Richard Bizley, 51, from Lyme Regis, said his life has been changed by the implant, which has enabled him to hear everyday sounds like birds singing and people talking.

Artist Mr Bizley is feeling more confident and happy since having the implant earlier this year, and is able to cope better with running his own art gallery, BizleyArt.

He said: “It’s life changing. Because of the extraordinary skill of the surgeon and the dedicated staff and the marvels of technology, I feel so much happier, more confident in meeting people, friends and family.

“It is a very exciting time for me after being so profoundly deaf for 51 years.

“My implant means I am able to cope more in my job as a gallery owner, dealing with the public and therefore it helps me keep my job.”

The father-of-three, who has worn hearing aids since the age of two, was taught to speak when growing up and communicates by lip reading.

“The sounds that I could hear with hearing aids were very limited and distorted or non-existent,” said Mr Bizley. “I have never been able to hear the high frequencies essential for speech and some other frequencies.”

He said lip reading is not enough for the ‘outside’ world, but it has enabled him to communicate in the home with wife Ruth, and their children Laura, 19, Katie, 17, and Michael, 13.

Mr Bizley developed Meniere’s Disease five years ago, a disease of the inner ear, which distorted and further removed what little hearing he had left.

After being struck again with the disease recently, it was suggested by one of Mr Bizley’s friends that he looked into getting a cochlear implant.

Having assumed he was not suitable for an implant, he was told after extensive tests that it was possible.
“I was astounded,” said Mr Bizley. “I did not have to think twice about going ahead, I knew it was the right thing to do.

“I didn’t realise what a noisy world we live in,” he said. “I’m not used to it because I’ve always lived in silence.”

He has been told it will take a long time to learn the essential sounds of speech and that he will never hear 100 per cent. “But the main thing is that already I am hearing a lot more than I have ever done,” he said.

“It is a marvellous, exciting experience. It is hard for people to appreciate what they have regarding hearing, without it you lack the constant access to information which people take for granted, and of course there is music. I hope one day to enjoy music, but it is early days yet, and the cochlear implant centre is currently doing more research on this.”

Mr Bizley is urging other people who wear hearing aids to check if they are eligible for an implant. “I shudder to think how easy it would have been for me not to have the implant simply due to ignorance,” he said.

He added: “Remember when talking to deaf people, do not shout. Speak a little more slowly and clearly, be sure that the person is looking at you before you speak.”

Source: Bridport News.

Semhar was born profoundly deaf, but she never allowed this to hold her back.

Now, however, the old spark has been reignited — thanks to a cochlear implant last ­November. At 27 years old, Semhar now enjoy sounds and voices she has never heard before.

Prior to this, the quietest sound she could hear was 98 decibels (the level of noise made by a lawnmower), whereas the normal hearing range is 0-20 decibels. ­Hearing aids helped to amplify the sounds, but hearing conversations was impossible.

‘For the first time, I’m able to hear my voice,’ she says. ‘And I can hear the way my parents’ names are ­pronounced — up until I had the implant I had never heard them ­spoken. All these things make a huge difference. It’s a ­surprisingly ­emotional experience. ’

For Semhar, the process of having the implant ­fitted was the culmination of a lifetime’s consideration. Despite being born deaf, she never regarded herself as disabled.

She grew up using lip ­reading and hearing aids rather than sign ­language and attended a mainstream primary school, where she was marked out as a high-achiever.

‘I didn’t even think of myself as deaf. I thought I spoke exactly the same as all the other children although it clearly sounded ­different to hearing people.’ she says.

Then, at secondary school age I moved to a deaf boarding school and everything changed. I was shocked because everyone was signing, which I didn’t understand — initially I felt like it was some kind of freak school. Looking back, I guess I was prejudiced about deafness myself.’

But the environment led to her making many deaf friends and so, despite several offers of a cochlear implant in her teens and early 20s, she saw no need to seek to improve her hearing.

