O/T Hearing Aid Forums?

[DaveL]

Dave, an audiologist Ph.D. told me that an earing aid will take care of my Tinnitus. But I don't think so.
I tried a Phonax unit and it did not stop the Tinnitus sound.

thanks avi123 I'm not expecting miracles, though I shall be very appreciative should one occur. Tinnitus is a feature. Too many punch presses, and machine shops. Yesterday's motorcycles have become today's roadsters. Love it when I can't hear the tinnitus for the wind noise!

[DaveL]

http://www.hearingaidforums.com/

I found this some time ago.

http://www.hearingaidforums.com/

Many participants now...I post as DaveL there.

[DaveL]

I'm happy! The audiologist I was introduced to is incredible. She supplied 2 behind the ear hearing aids. They are incredible.
The whole process has been stress relieving, where the first purchase 10 years ago caused me distress.

Dave

[gomer]

I have/wear a pair of Phonac digital BTH hearing aids... One of the FEW things the VA has done for me. Fun-E thing is the Navy KNEW I suffered a hearing loss while on active duty in the late 60s, just did not tell me. At the time I thought I was moved to IMA (indoor aerospace avionics) and lots of TAD because I was good at what I did. Me and my wife went disagreed on radio & TV volume for 35 years before learning (via NON-VA doc) I had a hearing loss.

[Tino2You]

I'm happy! The audiologist I was introduced to is incredible. She supplied 2 behind the ear hearing aids. They are incredible.
The whole process has been stress relieving, where the first purchase 10 years ago caused me distress.

Dave

Dave,
THE most important thing you can do is find an audiologist you like and trust. In my case I knew I could not hear high frequencies especially women's voices. I compensated by looking at them when they talked. Unknowingly I was reading lips.

The audiologist I went with (the second I visited) listened to what I was saying and THEN recommended the Phonac HAs. I play golf and sometime play in the rain. I wanted an HA that was water resistant.

Chunky, since I have a pair of HAs and similar loss of hearing in each ear, the shift is not noticeable.

Now if they could only design a Bluetooth receiver/transmitter that looks like a pen or a tie clip life would be good.

-tino

[DaveL]

Thanks Tino!
You are right.
I did do research. Figured there was an expert at my school board where I work. I was introduced to one, after asking many people. She introduced me to a superb audiologist. She has provided 2 Phonaks. They are incredible! Above, behind the ear. I can hear again!
I picked hem up the last Friday before Christmas.

Your answer is perfect. Find a good audiologist. That's the key.

Thank you for taking the time to answer!

Merry Christmas!

DaveL

ps now I need to find peace with a new sleep Doc!

[DaveL]

I'm in heaven; was in h_ll with my prvious hearing aid, bought about 10 years ago.
I can't tell I'm wearing them!
Good performance everywhere.
Think I better crazy glue them in place, before I lose them!

[NateS]

I wish I could say the same.

I bought top of the line Phonacs for over $6000 for the pair about three years ago through a wonderful audioligist. He is a very nice guy, seems very smart and he gives me plenty of attention. My main motivation for getting them was that I wanted to hear everything the woman I love says, without making her repeat everything. She has a very soft voice, and I did not want to ask her to shout everytime she spoke to me.

My audiologist seems very well-informed and equipped and highly respected and patient and helpful and uses fancy Phonac adjustment equipment but I have been back to him for fine-tuning and adjustments over and over and over for the last 3 years, and I still have to make her repeat things! The factory has even repaired and replaced my units several times. Yes, with my hearing aids I can hear -most-everything else I want to hear without a problem, or maybe I don't care that much what others say. But I almost never catch what she says the first time. The consonants are missing and my brain fills in unlikely guesses, over which we sometimes get a few laughs. But it has been very disappointing.

My other complaint is the company's claim that these hearing aids are so sophisticated that in a restaurant or other public place they are supposed to adjust to tune out background sounds and tune in the conversation at my table. It has never happened. I can hear the conversation at other tables and not what those at my table are saying. I even bought a remote unit to adjust the volume up and down and to move the hearing aids myself through the various "programs" it is supposed to adapt to on its own. No help. The only thing I find the remote good for is moving me into t-coil mode when I wear a neck loop with a receiver and she wears a little transmitter. That works but is a far cry from the promise of those wonderful almost invisible hearing aids that were supposed to be such a miracle for me.

Whenever we watch movies we strive to get the ones with English subtitles for the hearing impaired, and turn that option on.

And yet they tell me I do not have a "severe" hearing loss!

Thank goodness for texting! That's how my adult kids and I communicate instead of on the phone, as they quickly get impatient when I ask them to repeat everything on the phone, and I don't blame them. I'm lucky that texting is so common nowadays.

Regards, Nate

[Tino2You]

Nate,

Did you ever bring your wife to your audiologist office and let him adjust your HAs while she is talking? As for the restaurant/background noise my audiologist had speakers around the office and talked to me while playing background noise of a noisy restaurant. She too has a soft voice in the range that I have difficulty hearing. It took a bunch of attempts but she managed to get a level where the background noise was "pushed" back so I could hear her about 4 feet in front of me. Now all bets are off if I am at a table for 6 or more and the room is noisy and someone at the other end want to talk to me

-tino

[DaveL]

I responded, don't know where it went.

Good suggestion.

I was desparate to hear better. I * think * I am on a good path. It is an incredible experience compared to my first, and it has been 10 years.

edit: You're post is exactly how I felt 10 years wearing my first hearing aid, irregularly.

[avi123]

I have moderate hearing loss above 1.5 khz in both ears:




This is my diagnosis:



I tried behind the ear (BTE) Phonak hearing aid (EA) and did not like it b/c it's too floppy:

http://www.expresshearingshop.com/phona ... smart-ix-p

I want to use in- the- ear- canal EA but my canals are too narrow.

Presently I am bothered by Tinnitus. So I mask the noise with this Conair sound maker ($12) set either on Summer Night (Cicedas) or Running Water.
But b/c it's built too cheaply I need to stick a wooden toothpick next to the volume knob to provide friction. Otherwise, the knob rattles and causes lots of defening noise.


Sorry Dr Edith, all those with Tinnitus who are also using EAs say that the EA did not take away the Tinnitus.




That's the way that I screwd up my hearing when I was at age 19 and shooting with 4" Mortar.
The one in the photo is a 5" and it's worse. The fellow who holds the tripod is out of his mind, imo.
Like these silly guys I did not wear ears protection:




p.s. being on Medicare I let it pay for the testing but I need to pay for the EA ($2,000 each).

[NateS]

Nate,

Did you ever bring your wife to your audiologist office and let him adjust your HAs while she is talking?

-tino

Yup, that's what we do every visit. We both feel stymied.

Of course, all his rooms are so small that she's only about four feet from me even if she sits in the opposite corner.

Nate

[chunkyfrog]

My current hearing aid is a Phonak.
but I actually prefer the sound processing of my previous unit, a Widex Aikia, which they no longer make.
The old one still works, and is my reserve unit.
I probably should get it re-programmed while the lab still can do it.

[DaveL]

I'm generally happy after about 10 days...although I am going to ask for more volume.

Wish you all a Happy New Year!

(wish I was as happy with cpap treatment)

DaveL

[DaveL]

Poor in a restaurant.

Actually better with hearing aids turned off.

Time to rethink; perhaps a different brand?

DaveL