My DH has had hearing aids for several years and wear them regularly----put them in first thing in am and take them out at bedtime. Lately I've looked over at him and noticed that he hasn't got them in . . . or I find them in bathroom drawer or on bedroom dresser etc. Any suggestions on how to get him back in the habit of wearing them regularly? He isn't taking too kindly to reminders from me. I'm wondering if the hearing aids need an adjustment and/or his hearing needs retesting (although that was checked not that long ago).
My wife also had a hearing aid, which she kept taking out. One day she looked like she was sucking on a piece of candy. It was the hearing aid, which she had bitten in half. At that point I decided I would not fight with her over the hearing aid, so just threw it away. She seems to hear OK if I talk loudly enough (not shouting)
Most of the oldies on this site know this story. We bought the best! hearing aids for my DH, the tiny ones that were almost invisable in his ear. Tiny little antenna.. one was blue on the inside, the other was red. My DH would take them out frequently and put his hearing aids on his end table next to his chair. One evening, I could only find ONE. I had it in my hand and as I looked around for the other one, I'd hear the ringing feedback as I approached him. Loud when I was close...quiet when I stepped away. I thought it was in his pocket. Nope. In his shirt? nope. in his chair?? Nope. Kept looking, patting him down, checking the cuffs of his trousers, everywhere. I KNEW it was on him somewhere, and at one point, when he was standing up next to his chair, I was listening up and down his body ..to hear where it was LOUDEST. I happened to glance up and it was up inside his NOSTRIL..So far up that we couldn't get it out. Eventually had to have help...and they were able to remove it with long clamps. ... That was the bad news. The good news was that there was only ONE other opening on his body where he might have inserted it, and I was very glad that he didn't put it down there.
We tried larger hearing aids after that, but eventually, his doctor told us, that it wouldn't really matter. He was in the Severe Stage and they were just one more aggravation to him... (and to me). So we put them away.
My DH has a hearing aid and glasses. They live in a dresser drawer. He seems to see and hear sufficiently without them. Actually he hears VERY well at times I wish he didn't.
Bama----the batteries did need replacing this week but that doesn't explain why he's not always wearing them last while. He can hear without them but misses a lot which doesn't help his communication with others. It's almost as if he's wanting to believe nothing is the matter with his hearing . . . It's just strange because he was so good about wearing them all the time until recently.
In his mind, nothing is the matter with him. If asked, he is "fine". We were at a specialist appt awhile ago and the dr began by asking questions. By the third one, he told the dr to ask me and explained that my memory was much better than his----his memory wasn't that great. So near the end of the appt, I asked about the cognitive changes we are observing. Immediately he told the dr there was nothing the matter with his memory----it was "fine". On the way out, the specialist told me he'd noticed the memory problems during the visit.
If anyone has suggestions on how to encourage DH to use hearing aids regularly again, I'd be very appreciative! It's enough to be trying to communicate with someone who doesn't recognize his changing cognitive problems-----combine it with hearing loss and communication gets a tad challenging.
My DW also says she cannot hear very well when someone talks to her but I have noticed that when it is just a noise even if it is faint she can hear that ok. I may be wrong but I think that most of her hearing issue is not with her ears but that her word recognition process in the brain is failing and she hears ok but does not recognize what is being said therefore doesn't hear very well.
Bruce, I think you are right. Even with hearing aids my DH is having problems understanding what I am saying. He doesn't seem to process what I am saying and he is hearing the words.
They do use lack of hearing as an excuse. AND they do reach a point where what you say takes a while to reach the brain so that an answer can form.
We went to the hearing doctor in Stage 5, and his hearing was good. Months later, he pretended he couldn't hear..sometimes but not all the time. If you talk in short sentences and don't use big words, and don't change topics, they will do better.
You are so right, Mary. I have learned this the hard way. Now, I try to talk to him in short sentences, and slow down my talking - I tend to talk fast most of the time. He doesn't process long sentences. Not his hearing, just his brain disconnect.