Expectations from my hearing Aid

[didds]

I have contacted my local audiology department but am interested in others' experiences etc

I use a hearing aid in my right ear, which is operating at about a 30% loss apparently - in reality i can hear stuff all with it! As an example if I put a headphone bud in it whilst playing music through it, I can just about glean some sort of noise - just... really, literally just. same bud in my left ear is very clear and loud!

Ive had my aid for about three years now, and in that time I do not perceive any improvement through using it constantly - I'm told the brain takes some time to re-learn to hear etc but frankly three years should show some difference surely?

It couold be that my expectations are totally out of kilter with reality I have concluded. I am "expecting" to be able to heaer music through an earbud headphone (see above) with at leats some clarity. I expect to be able to discern a conversation held on my right hand side eg sat at a dining table.

It could be this is just "wrong" - and the best I should hope for is a louder amount of "nothing" ?

FTR my aid is a Iticon Spirit zest with a 309 med open dome, fitted 28/01/15.


What are other's experiences? What is driving my queries is the potential to spend 2.5K on a privately supplied aid - but I don;t want to do that unless I can "guarantee" that it will actually restore some normality to hearing in y right ear.

didds

[Dod101]

I have hearing aids and have had them for about the same time as you have, I think. I got them about three years ago. Mine are expensive privately supplied Phonaks, and cost about £3,000, an incredible amount of money. I have no way of comparing them with the effectiveness of cheaper ones but they certainly enable me to hear much better but not in noisy restaurants say or at certain angles around a dinner table. I have now been to another private supplier (my first was Boots) and conclude that I will never restore 'full' or 'natural' hearing and simply need to try to find the best I can.

The NHS audiologist has given me much the same story but as always they took about six months to give me an appointment. They were not as thorough as the private one but came to the same conclusion. So my experience is that you pays your money..................

Sorry I cannot be more positive.

Dod

[didds]

Hi Dod - your answer is an excellent one. I wasn't seeking clarification that my hearing _would_ restore to normal... just whether it HAS for some. If your expereince mirrors mine then that's is "good news" - I know where I stand and that my expectations are incorrect

I'm probably not expressing that very well - just to say what you say isn't "bad news". Bad news (for me) would be spending 2.5K to still not be able to have a conversation normally in a busy restaurant. I am sanguine about my hearing loss - my day to day life isn;t really affected by it... its just larger gatherings that I am seeking a SIGNIFICANT improvement. if that is unlikely, then that's fine. At least i dont; need to hope it may change


many thanks

Didds

[ten0rman]

Hi Didds,
I have Menieres in the right ear, and possibly (my thoughts, not an official thought) in my left ear.

My right ear failed 12 years ago, I had two operations to stop the dizziness & vertigo (use of gentamycin to in effect kill the right ear semi-circular canals) and a hearing aid supplied. I am now on my third aid, a much stronger Phonak aid which does indeed supply a lot more noise, sorry sound, into the ear. Along the way I was told by a nurse/audiologist that these were an aid, not a replacement for the ear.

My left ear has, I think, slowly deteriorated over the years, but around last Easter, it seemed to get much worse such that I was forced to give up singing as I could not hear my colleagues in my section, and during the warm up sessions I could not detect low/bass notes although I could hear "noise". It took 3 months to get an appointment at my local audiology clinic where they conformed my bass hearing loss and they gave me a fixed gain hearing aid for that ear. I suspect, but have no proof, that it may be trying to boost bass whilst keeping treble as normal. Again this is a Phonak. Loss of bass response can be a symptom of Menieres, hence my comment above.

