New to tinnitus

[Beaglelo]

I have support workers who do not understand. I live in supported living. My neighbours are very noisy and they do not understand. Everyone knocks on my door very loudly because they belief I am deaf now. What can I do?

[Ray200]

Timpsons is a high street chain. They can knock you up a small plastic rectangular sign for attaching to your door which might say on it "Please do not knock loudly. I am not deaf"

[Happyrosie]

you say your support workers do not understand. Can you ask them to sit down quietly with you with a cup of tea and you tell them what the problems are and discuss.

[PointedEars]

I am very new to this phenomenon too. From their point of view they are probably following their support agency rules with regards to clients with "hearing difficulty" and duly and "helpfully" making sure that you can hear them knocking. All it may take is a moment or two to explain. Of course each individual is different and support workers are rotated. This is the case with support workers that visit mum, and I find that they usually helpful and listen to my concerns. However, sometimes it might be better to contact the support agency and explain the situation. That way, you concerns should be noted on their record and therefore passed along to any support worker that might visit you. I guess if we have had to learn about our situation, so will they.

As I said, I am new to this too. My hearing is deteriorated in terms of the frequency range that I should hear, but I am not particularly deaf. I have no problem hearing a knock at the door either, but the volume of high frequency sounds such as an alarm ringing might be greatly diminished or not even audible, especially if it is outside and in the distance. Unfortunately some sounds do seem to appear much louder and I have occasionally made comment on that only to be met with a confused look and a "not really" response. I am not sure why some sounds should seem louder and I am still learning to adjust. Sometimes "loud" sounds do not sound as bad when I have my hearing aids in, which seems something of a paradox.

[Hel_C]

I have found that when I learnt how to manage my situation to reduce my stress so my tinnitus can quieten being around others was easier. I have found that I some people may never understand what tinnitus is like.

Perhaps the door knocking issue could be solved by putting a sign on your door asking to knock quietly and wait.