely to qualify. Contact us on  0800 6122 768 if you are in doubt.

 

4)      Do a diary for three months and see when your tinnitus flares up. Try and identify any patterns in your general health or work. The diary is useful evidence for a DLA application. Actually you just need to do one. It is very hard to get evidence of tinnitus episodes and hearing loss and you want to give yourself the best chance of award.

 

5)       Read a book by four Professors, Andersson, Baguley, McKenna and McFerran called ‘Tinnitus, A Multidisciplinary Approach’, recommended for all hearing-aid audiologists and the curious hard-of-hearing person ;). If you are lucky you might hear Professor McKenna at an audiology conference or a charity event (Action on Hearing Loss) where he tries to spread the word. He has been trying to roll out tinnitus and suddenly people are taking notice. Better late than never!

 

6)      Pills – vitamin pills include a normal dosage of B6 for nerves. T-gone.com is an American website where the owner has had tinnitus for many years. This is not a recommendation as it is entirely your decision. 

 

7)      Hearing Market has a Tinnitus Circle. You are welcome to join us. Please email tom@hearingmarket.co.uk with TC in the subject line. Or join Hearing Tips which has some tinnitus awareness tips.

 

*There are Tinnitus Clinics over most of southern England due to the efforts of a now defunct social enterprise called SensoryDirect.

 

This blog is in response to calls from customers about tinnitus this week. 

 

'(Product name)  … makes conversation in noisy places louder and clearer.'

 

 

 

 

 

Open-plan living is a “no thanks, that’s for other people” idea, put about by the timber trade.

 

Echoes of music and feet will hammer into your head all day long. Just when background noise is getting to you, bang and clatter, someone is setting your dining table. 

 

Long live carpets!   Also for sound absorption!  I begged a young man, intent on opening up his parents’ new house, not to put in wooden flooring as well. He recoiled in horror as his house is a byword for laminate floors. It is what he did, as it is fashionable. His mother wears hearing-aids.

 

Hard-of-hearing people will know that she is living in a kind of hell.  Unfortunately there is zero chance of saving her.  Save yourself.

 

Carpet rules and no, I’m not related to a carpet manufacturer.