Retired Manchester man gets relief from tinnitus with hearing aid
15 April 2009
Stan Inglis of Gorton in Manchester is now enjoying a happy retirement, travelling and doing the things he’s always wanted to do. Nonetheless, he does suffer with tinnitus and has been living with it for most of his life.
His mother had suggested to him that he may have suffered even as a small baby.
Stan recalls: “My mother said I was a real cry baby and seemed to be able to do nothing to comfort me. One day she unwittingly realised that the constant noise of the radio seemed to put me out of my misery and send me off to sleep, so that is how she dealt with her little cry baby.”
It wasn’t until Stan was in his forties, in conversation with his wife that he realised what he heard in his ears was very different to what his wife was hearing. Stan said: “I am not sure how the conversation cropped up, but I was talking about the noises I experienced all the time, the background noise and the bells and ringing sounds. It was clear that my wife’s experiences were nothing like my own and it was then I realised that I was a tinnitus sufferer.”
Since Stan had coped with tinnitus all his life, nothing really changed until the point he was experiencing stress at work and Stan felt he needed some help. Stan went to see his GP who referred him straight to an ENT specialist. It was here that he was talked through relaxation and breathing exercises. Stan suggests that this wasn’t very effective for him and he felt that what he needed was something to take the noise in his ears away.
Stan was eventually given a hearing aid and this seems to have helped enormously. Stan said: “The hearing aid seems to be one of the best forms of treatment for me and enables me to control the noises in my ears by shifting the noise. I also find comfort in a walkman, and play music and rainfall and ocean type noises.“
Stan concludes: “There is no doubt that being retired has really helped me. It’s not just about the inevitable stress that work sometimes brings, but when you are having a bad night and can’t sleep you become stressed about the fact that you have to get up for work in the morning and you wonder how you are going to cope throughout the day. Whereas now I can just deal with the tinnitus if it is bad, and I know I can have a snooze in the day if I’m tired.”
Stan recently cancelled his regular appointment with the ENT specialist because he’s coping fairly well at the moment.
Deafness Research UK is the country's only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments and technologies for the deaf, hard of hearing and other hearing impaired people including tinnitus sufferers.
For information on research into deafness and other hearing conditions, log on to the website, www.deafnessresearch.org.uk.
Notes for editors
About Deafness Research UK
- Deafness Research UK is the country’s only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments and technologies for deaf, hard of hearing and other hearing impaired people.
- The charity supports high quality medical research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of hearing impairment including tinnitus.
- The Deafness Research UK Information Service provides free information and advice based on the latest scientific evidence and informed by leading experts. The Information Service can be contacted on Freephone 0808 808 2222
- For more information on research into deafness, tinnitus and other hearing conditions, log on to the website at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk where you can access a wide range of information. Alternatively you can e-mail Deafness Research UK at
- One in seven people in the UK – almost nine million people - suffer hearing loss.
- Deafness Research UK was founded in 1985 by Lord (Jack) and Lady Ashley of Stoke.
- In January 2008, Action for Tinnitus Research (ATR) was linked with Deafness Research UK under a uniting direction order under Section 96 (6) of the Charities Act 1993.
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Ref: DRUK0110 – Stan Inglis tinnitus experience