Indeed, she went on to achieve a great deal. She appeared in ­Channel 4’s show Vee-TV made for and by deaf people; helped ­organise a dance troupe and appeared on stage. She also reached the ­latter stages of selection for the BBC TV show Britain’s Missing Top Model, in which eight young women with disabilities competed for a ­modelling contract.

When offered a place, however, she turned it down. ‘I didn’t like the way they were make a big deal of my disability,’ she says. ‘They were choosing people with the most severe disabilities and my view was they were trying to exploit these girls, so I pulled out.’

Read the full story at the Daily Mail.

• Offer free deaf and interpreting awareness training to 250 organisations - vital community services that help people such as the elderly, those with mental health issues and HIV and AIDs patients
• Offer free British Sign Language level 1 courses for people from disadvantaged backgrounds to help breakdown down basic linguistic barriers
• Offer 'train the trainer' opportunities for five deaf people who want to become future trainers
• Fund production of modern educational video clips linked deaf and interpreting awareness
• Fund rolling video recorded feedback in the form of Vox Pops with both deaf and interpreting communities

Ian Hodgetts is a director of CommunityID and is a Member of the Register of BSL/English Interpreters (MRSLI).
He, along with co-director Colette Hogan, has devised the project and is passionate about trying to conquer what he sees as 'linguistic barriers'.

"Deaf people don't see themselves as having a disability - they are merely a linguistic minority. It's a language barrier more than anything," he says.

It is estimated that there are 75,000 deaf people in the UK using sign language and yet there are just 600 registered interpreters.

Ian says there is only one primary school that caters for deaf children in London - the Frank Barnes School for Deaf children - as more youngsters are forced into mainstream education...

Read more at the BBC.

Researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, showed that exposure to loud noise led to hearing loss which was permanent if left untreated. If treated with a compound called 'ADAC' after noise damage, hearing recovered substantially.

Dr Srdjan Vlajkovic, who led the study, said: 'To our knowledge, this study presents the most effe! ctive pharmacological strategy to date for reducing noise-induced hearing loss after exposure to damaging noise. We now hope to test its effectiveness in humans and are currently seeking industry partners to move this to clinical trials.'

Currently, protecting your hearing from loud noise by using ear plugs or defenders is the most effective way of preventing noise-induced hearing loss. In some situations, such as in the military, protection is currently very difficult and a drug to treat noise-induced hearing loss could save the hearing of many people.

Dr Sohaila Rastan, Chief Scientific Advisor of RNID who funded the study said: 'This is a very promising discovery. At the moment, there are only very basic ways to protect your hearing and once the damage is done, it is irreparable. This research could mean that, in future, people who are exposed to loud noise and risk damage could be administered a drug to stop the hearing loss becoming permanent.'

Between 2005 and 2006, one in five teens suffered some form of hearing problem. This is 30 per cent more than in a study carried out between 1988 and 1994, researchers told the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Excessive levels of loud music heard through headphones are partly blamed, along with other sources of loud amplified music.

The study, carried out at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, looked at two databases to see if there was any change in hearing loss over the past 20 years. Around 15 per cent of 12- to 19-year-olds reported some degree of hearing loss between 1988 and 1994. This rose to 19.5 per cent by 2005/6.

The majority of problems were described as ‘slight’ but the number of cases of mild or worse hearing loss was 77 per cent higher in the later survey.

Girls were less likely to be affected, while those below the poverty line were at higher risk.

The report said: ‘Adolescent hearing loss, although common, is not well understood and can have important educational and social implications. Some risk factors, such as loud sound exposure from listing to music, may be of particular importance to adolescents.’

The European Commission has warned that up to 10 per cent of 30-year-olds may have to wear a hearing device within a decade because they listen to music too loudly through headphones.

Surveys show more than 90 per cent of young people in Europe and the U.S. use MP3 players, including iPods, often for several hours a day at maximum volume.

