Advice for Managing Hearing Loss

Abstract

Although surgeons in the early nineteenth century sought to cure hearing loss, this strategy was gradually abandoned as it became clearer that most forms were incurable. This practice soon retreated into support for hearing trumpets. We then investigate how Harriet Martineau argued against trust in medical advice and put forward her own example as a self-confident ‘deaf’ person managing her life with a hearing trumpet. This is complemented by a survey of the often far from disinterested advice from hearing aid vendors about what kinds of hearing trumpet or alternatives should be purchased.