One in four adults over the age of 50 experience a hearing problem and three in four over the age of 75. When this happens it is usually gradual and often we do not even realise we are missing sounds.

Being fitted for a hearing aid is confusing. How can you avoid some of it?

Even fully hearing people do not hear everything. What we don’t hear is filled in giving the impression we have heard everything. For the deaf the gaps are bigger and our brains have to fill in a lot more .

Social bluffing, especially in children, is not good because it can lull people (parents) into thinking you are understanding far more than you are. You miss vital information and miss out on wonderful conversation. It is in your best interests to break the social bluffing habit.

What is social bluffing? It simply means we make out we’ve heard. We sit in a group with a polite smile fixed on our face and smile. It’s the ‘I hope I’m smiling the right smile for this conversation’ smile.

You just buy a hearing aid and stick it in your ear and you can hear properly again – that’s right isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if it was that simple, but it’s not.

Using the telephone if your deaf was, in the past, difficult. But there are so many new technologies available that telephony is now available to almost everyone.

The Cochlear implant has come a long way since its invention, but has it yet returned normal hearing? According to Graeme Clark, the Australian inventor of this technology, the answer is NO. So as a user, where is it lacking?

When someone starts to go deaf, losing music is probably not their first concern. In fact, many will naturally stop listening to music until one day the recognise how much they have missed.

There’s no need to be afraid of taking a hearing test. You won’t be poked with needles or asked to strip off your clothes! A hearing test is simple, has no risks and causes no discomfort.