Hearing experts recommend the 60/60 rule – listening for no more than 60 minutes at a time and at 60 per cent of maximum volume.

The RNID found that 66 per cent of MP3 users listen to music at a volume louder than the EU’s.

A major research project is about to start on the subject of text relay services. The review will consider how people who are deaf or partially deaf with or without speech, currently use communications services and what they need to be able to communicate effectively with other people.

They are looking for the following people to help with this research:

• People who have used text relay services
• Non-users of text relay services who are deaf, partially deaf with or without speech or friends/family/work with people who are deaf or partially deaf
• People who have used other types of relay services

There are a number of different ways that you can take part in the research. These include:

• Face-to-face interviews or small group discussion with communications support as required
• Extended online discussion
• Short online questionnaire
• Pen and paper questionnaire that you can send back in a pre-paid envelope
• For a limited number only, a questionnaire by text relay

People who take part in the face-to-face or extended online discussions will receive a payment of £35 as the interviews will take up to one and a half hours.

There is limited space, but all applicants will be contacted by return email in the next few days. If you are interested in taking part, please visit the registration page at: www.oltextrelay.com.

Alternatively, you may make contact at the following Freepost address:

Jessica Irwin-Brown
Opinion Leader Relay Services Research Team
FREEPOST RSAB-RHBG-YKSZ
United Kingdom

There are full details of the research on the registration web page, but if you need any more information, please email relayservices@opinionleader.co.uk with your name, telephone number and postal address and we will contact you directly.

Holly’s success is the latest example of the charity’s commitment to the investment and development of its staff.

Having completed the compulsory part of a postgraduate MA course, which will see Holly graduate from the University of Leeds this December, Holly has now achieved the official standard to become an MRSLI, which is the highest industry status for British sign language interpreters.

Holly, 25, said: “It’s been hard work and there is some way to go before I obtain my full masters degree, but I’m very proud of my achievement so far. I feel privileged to have achieved the registration category MRSLI and I’m really enjoying putting my skills to good use and interacting with people to aid their communication.

“Our job is about assisting in the communication between Deaf and hearing people to ensure equality and empower Deaf people to facilitate their own lives as anyone else would be able to.”

Rob Young, chief executive of coHearentVision, said: “This is a great achievement for Holly and is another great example of our investment and commitment of time and support to improve the quality of BSL Interpreter provision to the community that we serve.

“We face a lot of difficulties with raising vital funds to ensure that we can continue to provide these important services to the region. With the help of donations from businesses and individuals, we are able to provide essential resources for our customers and train our staff to the highest levels to deliver a first class service.”

To donate or find out more about coHearentVision, visit www.cohearentvision.org.uk or call 0113 243 8328.

The action superstar still carries the injury and admits he hates having to make people repeat themselves.

It won't make you popular with the neighbours, but if you are hard of hearing and do not always hear your mobile ring, it could be the phone for you.

With a ring tone that can reach 100 decibels, the same as a pneumatic drill, you shouldn't miss it going off - and nor will anyone in your street.

The earpiece can be set to an even higher volume - 110dB, the equivalent of a South African vuvuzela horn being blown at full blast beside your head.

While it is compatible with hearing aids, product manager David Youngs, who has hearing difficulties himself, says many people like to be able to make calls without wearing theirs. 'I can make a call and even if I haven't got my hearing aid on I can just push the volume up and hear the conversation perfectly,' he said.

'The ring tone is also extremely loud - put it this way, if it went off in a restaurant on the highest setting, you'd probably get thrown out!'

The phone was designed for those with hearing difficulties, but the simple, uncluttered design is expected to prove popular with anyone who feels the range of often unnecessary functions on modern phones is just too much.

'To those who want simplicity, talk of megapixel cameras, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and music files is extremely off-putting,' added Mr Youngs.

Tinnitus is most commonly referred to as ‘ringing in the ears’ and can be defined as the conscious experience of noise with no apparent external source. Experiences of tinnitus are very common across all age groups (especially following exposure to loud noise), however, it is unusual for it to be a major problem.

