Hearing properly has brought back my confidence

Bridge- loving Hugh Palmer found that an appointment with Miracle- Ear did the trick when it came to dealing with his loss of hearing

When my wife and I moved a few years ago, we didn’t know anybody in the area. We quickly met locals through our bridge club. Bridge is the ideal game because it gets you away from the television and into the community to meet people and make friends. It is also good for the hard of hearing because it is so visual. Mentally, it keeps the brain going with all the rules, calculations and systems. There are so many things to think about and that’s why it’s so challenging. It’s unique in that respect.

I’ve been playing for a long time. My father taught me. Several years later, he said to me, “You’re not quite as daft as I thought you were,” which was quite a compliment coming from him.

My wife and I play duplicate bridge once a week, in our community. In duplicate bridge each table plays the same hand of cards in rotation, and it’s up to you and your partner to make the highest score. Bridge is one of the only card games where you are constantly conveying information to your partner and it can be fiercely competitive.

It’s also very social and in that respect my new Miracle-Ear hearing aids have been an enormous help, allowing me to enjoy the laughter and conversation at the table.

My other lifelong passion has been tennis and it was during an indoor tennis training session that I first noticed my hearing was not quite right. There were about 15 people in the class but I was the only one who had to go right up to the coach to hear his instructions. It was embarrassing and I had to rely on others in the group to interpret what he was saying for me.

In hindsight, I recognize that my hearing had been gradually deteriorating over the years. It was particularly noticeable during my monthly gettogethers with fellow ex-Round Table members at a local pub. They could be a noisy bunch and I often missed what was being said because of the background noise.

I went into a nearby sports store one day to buy some tennis balls. There was a Miracle-Ear shop a few doors along the road from the sports store. The major decision was for me to walk in through the door. My confidence in Miracle-Ear was strengthened when I learned that it had access to hearing aids from many manufacturers.

The Registered Hearing Instrument Specialist explained to me that the latest hearing aids were not only discreet, but give 360-degree hearing. Hearing loss creeps up slowly. Listening requires the brain to process all the dialects and frequencies, and for me, the consonants kept dropping out.

When Miracle-Ear did my first hearing test, I was asked if the problem was worse in one ear than the other. The follow-up visit revealed similar levels of deterioration in both ears. It’s important to explain your hearing problems to the hearing instrument specialist in exact detail and I was pleasantly surprised that what I heard through the earpiece could be improved through tiny adjustments to the device. Indeed, my current hearing aids have a nifty remote control that has various settings for blocking out background noise from human chatter and road sounds. My wife and I enjoy classical music, so listening to a live concert in full surround sound enhances the experience.

The service from Miracle-Ear was exceptional. It operates a customer-friendly, open-door policy, and the helpful staff often deals with problems on the spot.

These days, my wife jokes that she doesn’t talk to me until I’ve got my Miracle-Ear hearing aids switched on. Joking aside, though, the biggest change they have made is to my confidence.

I would recommend anybody to get their hearing tested. I don’t understand why more people don’t go.