A singer who almost quit a choir after losing his hearing is urging others not to ignore the problem.

Soloist David Llewellyn was a member of Tenby Male Choir in Pembrokeshire and loved his singing hobby.

But after noticing signs of hearing loss over a number of years he suddenly lost complete hearing in one ear, making it impossible to join in.

The 64-year-old grandfather of two only returned to duty after seeking help from a hearing aid company.

"It's been coming on gradually for a number of years," he said.

"I used to make silly remarks to my wife Sally because I had misheard her - she'd ask me a question and I would think she said something else.

"On one occasion over breakfast she said she would make us some eggs if I read the post.

"So I sat down and read the post but when the eggs were ready she asked me where the toast was."

Confidence loss

The problem became much worse five years ago when he suddenly lost the hearing in his left ear overnight.

He answered the telephone one morning and could not hear the caller.

"I used to sing solo with Tenby Male Choir but when I couldn't hear I just lost my confidence, standing in the middle of the choir was too much for me," he added.

"I was almost in process of packing it all in.

"The problem I had was due to the loss of hearing at certain frequencies of sound.

"Once I had my two hearing aids, it was strange being able to hear so much all at once again as my brain wasn't used to it.

Increase awareness

"Then when I sang, I could only hear my own voice and not everyone else's so I ended up singing too loudly.

"Now I have a remote control in my pocket for both ears which means I can hear others more than myself and I can gauge what volume to pitch my voice.

"It's helped me tremendously. I'm so happy to be able to stay with the choir, I'm even thinking of doing a solo again.

"People think that hearing loss is an old person's complaint but it isn't."

Martyn Scott, managing director of hearing specialist Hearing Aid Solutions and an Executive Member of the Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals, said it took the average person seven years to seek help from the onset of a hearing problem, but it could can mean they were leaving it too long.