It took a further three months for the new hearing aids to be supplied so as of last mid-October I was fitted with them. (Sorry, that's awful English!) I was told that it would take about 3 months to get used to them. I can't say that I have, or I haven't. What I can say is that, and this may be a defect of my ears, that certain long held notes do create distortion - I don't know, can't tell, which ear it is. Communication in a quiet room is ok, but somewhere where it is noisy is an absolute no-no - all I get is an overall mush of sound as if my brain is unable to single out what I want to listen to. Using the telephone is awkward as it is necessary to adjust the handset such that the receiver is actually over the hearing aid microphone - sometimes I've resorted to taking the hearing aid out, but I think I'm getting better at it. TV sound is odd. I've heard other people comment on the varying sound levels from TV, and that is what I experience. Possibly as well, varying levels of pitch, or rather lack of pitch. In other words, sometimes it seems muffled. Funnily enough, there was the other day a new weather forecaster on BBC, an Asian girl I think, anyway she spoke slowly and clearly and as a result I had no difficulty at all hearing her. Headphones are difficult, same as the telephone I suppose.

I can't think of anything else. The aids do work, and I am hearing a lot more in my previously "written off" right ear. I suppose I need more time to acclimatise.

Regards, and good luck,

ten0rman

[scrumpyjack]

I had Oticon Spirit Zests in both ears on the NHS about 3 years ago.

I think my hearing has since got worse and I was finding it very difficult to hear conversations.

About 2 months ago I went Specsavers and got private aids. The difference is huge - they are so much better.
They cost £1,995 and speech is much clearer with background noise far better filtered. I can control them with an App on my phone.

With Specsavers you can hand them back up to 90 days after buying for a full refund no questions asked - so why not try it?
Their service has been excellent.

[stevensfo]

'm probably not expressing that very well - just to say what you say isn't "bad news". Bad news (for me) would be spending 2.5K to still not be able to have a conversation normally in a busy restaurant.

I noticed this bit and it made me remember something I'd read years ago.

According to my hearing tests, I have normal hearing for my age. But, since a teenager, I have never liked being in crowded rooms with lots of noise. I first noticed it in my 20s when I saw that people next to me were able to hear the person across the table in our noisy canteen but I had difficulty and started a sort of lip-reading to assist me.

Years later, I read the expression 'Cocktail party ear' but I'm sure there are other terms. Basically, some people have trouble distinguishing words when there's lots of noise around.

It must be genetic. My late father liked subtitles as do I and even my youngest son. Our eldest son, mother and sisters don't like subtitles and even say the TV is too loud. Fortunately, the word 'Drink?' seem to be transmitted telepathically.

Steve


Steve

[ten0rman]

Steve,

Thanks for that, even though it wasn't meant for me. It's something I had never heard of, yet like you have always struggled somewhat in noisy places. All is now explained. Which in turn suggests that my hearing aids are indeed working correctly - it's just my brain can't cope (and probably never has).

Regards,

ten0rman

[roger4]

I have in-ear Widex aids and have used them for about 4 years. Initially in UK I had a single aid and managed with that as it provided enough volume to overcome my tinnitus. Since leaving UK I have graduated to the in-ear aids because the external poly connector degrades in sunlight and we have a lot of that here.
The ear does a marvelous job in sorting out the exact things you want to hear and hearing aids will never be able to replicate that. Over the years I have found that conversations in crowded or noisy environments become impossible. So I avoid them wherever possible. Being on the street, for example, all I can hear is the traffic. Being in an office with a photocopier going in the background I only hear the photocopier.

Hearing aids cannot replace "lost" function, they only generate louder sound levels.

Sorry, but in the case of deafness, reality is no fun at all.

[Dod101]

I Hearing aids cannot replace "lost" function, they only generate louder sound levels.

That is not my experience with my Phonaks. Hearing aids seem unable to replicate natural hearing and I think everyone agrees on that but they can do more than just increase the volume and modern expensive ones can help interpret sounds as well. I would recommend that roger seeks further help.

Dod

[ten0rman]

Dod,
May I ask which Phonaks you have got. I have a Phonak Nathos S+ micro for my left ear, and a Phonak Nathos S+ SP W for my right ear.

The impression I have is that all they can do is to amplify sounds. Now I can quite happily understand that they can be set to amplify some frequencies more than others, which can go some way towards helping the brain interpret the sounds better. I can also understand that they may have some directional properties although it is difficult to understand how considering their location and the position of the microphones (on the top at the rear just above the sound outlet tube).

