The difference is so subtle, you don’t put them on and suddenly find everything is amplified, but my eldest daughter says my hearing improved massively." They’re Bluetooth and connect to my phone so I can listen to music and calls, although I will say the music isn’t as good as it was through headphones. "They can adapt them remotely, you can swim in them, put your head underwater, even wash your hair as long as you’re careful not to knock them off. "The technology is like something from NASA, so rock and roll, it blew me away. "There are loads of amazing brands out there, mine are by Phonak and worn over the ear – they’re so comfortable. Her hearing aids arrived quickly and she describes them as "transformative". "My children screaming at me hasn’t helped either…" Susannah Constantine with Elton John (Image: Getty Images) I think being so up close to the speakers must have had an impact. When I write, one of the things I do is listen to music very loudly, on full volume."įriends with musicians including Elton John and Scissor Sister frontman Jake Shears and a big fan of live music, Susannah says: "I’ve been very lucky – I’ve even been on tour with Scissor Sisters. "I’ve listened to music on headphones for decades. The test found years of wear and tear had left Susannah in need of a hearing aid. "I thought, ‘I’ve nailed that – I’m not deaf ’, but of course there were pitches that I hadn’t heard." Initially, Susannah believed the test had gone well. Sophy filled everything in on the computer and it all got worked out." You sit in a soundproof booth – like getting your passport picture done – with headphones on and listen to a beep, pressing a button when you can hear it, and there are different pitches. "The girl who did my test, Sophy, was so lovely. Instead, Susannah booked a hearing test at Boots. "There can be a huge stigma around wearing hearing aids, I felt like I might as well go to the funeral director and order my coffin, it made me feel so old." "For me, it’s always been one of the greatest physical signs of ageing, like wrinkles and dentures. There are lots of young kids who have hearing disorders, which is obviously completely different. "I won’t lie, I did feel ashamed in a way. Susannah, who lives in Handcross in West Sussex with her husband Sten Bertelsen, admits she’d always dreaded needing help for age-related hearing loss. I’d become an amateur lip reader, but if I couldn’t see someone’s face, I had no idea what they were saying. I wasn’t able to hear the person sitting next to me. Social situations were beginning to become a struggle for her due to her hearing. Well, that coupled with my children calling me deaf and getting really frustrated with me." "It was a cacophony of noise without the clarity and differentiation. I was sitting in a big barrel of water doing my cold water immersion, listening to the birds, thinking, ‘There’s a mistle thrush and there’s a… why aren’t I hearing it?’ "I live in the countryside, birdsong is something I’ve always loved and found very comforting. Read More: Five disgraced Yorkshire teachers who embarrassed the profession and ended up in court "The penny didn’t really drop until spring," says the 60-year-old. However, she now thinks the problem may have gone on for a year and a half, reports The Mirror. Star of BBC's What Not to Wear, Susannah began to notice a change in her hearing earlier this year. TV presenter Susannah Constantine has opened up about how an "embarrassing" diagnosis has helped change her life.
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