The precise cause of tinnitus is still not fully understood. It is a symptom generated within a person’s own auditory pathways, but tinnitus itself is not a disease or an illness.

If you think you have tinnitus or experience prolonged or constant tinnitus your first point of call should be to visit your GP. Tinnitus is rarely an indication of a serious disorder, but it is wise to see your doctor if you think you might have it. Should something treatable be causing it, you might be referred to a specialist.

Tinnitus can be an involved and individual issue to manage and no ‘magic wand’ treatment exists. There are however many treatment options available to help you understand your tinnitus better and provide relief. Your GP or hearing healthcare professional may discuss one of the following:

• Lifestyle changes: tinnitus triggered or aggravated by stress, could be managed by seeking further support to deal with the cause of the stress. Changes in diet and exercise routines may also be recommended by your GP.

• Hearing aids: those with hearing impairment may find that wearing a hearing aid can help mask their tinnitus via additional amplification.

• Sound therapy: deliberate use of sound to reduce the perception or awareness of tinnitus or alleviate the distress associated with it can be classed as sound therapy. Some people feel it brings about actual changes in sensitivity in the hearing parts of the brain while others think it acts as a psychological distraction or an aid to relaxation. What is clear is that most people with tinnitus use it in some form or other. Sound therapy can be used as a self-help technique or as a component of a broader tinnitus management programme at a hospital or clinic. Sound therapy is one of the easiest things you can do for yourself if you don’t need professional help or are unable to access it. There are a broad range of devices available on the market geared at providing background noise geared to reduce the perception of tinnitus. These can include:

• White noise generators worn in or on the ear itself
• Sound generator devices producing sounds such as rain or sea surf or even white noise
• Pillow speakers or sound pillows connected to sound generators or an existing sound system

A counselling or therapy programme from a suitably trained professional will help provide understanding about tinnitus and help exploring individual coping mechanisms.

Overall, most treatment plans agree that ‘habituating’ to the tinnitus should be the ultimate goal. By ‘habituating’, it is meant that one will learn to accept and cope with their tinnitus, giving it less importance and lower priority, allowing more freedom to focus on other matters in one’s life.

The British Tinnitus Association is a useful resource for further information about tinnitus itself, as well as possible support groups in your area.

Article by Joan McKechnie, BSc Hons, Audiology & Speech Pathology. Joan works for HearingDirect.com.

Read part one here.

Part two

We were helped by Elle’s TOD who said that Elle would benefit from a school with a support unit, so we looked around where we lived, but there was nothing about.

A nearby town had two schools with units for deaf children. One used the natural oral method, and the other, total communication.

We now had several options to consider – mainstream with support coming in or mainstream with support built in.

After talking over what we should do for what seemed like forever, we enlisted the help of Elle’s TOD to make things clearer and pinpoint what hours Elle would roughly get in each setting.

Elle attended the local nursery with her SSP and thoroughly enjoyed her time there. Staff commented on how happy she was and such a well liked little girl in the group. Staff would often say that everybody wants to be Elle’s friend. How lovely as a parent this was to hear after my first feeling when I found out she was deaf.

Elle would regularly have friends over for tea and to play and was invited to other children’s houses to play, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

We had some firm fears about the school Elle would be attending but everyone had reassured us this would not be a problem and would not affect Elle’s development.

The problem being that many of the children in the school did not have English as their first language. We were assured that when Elle started this would not affect her. As the other children’s language levels were low, we were told that this would help Elle settle in more.

September 2006 Big school

Elle started school full of beans about being a big girl. It wouldn’t be as scary for Elle starting a new school as she had her SSP who had been with her at her previous placement. For us as her parents it was nice to know that she had this support there for her if she felt sad.

