Ways around hearing aides for the SO who will not wear them?

Hearing aids have changed a lot over the last 15 years, offering new features like Bluetooth connectivity and rechargeable batteries in addition to improved sound quality. The key here is getting to the root of the issue - why he was unable to adapt to hearing aids the first time. Tinnitus has a very strong association with anxiety and depression, and anything that increases your anxiety may also increase your perception of tinnitus. The fact that the hearing aids were something new for him may have triggered some anxiety and worsened the tinnitus; however, most people report improvement in their tinnitus symptoms when using hearing aids.

You'll also want to make sure that the hearing aids were fit by a qualified professional. There are a lot of hearing aid providers out there who do not use best practices when fitting hearing aids, and so the failure is not always in the devices. If you can, get him in to see a qualified audiologist who can assess the tinnitus and hearing loss and provide some new options to help. And stress to him that he needs to get help with his hearing for your sake and not just his own.

Try googling tinnitus masking hearing aids and read the articles about options available. Tinnitus is actually worsened by quiet so if he can get the right type of hearing aids it will probably be wonderful for him.

Well I have OK hearing so I don't know what feels like myself but I do have to communicate with quite a few hearing impaired family members.

Mum has refused to wear her hearing aides at all since her stroke (2018). Lip-reads only. Proundly deaf.

Dad has tinnitus both ears (industrial hearing loss). Has been told hearing aides will magnify that so not suitable for him at this stage.

Bil was born deaf in one ear, like his Mother. His Father has age related hearing loss.

Son has hearing/attention problem. Cannot distinguish sounds from backgroud noise (ie cannot hear my voice in a shopping centre - used to freak out & run away).

My DH has selective hearing!! Ha ha

If any of our family members had learnt sign language it would be MUCH easier.

How we cope;
#1 face the person, have ful eye contact
#2 ensure mouth not covered (hands, scarf etc) to enable lip reading
#3 speak shorter sentences, clearly to that person only
#4 check to see if message got through

Yes it's slow & quite frustrating. There is no quick to & fro of conversation with my Mum, ever (she lipreads only) but in a quiet room I can chat very well with my Dad. Phone calls are too/hard or impossible so we txt instead.

Bil plans for nap time after events - concentrating extra hard takes a lot of energy.

Does your DH get grumpy after noisy outings?

I know I was completely WREAKED after hosting a party with all of the above family members there.

A final though: yelling louder or repeating yourself when out with your DH is just going to send your blood pressure up!

Get his attention first, get good eye contact then try. See if that is better.

No harm in adding a few simple hand gestures either.

He may not improve so it will be up to you to become the best communicator you can be. Good luck :)