Living with hearing loss
By Natalie Slater
February 11, 2009
Health reporter Natalie Salter had her ears filled with putty in a bid to discover what it is like living with a hearing impairment.
Here she tells us the difficulties she faced and how she coped without her full ability to hear on the streets of Reading
Losing any one of our senses is something none of us likes to think about.
Millions suffer in silence
As I have never had a problem with my hearing it was a daunting prospect to experience losing half of my ability in this area.
To make my experience as real as possible my ears were filled with putty to simulate what it is like to live with a hearing impairment.
Almost immediately the bloodstream around my head became very loud and I could no longer hear the buses outside in Friar Street.
When I spoke it felt as if I was shouting and I found myself speaking very quietly because I was so conscious of this, and I did not want to embarrass myself by speaking above a normal level.
As I walked through the town to the Post Office, I felt as if my footsteps were shaking in my head, the noise was so loud but I could hear very little else.
General chit-chat was awkward as I felt like I was shouting and didn’t want to break what I perceived to be silence in the Post Office.
And while I could hear the loud recorded voice telling me which counter to go to, unless I was looking directly at the face of the cashier, it was difficult to hear what they were saying.
Back at the office I realized how difficult it is for people with a
hearing impairment to cope with a desk job.
Speaking on the telephone was almost impossible and I ended up just saying yes and no when I was not sure what the question was.
At the end of the morning, I was delighted to take the putty out of my ears and regain my full hearing.
It left me with a new-found respect for people who cope with severe deafness and hearing impairments.
Yes, for many of us we feel like we would like to take the putty out of our ears and be restored to normal hearing.