At our next statement review it was mentioned that Elle should lose the support from her SSP as the school were not happy with the use of some signing. Elle only really used sign in new and different situations to boost her understanding and reinforce things that she was unfamiliar with. From time to time we still had to revisit the sign if she hadn’t used the language or word very much.

A bit hesitant to do this, we decided that we would phase out the SSP slowly at the start of year one.
In the first year the SSP would support Elle for speech and language therapy session and on a part-time only basis in class.

We were worried how this would affect Elle’s learning and development but were reassured that this would not be a problem and would only make her more independent.

Elles progress towards the end of year one was slow but it was put down to the fact that Elle had had a lot of change with the SCW becoming more removed.

In May 2007, Elle was diagnosed with Epilepsy. She had had a few fits at school and home and was put on a low dose of medication to help control them.

We had a review meeting at school about Elle’s progress and the new diagnosis and raised a few of our concerns regarding her support in class and out. The school reassured us she was doing well and there was no cause for concern.

We had an appointment at Oxford for a check up and asked them if we should be worried at all.
They were very concerned with Elle’s language levels and said that she had not moved from their charts that they’d been plotting her on.

We went back to school with our concerns and they reassured us things were ok and she was making progress in all the right places. They still put it down to the fact that Elle had been dealing with a lot of change with phasing the SSP out, and now having a new health problem may not be helping.

Slightly reassured but a little confused by mixed messages, we gave it a few more months to see how Elle would progress. We then had the summer holidays and Elle would soon be starting year two.

Elle started the second year with the same teacher as before, so settling in wouldn’t be a problem.

A few weeks had passed and we were still getting concerns from Oxford about Elle’s lack of progress. They had made some observations of Elle at our hospital appointments and concluded that her language/understanding matched that of a 3 1/2 year old. Elle had not long celebrated her seventh birthday. We were very concerned about this, and again spoke to the school who again said that things were fine.

In October we had a parent’s eve to see how the first term was after starting year two. We mentioned again that we were really worried about Elle’s progress. Yet again we were reassured but Elle hadn’t appeared to have made much progress since reception.

I had had a conversation with the local speech therapist via email and spoke about my concerns and she said she was worried about Elle too.

We decided we needed to take action ourselves. If everyone is doing what they are meant to then why is Elle still not progressing as she should be? There must be something else that is going on that no one has picked up on.

We asked Oxford’s advice and they suggested we go back to using some sign and the use of pictures to reinforce and rebuild Elle’s confidence. We mentioned that there could be other problems like a learning difficulty. They said it could be possible as deaf children are more likely to have other problems than just the deafness.
A few more weeks passed and we became aware that things were not ok with Elle. She’d been drawing some quite distressing pictures. There were pictures of head stones with her name on and others of her scribbled out. When asked about the pictures Elle would reply “Elle dead, everyone be sad” or “Elle gone”.

Not quite sure how to handle it, I tried to find out what was wrong and why she wanted to be gone. I found it quite hard trying to ask her questions, unsure if she knew what I meant and trying not to lead her in anyway while asking. So I used the same method back with her drawing pictures. I drew all the family – Mummy, Daddy, Hollie and Elle. We used smiley faces – happy, sad and angry. She would hold up the face that described how she felt about different pictures. Home was happy but little sis Hollie would get an angry face as ‘Hollie whinges and is naughty’, Elle replied. I said that’s what little sisters do and commented on how I used to wind my sister up as I was the youngest out of the two of us and that Nanny cat would tell Auntie Lisa off and then I would stand there laughing until one day Nanny Cat caught me laughing and then I got a right telling off. Elle thought this was a funny story.

Elle then drew me another picture of two children with her beside them and again scribbled herself out. This time she showed me the sad face. I asked her why and she replied ‘Elle no friends.’ My heart sunk. I said ‘you have friends, silly’ and named a few. She corrected me and said Elle friends and named the teachers at school. I asked her about the picture with her two friends and she said the boys said go away and that she ran to the toilet crying.

Slightly concerned about what Elle had drawn and discussed with me I went straight into school the next morning to see if they were aware that she was sad.

