Q. Having entered my early fifties, I have come up
against a new social problem. Conversation with some of the most glamorous men I know has become frustrating since, most having been Shooting Hoorays in their youth, a lot of them are now quite deaf but too vain to wear hearing-aids. Hence they pretend to have understood what one has said and laugh at the wrong time. etcetera. All nuance is lost. What can be done, Mary?
0.A., Suffolk A. At John Bell & Croyden of 54 Wigmore Street, London W1 (tel: 020 7935 5555), Hoorays who have previously found other
hearing-aids unworkable for various reasons have for the last two years been finding satisfaction with the new digital aids available. These have custom-made shells to fit the ear canal exactly, and can be seen only if someone is standing above the ear looking directly into it. They also have a tiny extraction cord in clear plastic. Analogue aids have a fixed response, but the digital versions offer a more natural, clear sound and can be reprogrammed should someone's hearing change. Personalised tuning is carried out by the audiologist at John Bell & Croyden. Show-offs can buy the most expensive aid, the Digifocus, which costs /2,500 from Oticon. Hearing-aids are currently on the cusp of becoming fashionable, since a generation of men who damaged their hearing on the stages of rock concerts are about to reach full impairment.
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