Dear LPG,

Every so often I go shopping with my daughter who spends her life walking around with a little machine stuck to one ear, and while we are walking and talking she will suddenly say something completely unrelated to our conversation.  Someone will have called her on her mobile phone,  the thing in her ear, and her Bluetooth hands free headset will allow her to answer without getting her phone out. 

I remember hearing reports on the news a few years ago which implied that too much talking on mobile phones could result in health issues.  That they could even contribute to cancer in some small ways and they are also known to be attention distractors.   Those same reports informed that communicating through a Bluetooth head set can minimise such risks, though I believe that the research was inconclusive.

In spite of all this I bought one recently and can now see why people find them so convenient.  I suppose I am a fairly young pensioner and, now that I have got used to wearing it, I have to say that there are real advantages to being able to answer my phone when I am out and about and  regardless of whatever I am doing.

Firstly I can hear it ring in spite of the noises that you hear on the bus or in a shop so there is much less risk of dropping the phone, and there is the security aspect.  We have all heard the news about more people being mugged for their phones, and the latest scooter muggings, but as I don’t have to get my smart phone out in public places to answer it I feel much safer. It is really good to be able to quickly tell someone that I am all right, or where I am and, of course I don’t have to answer it.  I admit to having a friend who I can easily spend ages talking to when we get on the phone, and because I am ‘hands-free’ I can talk and do anything from walking around a shop to  pealing the potatoes while she is none the wiser.  So I have become one of those people who talk to themselves from time to time when I am walking down the road, as old as I am.

KW, Honor Oak

LPG hopes that KW’s writings give some insight to something that many of us accept as a habit for younger people.  I wear one and agree with the sentiments offered above.  I would agree that they can be a challenge until a person gets used to wearing one but then again many hearing aid users experience similar problems. I would add that you can become so used to wearing it that you forget it is there and, as a result, they can get lost. 

We Googled and found that research is currently  being done to amalgamate the technologies of hearing aids and Bluetooth headsets which could see the wearer taking advantage of being able to answer their mobile phones, listen to music,  and experience enhanced hearing through one device .  Please note that though some of the links below offer information they double as advertisements.    

Maureen B, for LPG

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