Quite distraught by all of this myself and quite tearful, I had a conversation with Elle’s TOD at school. They said that they would monitor the situation. They seemed to have no cause for concern. The incident that happened at lunchtime with the boys they were aware of but thought she was ok.

The next few weeks passed and Elle became more and more unsettled. It seemed like we were in school every day having a chat about our concerns.

At this point we were now doubting our own thoughts and thinking we were making a mountain out of a mole hill as no one else seemed worried.

After the parents evening I decided to stop Elle’s medication. Elle had been well for a few months and I thought I would make my own observations to see if it was the meds interfering. By this point, school kept bringing up the fact that her lack of progress may be due to the meds. (Don’t anyone else do this without medical supervision!)

I spoke to another mum who I’d met at the cochlear implant celebration day and she said I should speak to CICS.

Several hours later after phoning Tricia, telling her about all our worries, it seemed we were not alone. She mentioned about Elle being assessed by The Ear Foundation/Burrwood centre or Mary Hare. I said we were in the process of being assessed by Oxford and didn’t want to confuse the situation by adding another centre.

I also worried that a residential school after what she was drawing would tip her over the edge. However, I took the number of the school and looked them up on the net.

January ‘08

Elle had her statement review and I mentioned that I wanted Elle to be assessed at Oxford. The local speech therapist and us all thought that Elle’s language levels were very low. Again, school were still adamant that we were making a big fuss over nothing. We decided to allow the neurological assessment to go ahead and make another date to follow up the review.

Elle was seen by the neurologist and it was said that Elle didn’t have any other underlying learning problems. They also stated that she had an above average IQ level for a deaf child which was nice to hear. So what was wrong then...........!

Elle was also reassessed at school educationally and socially. We also decided to take some advice from NDCS and CICS and have our own independent assessment done on her too. We called Mary Hare and asked if it would be possible for us to go and look around and if they could assess Elle. They agreed and we booked Elle in for a three day stay at the school. She had already had her bags packed a week before we were even going. Someone was a little excited!

They assessed Elle and told us what they thought her strengths/ weaknesses were and where she would benefit from support. Elle seemed to enjoy her time there, but was glad to come home. We now had a different view on Mary Hare and came away thinking this might be the one, certainly the set up there was fantastic.

We went back to school for the review and sat down to work out what the best plan for Elle would be. We now had all the assessments back and it was clear that Elle needed more support all round and that socially a lot of care needed to be given to help boost her confidence which would in turn help with the learning. Hallelujah!

We were told that they thought our daughter was not suffering from Epilepsy, but she was depressed and her body was just shutting down. She couldn’t cope with the friendship element, plus day-to-day life for Elle was difficult as she had to work hard every day to understand what was going on and to keep up with it.

Luckily for us and I would recommend to anyone, we had our family NDCS officer present for every meeting at school and home for advice. She also turned out to be our fairy god mother because without her none of this would have been possible. She sat and gave us lots of advice and took valuable notes throughout the annual review and at other meetings. She was also a valuable support on the phone and via email.

After a few rather heated meetings, we decided the best thing for Elle was not to stay at her current school and made what seemed like the biggest decision of Elle’s life and ours as a family. We chose to send Elle to Mary Hare and would be boarding Monday to Friday.

We had the best summer with her and prepared her for her new journey ahead. She was so excited about going and had packed all the things she wanted to take with her. Elle started school on 2nd September ‘09. She went in happy as Larry with no worries. She was all smiles and was bouncing around the school with excitement. We, on the other hand, drove home very sad and tearful as we would not see her until the Friday when it was home time.

Elle in her bed that is all decorated like a circus room. Elle fell in love with the lion’s bed as soon as she saw it. It’s been her bed ever since.

Elle came home after a short week full of beans and said the magic words ‘Mummy I have friends, I’m happy’.

