{"id":1057551,"date":"2026-06-29T13:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1057551\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:25:19","slug":"morningside-hearing-check-helps-sir-ian-rankin-hear-edinburghs-sounds-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1057551\/","title":{"rendered":"Morningside hearing check helps Sir Ian Rankin hear Edinburgh’s sounds again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author Sir Ian Rankin has revealed how getting a hearing aid has allowed him to hear his home city in detail once again, with the new sounds likely to inspire his future books.<\/p>\n

The 65-year-old author, who has sold over 35 million books worldwide, admitted he spent decades living in a \u201cmuffled\u201d world before visiting an audiologist at Specsavers<\/a> Morningside in the Scottish capital.<\/p>\n

The creator of the iconic Inspector Rebus<\/a> series said his wife finally convinced him to get his hearing checked after noticing he struggled to hear her from only a few metres away. <\/p>\n

An assessment revealed mild-to-moderate hearing loss, which made conversations<\/a> in busy pubs and restaurants difficult.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sir Ian Rankin with Jonathan Bell, audiology director at Specsavers Morningside.<\/p>\n

Now fitted with a high-definition hearing device, Sir Ian said the experience has completely changed his daily walks through the capital.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWhen it came to getting a hearing check, I was reluctant to in a blokey way \u2013 blokes are often reluctant to do anything adjacent to anything medical. But my wife kept saying I couldn\u2019t hear her when we were a few metres apart, so she twisted my arm to get checked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I can hear a crisp bag opening at 20 paces. I also attended a recent party with my publishers and instead of smiling, nodding and struggling through I could actually hear people properly. It\u2019s made a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known for his sensory-driven depictions of Edinburgh\u2019s streets and pub chatter, Sir Ian believes this sensory awakening will in turn find its way into his future writing.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cPreviously, the everyday sounds of the outside world were muffled or I wouldn\u2019t hear them at all. Now I\u2019m much more aware of sounds like leaves blowing down a pavement and birds chirping in the bushes and trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the senses are so important for an author. I see things and think \u2018that would be good in a book\u2019. I hear things and think \u2018oh that\u2019s a very typical sound of Edinburgh, I\u2019ll use that\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, when I\u2019m walking around Edinburgh there\u2019s going to be more focus on the sounds I wasn\u2019t able to hear properly before, so things might well make it into my next book that wouldn\u2019t have been there otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan Bell, audiology director at Specsavers Morningside<\/a>, managed Sir Ian\u2019s treatment. He explained that a key phase of the process is \u201cbrain recalibration,\u201d as the brain learns to process frequencies it has not heard in years.<\/p>\n

Jonathan said: \u201cMany people like Sir Ian who struggled with busy environments tend to find that a hearing device can help with the clarity of consonant sounds like \u2018s\u2019, \u2018t\u2019, and \u2018f\u2019, bringing critical definition back to human speech. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to hear him report back to us that he feels more connected to the world than he has in years.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article is provided by the news agency Deadline News Limited and published here with permission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image_pdf\"<\/a>\"image_print\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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