I’ve been wearing a hearing aid for about five years.

It seems I’m in good company after The Queen was seen wearing a hearing aid in public for the first time.

I have asymmetric hearing loss which means a difference in hearing between my right ear and my left.

I’ve been told this is quite unusual and it is more common for men of my age to suffer a gradual hearing loss in both ears.

Scans and tests haven’t been able to identify what caused the loss in my right ear.

When my hearing loss was first diagnosed, I decided not to have a hearing aid and continued to go about my normal business. But a few mishearings later – sometimes unfortunate, sometimes hilarious – I decided to have a discreet over-the-ear hearing aid.

Whenever I had my hair cut, I always made sure there was a small tuft of hair to tuck behind my ear to cover the hearing aid.

Many people didn’t notice. And I’m sure some of those who did notice didn’t say anything.

I try to position myself in meetings so that my better ear is closer to the person chairing the discussion.

In noisy pubs and restaurants, that’s not possible and I once mistook a colleague’s suggestion that I should start a podcast for an encouragement that I become a bodyguard!

It’s the plosives, you see.