I should point out that in my case I have lost bass response in both ears.

ten0rman

[Dod101]

Hi TenOrman

It is bass response that is my problem as well although my right ear is markedly worse than my left. My Phonaks are now quite old and I am looking to upgrade them. Mine are Phonak Audeo Q70-312 which means absolutely nothing to me.

I do not try to understand how they work, but there is no doubt that for me they do! I got mine from Boots Hearingcare but am considering going to a local private consultant who has recently opened and they talk sense to me. but of course they are trying to sell their wares.

My problem like everyone else it would seem is in crowded restaurants and sometimes even one to one depending on the angle.

Does that make sense?

Dod

[ten0rman]

Hi Dod,
I just wanted to see if you were using the same ones as I have. Interestingly, I've just looked at the Phonak website and neither mine nor your particular model appear. Yours could be because of their age, whereas mine could be because they are NHS supply.

My right ear is also the worst - indeed, until my left ear started playing up last Easter, I had virtually given up on it - except that with the new aids I can now hear a lot more through it. It's also noticeable that the right ear aid is physically larger than the left ear aid. Maybe it's more powerful!

How do they work? Well, having spent 35 years as a telecomm technician, I had to know a little bit about sound transmission through the air, and how sound gets through the ear to the brain. I've also got to know a little bit about how analogue electrical sound is converted to digital and back again. Now I stress, this is only at a very basic level - I most certainly am not an expert, but it does give me an insight into how the aids may be working. To take one example, frequency (bass/treble) correction. This is nothing new, a lot of older hifi equipment had bass & treble controls which could be used to boost or cut the response so it's easy to see how in my case (and yours presumably) with bass loss, the aid could be set up to boost bass, especially as by using digital, it is probably easier to do. I also noticed last night that both my hearing aids have two ports where sound can enter, which means that although the distance is small, it may very well be able to distinguish between sound coming from behind or in front. I imagine L-R balance is a function of the grey matter.

There is one thing I did learn through being a telecomm technician, and that is that audio power is associated with the lower frequencies, ie bass, whilst audio intelligibility is associated with higher frequencies, ie treble. It's interesting that telephone networks many years ago transmitted 300-3400 Hz signals, and that was all, whereas AM radio transmitted 50-4500Hz. Of course, more was actually transmitted in both instances but those were the supposed working limits. So, a bit tongue in cheek, if we have bass loss, then we should be able to hear clearly, but quietly if you see what I mean. Which doesn't tie up with my problems!

Ah well, onwards & upwards,

ten0rman

[didds]

its always been said to me that the aid is supposed to boost the frequencies that are provided for least effectively by the natural ear.

As I said wheatever its doing it isn;t making me hear anuy better in the environments/scenarios when without bit I struggle ie when to the left of somebody, or in bust=y environments.

I was aware yesterday in a pub (7 of us in there?) that standing between two conversations, one to me left, one to my right, I coulnd;t "hear" either. So when I say busy environments - it doesn;t have to be that busy...

didds

[Cornytiv34]

Hi Didds,
I havehad NHS Oticon Spirit Synergy with double 3.09 buds since November 16. I had 3 sets private ones over the last 15 years and the technology seems to change regularly, finally one chip gave up and I decided that I would buy no more. The last ones were Starkeys and the big difference is that the Starkeys were electronic transmission with the microphone on the back of the aid and a wire carried the electronic signal via a wire inside the tube to the speaker/amplifier right inside the ear. The NHS ones have the mic behind the ear and amplified inside the aid before the sound goes down the empty tube into the ear so the positioning and size of the domes is critical. The first domes I had were double ones like dustbin lids and like you I was told it would take time but I then had single smaller ones and finally what you have. I found that there was a vast difference in the shape and angle of the inside of my two ears and after a lot of changes with attendant re measuring the volume of my inner ear and resetting the aid I now have good hearing in both.

Cornytiv

[roger4]

Thanks Dod101 for your suggestion. Regrettably the aids you suggest seem to have passed my island in the Indian Ocean by. However, if they have an external unit connected by clear polypropylene tubing to the earpiece, they are unsuitable because polypropylene is degraded quite rapidly by UV light, and we get an awful lot of that here.
Roger