Overjoyed to hear this, it would make the following week easier as Elle would be celebrating her eighth birthday and it would be the first one we wouldn’t share with her. The school were fantastic and threw Elle a party and made her birthday special. I don’t think Elle even missed us. We felt it more than she did!

To date it was the best thing we have ever done for Elle and she has transformed into an independent, happy, confident little girl who loves life. Every Friday I collect her, Elle tells me ‘I’ve been happy for four days mummy’. Priceless!

We have recently gone away camping with friends and they’ve commented on how much Elle has changed and how chatty she is. We had a little accident where our friend tipped a glass of coke over Elle. Usually Elle would have burst into tears and not coped with the situation. Instead she sat quite calmly and said, ‘I’ll have a small coke next time’. The next day she joked with Tash and said ‘no throwing coke over me this evening, and tried tricking her by pretending to tip it over Tash.’

Elle would never take jokes before or be involved in them. She would take it as a direct hit at her.

Mary Hare have really worked on Elle’s confidence over the past eight months and it really shows. She will now ask if she can buy her own drink and sweets, etc. Elle even loves homework, although she needs a little help from us. Elle will always need to keep improving her language, but she has made HUGE improvements here and everyone who meets her now says how well she’s doing.

There really are no words or enough room for me to write and describe how we and Elle feel, but it is simply amazing.

This year, 2010, has just been the best for us. Elle had another cochlear implant in March and all went really well. Elle is almost fully tuned and she is already noticing the benefits from having two implants and loves them to bits.

To say a BIG thank you to the NDCS, I ran the London Bupa 10k Marathon on the 31st May to raise money for them.

I’m part a of a support group in Northampton called South Northants Deaf Kids family support group. They are fab and it would seem my story is not the only one. You just need to trust your instincts and go with your gut feelings, sometimes the professionals get it wrong too!

This evening I just spoke to Elle at school on Skype for the first time and it was amazing.

Fight for everything for your child/ren, no-one else will for you.

Mel has just been implanted with a Nucleus 5 Cochlear Implant which will be switched on next week. She says, "I am a little nervous but more excited than anything.

No sporting icon is more affable than Sir Henry Cooper - so it was a surprise to fans when he began shunning them in the street. And it was even more of a surprise to the former heavyweight boxing champ when he found out that's what he'd been doing.

'I'd be out walking with one of my sons and he'd say: "Dad, that man just spoke to you." But I hadn't heard him. I realised I must have been completely ignoring people when I was on my own.

It was a shock because I try to be friendly, keep with the Our 'Enry image, and people must have thought I was rude. It brought it home to me that I really was going deaf,' says Sir Henry, 76.

For Sir Henry, two major events prompted him to seek help. First, his devoted wife Albina died suddenly two years ago of a heart attack. Without her, he found social gatherings much more difficult.

He says: 'When she was by my side, I could relax because she would tell me off if I did the wrong thing. She would say: "You're nodding, you should be shaking your head."'

Then last year, he had to stop doing the live TV and radio interviews, which had made him a popular pundit and his after-dinner speaking, which is greeted with standing ovations, was threatened. Sir Henry knew he had to act.

Read more on the Mail Online.

Here's a good reason for Justin Bieber's fans to stop screaming so loudly. Justin thinks he's starting to go deaf at age 16!

"I think I've lost 80 percent of my hearing," Justin told Vibe. "I definitely have very loud fans."

Having one for at least four years doubles the odds of the condition in which buzzing, humming and ringing disturbs sleep, intrudes on work and affects quality of life, it found.

With one in seven people suffering from the incurable condition at some point in their lives, finding out more about its causes could benefit millions.

They were also asked about the intensity and duration of calls, ear preference, and use of hand held devices.
Analysis of the results showed that those who had used a mobile before the onset of tinnitus were 37 per cent more likely to have the condition.

Those who used their mobiles for an average of ten minutes a day were 71 per cent more likely to have the condition, the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine reported.

Read more at the Mail Online.