STICK your fingers in your ears and you will be able to tell what it is like to have impaired hearing. Strange, isn't it? But not that unusual.

More than one in ten people have hearing problems of one sort or another, yet only a fifth actually do something about it. Many just get on with their lives and cope the best they can.

It can be an isolating experience, not being able to hear properly, as I discovered when I volunteered to see what it was like. My ears were filled with a quick-drying putty that expanded like shaving foam. Then, as sounds became a dull thud, I ventured from the office into the outside world.

The experiment was conducted by hearing aid audiologist Michael Burke, who suggested doing everyday things to test how I interacted with people.

Asking directions to the Post Office can be really difficult when you are not sure how loud you are talking. You find yourself being ignored, perhaps because they can't hear you, or is it because you are bellowing at them in the street? It's difficult to tell.

In the Post Office I found myself watching the woman's lips very closely to make out the words she was saying, then repeating them to make sure I understood. I could see by the look on her face she was humouring me. It was the first of a number of similar experiences.

The man in the mobile phone shop looked so apologetic when I went in to inquire whether he had special phones for people with impaired hearing that I almost felt sorry for him.

Having poor or no hearing is isolating and embarrassing. You stand out and it makes people uncomfortable.

Walking through the busy town centre street in Middlesbrough, the emphasis on what you take in changes. Normally, I would have heard the roar of traffic going by, children laughing and snippets of conversation from people passing by.

Instead, I saw people but couldn't hear their voices, cars and buses were silenced and the loudest things I could hear were my footsteps and the sound I made when I swallowed.

Yet, despite the hardships they encounter, people with impaired hearing wait on average seven years before having a test.

"When people wear glasses, they are told they look intelligent, but if someone has to wear a hearing aid they are perceived as stupid and people talk down to them," says Mr Burke, who works for Scrivens, the hearing aid supplier. "Most people really dislike the idea of wearing a hearing aid."

Most of the nine million people with impaired hearing are over 50 but an increasing number of youngsters are experiencing difficulties. Recent studies by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf have revealed that exposure to social noise has tripled in the UK over the last 20 years. More young people are suffering from hearing problems as a result.

Loud personal stereos, rock concerts and nightclubs can all leave a ringing in the ears that means they have been temporarily damaged. Motorway noise, mowing the lawn and even using a hairdryer are all also often above safe audible limits.

Parents often get furious when children have music blasting out, the television on too loud and ignore them when they're spoken to, but while some may just be archetypal insolent teenagers, others could be covering up their hearing problems. Mr Burke urges relatives of people displaying such symptoms to discuss it with them.

"People will put up with their problem but they don't appreciate the irritation and unhappiness they are causing for their families," says Mr Burke. "They need to be encouraged to get checked out because many conditions can be treated by doctors and a hearing aid is really a last resort.

"Ignoring the problem is not going to help at all. It will just make it worse."

l Scrivens offer a free hearing check conducted by hearing aid audiologists. For their nearest outlet, call freephone 0800 626 427.

MIKE AMOS is away