A SURVEY has found that over 50 per cent of residents over 50 years old in Greater Manchester are not seeking treatment for hearing loss, despite admitting that they can’t hear clearly.

Specsavers staff from Altrincham and Salford that ran the survey, found that 65 per cent of Greater Manchester’s over 50s said they were too embarrassed to admit they hadn’t heard what someone had said during conversation.

The survey also found that respondents had not received treatment for their suspected hearing issues with 51 per cent stating that they weren’t even sure if they were suffering from hearing loss or not.

The survey results were collated at the 50 Plus Show at Manchester Central on March 29 and 30.

Staff from Specsavers store in Altrincham and Salford attended the show to undertake the research and to also provide hearing screening tests for visitors to its stand, using a specially designed sound-proof hearing booth.

Visitors to the stand were invited to take a hearing screening test, which saw them sitting in a sound-proof hearing booth and listening to a series of sounds to assess their level of hearing.

Specsavers provides hearcare services across many of its stores in Greater Manchester and its audiologists can carry out full hearing test to advise on the best solution for an individual’s hearing loss.

Samantha Davies from the Altrincham store says: ‘Hearing loss is a gradual process that may not be noticed until significant loss of aural awareness has occurred. As hearing loss can also be a sign of other serious health problems including dementia, it really is important that regular checks take place."