I have single-sided hearing loss caused by radiotherapy I received about 10 years ago when I developed salivary gland cancer. The hearing loss (accompanied by constant hissy tinnitus) is the 'afters', if you like.

I do wear a high-end hearing aid (it cost around 1000UKP) – this has a 'music' program which ditches all the compression usually used by the normal speech programs – and it enables me to hear fairly normally when performing in 'acoustic' or low-voume gigs. For band situations, where there are drums and electric guitars, my aid comes out and I use custom in-ear monitors to control my exposure to high volumes.

I also tend to discard the hearing aid if I'm in a noisy room with many people speaking simultaneously – it tends to amplify EVERYTHING and it's just a noise.

All of this isn't easy but it is possible to arrive at solutions which suit YOU – no one case is identical, unfortunately. But your first, and main, priority, must be to decide how you will protect what is left of your hearing. Don't delay – the other stuff can wait a little.