The truth is, I never wanted hearing aids, even after decades being up the front at hundreds of gigs a year, as a fan then music writer, having the loudest bands in the world blast their music straight into my eardrums until they rang and hurt. When my hearing began to decline, I put off getting hearing aids – and even when I did go to the doctor, it took almost a decade between being prescribed them to getting them fitted and moulded.
Growing up, hearing aids were just incredibly unattractive and uncool. They were very obvious, in a shiny plastic pink that completely failed to capture skin tone and a very noticeable size. They seemed awkward and ugly. It wasn’t surprising that no iconic male figures had done for hearing aids what Michael Caine, John Lennon and several female film stars had done for glasses.
In my early 40s, when it was suggested I get them, I put it on the back burner under a pile of vanity and just got on with asking people to repeat themselves.