Digital Hearing Aids Gave Me a New Lease of Life
Having struggled with her hearing for nearly two decades, actress Pearl Marsland is enjoying a new lease of life thanks to her digital hearing aids from Specsavers Audiologists.
The grandmother of five, who is in her 70s, is a lifelong actress and volunteers for the National Coastwatch Institution, keeping a watchful eye over sailors in Lyme Bay.
How long have you had issues with your hearing?
I first realised I had hearing loss in the 1990s. At the time I was running an independent theatre school. I had real difficulty hearing the high-pitched kids – I knew they were talking but I couldn’t really hear what they were saying. Things really came to a head one day when one of my pupils came rushing up to me and said there was a fair outside. We were in the middle of rehearsals so I told him we were far too busy to be thinking about having fun at a fair. But he persisted quite frantically about there being a fair outside. He had actually said ‘fire’, and lo and behold there was a fire in the foyer and we all had to be evacuated. This hadn’t just been embarrassing, it was actually very dangerous, so I realised I had to do something about it.
What did you do about your hearing loss?
I took advantage of a free hearing aid trial, but I couldn’t get on with the hearing aids at all, so I sent them back. But I continued to have to turn the TV volume up really loud and, when I was in a public place, I could hear sounds but struggled to distinguish speech. After another five years, I finally admitted to myself that I really needed hearing aids. You can only say pardon so many times before people start giving up on you. I got some NHS hearing aids, but again I really struggled to get on with them.
How have your digital hearing aids helped?
I now have state-of-the-art digital hearing aids from Specsavers, which are just amazing, as they’re so discrete and comfortable to wear. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is put in my hearing aids and the improvement in my hearing is out of this world. Soon after getting them I was at a dinner party and I could hear every conversation, which was unheard of before. It was a real boon. I also love to listen to the radio, but without my hearing aids I can’t hear any of the consonants. Now it is crystal clear. My hearing is also very important to my role at Coastwatch as I need to listen out for distress calls on the marine radio. I don’t know how I’d do that job without my hearing aids.
Pearl Marsland
Find out what Specsavers digital hearing aids can do
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