[Technology] Hearing aids

[Denis]

I have been to the audiologist today after the first week of the trial for him to do some tuning to try and improve the right ear. Unfortunately, when he tried to ramp up the right ear (my really bad one) the sound went all distorted and I could barely make out any words. So he wound it back down again and I now have the situation where I can hear ok with the left ear and can hear additional noises such as crowd noise on televised football when the hearing aid is on but I cant hear at all well through the right ear and do not notice any real improvement when the hearing aid is on. All rather disappointing, although he says it's an ongoing process and he can do more tuning Thursday next week. I have a first appointment with another supplier on Friday next week (whose hearing aids are half the price) so I reckon I will stop the trial on Thursday, start a trial with the other supplier on Friday and decide in 2 or 3 weeks what the cost/benefit picture looks like.
The main question I am struggling to answer is what sort of hearing clarity should I be getting in both ears when one ear is 15% worse than the other? Should I expect the bad ear to still be noticeably worse with programmable hearing aids or is it reasonable to expect the bad ear to be boosted sufficiently so I hear approximately the same through each ear?

I know it sounds corny, but I’d forgotten how noisy the birds are at dawn! As soon as I insert my aids I can hear them, which is brilliant. Unfortunately I still have problems when my granddaughters speak quietly, which is weird. Today I was on a bus to Eastbourne and there were some American student ‘chatting’ a few seats behind me. The noise was so magnified (to a loud screechy noise), that I took my hearing aids out until they got off!
Like you I have one ear worse than the other.

 

[Seagull58]

It takes time to train your brain not to listen through your good ear. It will happen gradually.
A friend of mine had a cochlear implant done, and has been having it adjusted gradually over six months.

Thanks for that feedback. I feel more positive now.

 

[Seagull58]

I know it sounds corny, but I’d forgotten how noisy the birds are at dawn! As soon as I insert my aids I can hear them, which is brilliant. Unfortunately I still have problems when my granddaughters speak quietly, which is weird. Today I was on a bus to Eastbourne and there were some American student ‘chatting’ a few seats behind me. The noise was so magnified (to a loud screechy noise), that I took my hearing aids out until they got off!
Like you I have one ear worse than the other.

How does your hearing compare through the two ears with the hearing aids in? Is the bad ear still noticeably worse?

 

[Denis]

How does your hearing compare through the two ears with the hearing aids in? Is the bad ear still noticeably worse?

My hearing is good when wearing both aids, apart from very low sounds e.g. quiet muttering grandson!
At the moment I’m just wearing the left one as my right ear is very bunged up, I’m currently trying to de wax my ear with olive drops. It does seem to be a symptom of the in ear aids.
Despite moaning, I wouldn’t want to go back to not wearing hearing aids. I was getting to the stage of having the sub titles on tv most of the time.

 

[Fungus]

Bouncing this thread…

Does anyone have experience of “cross system” hearing aids? My wide is completely deaf (from birth) in one ear, but is going to try them. The sound from her deaf side will get passed to her better side, so she’ll have all-round hearing, albeit in mono. That’s the theory anyway. Any real-life experience out there?

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Sorry I can’t help with the cross system hearing aids, that’s new to me.

Good timing of thread though. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears with my right ear being slightly worse a couple of years ago and given quite small NHS aids. My hearing has not been great all my life as when I was a baby my eardrums burst after an ear infection. Years of being in bands and going to gigs/listening to music too loudly has made them worse - you just don’t listen to those warnings when you’re young do you?!

Anyway, the NHS aids I’ve been given are really quite discreet but as I’m (only) 42 I’ve struggled with vanity and not really worn them much, my hearing is not that bad that I can get away with it. I probably need to get over myself though!

Anyway, I went for a check up a couple of weeks ago and been recommend to have an MRI on the right ear as it’s got ever so slightly worse (left ear the same). Apparently this is something they do when hearing deteriorates in one ear more than the other to see if they can work out what’s causing this and if there is a non cancerous growth on the nerve (I believe from research this is called an accoustic neuroma). Has anyone on here with hearing worse in one ear than the other experienced this?

 

[SAC]

...

Anyway, the NHS aids I’ve been given are really quite discreet but as I’m (only) 42 I’ve struggled with vanity and not really worn them much, my hearing is not that bad that I can get away with it. I probably need to get over myself though!

...

Don't worry about people noticing them, they are only usually seen from behind.

 

[Daddies_Sauce]

Bouncing this thread…

Does anyone have experience of “cross system” hearing aids? My wide is completely deaf (from birth) in one ear, but is going to try them. The sound from her deaf side will get passed to her better side, so she’ll have all-round hearing, albeit in mono. That’s the theory anyway. Any real-life experience out there?

Yes I have cross aids. Having experienced bilateral hearing loss for a number of years, I have been wearing aids for some time. Early 2023 I experienced Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) on one side, which has no chance of being restored, hence I have no hearing on the impacted side, and was provided with (NHS) cross-aids, which, as you state pass sound to the 'better' side.

Do they work? - 'ish (for me) they do pass sound to the good side but it's still very difficult to hear sufficiently, and I do tend to turn my head to the good side to try to improve hearing. I guess it depends on what you are dispensed, different NHS trusts issue different makes and models, with different features, mine are not Bluetooth for example and I've purchased one of these: https://www.phonak.com/content/dam/...documents/user_guide_compilot_ii_029-0308.pdf - it's all a bit of a post code lottery. I'm at the stage where I'm now researching private options, I would/will pay privately if they are an improvement on those that I have. Private dispensers appear to allow you to return options after a short trial period, if they do not work for you. My biggest problem is tinnitus, the brain still try's to 'hear' from the impacted side, which is at times a real inconvenience and nuisance.

Hope this helps.

 

[METALMICKY]

LEMONADE?

I prefer grape aid myself

BoT . . .I have a few friends who use, I'll ask . . .and a very good friend who's a professor of ear derived subjects. . . We discussed in ear monitors for gigs recently, and the bottom line is, you need to spend to get something good, cheap shit will probably do more harm than good.

IF you can buy good in ear monitors for a grand to £1500 my suggestion is shop around . . . And not necessarily in portugal.

I'm confused. He just wants normal hearing aids not in ear monitors so he can hear what the drummer is playing

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

https://toyscentral.uk/products/sol...fQgJkFE8CTDCXUO_lygrGGKlT3BLOGeRoCp14QAvD_BwE

 

[Fungus]

Yes I have cross aids. Having experienced bilateral hearing loss for a number of years, I have been wearing aids for some time. Early 2023 I experienced Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) on one side, which has no chance of being restored, hence I have no hearing on the impacted side, and was provided with (NHS) cross-aids, which, as you state pass sound to the 'better' side.

Do they work? - 'ish (for me) they do pass sound to the good side but it's still very difficult to hear sufficiently, and I do tend to turn my head to the good side to try to improve hearing. I guess it depends on what you are dispensed, different NHS trusts issue different makes and models, with different features, mine are not Bluetooth for example and I've purchased one of these: https://www.phonak.com/content/dam/...documents/user_guide_compilot_ii_029-0308.pdf - it's all a bit of a post code lottery. I'm at the stage where I'm now researching private options, I would/will pay privately if they are an improvement on those that I have. Private dispensers appear to allow you to return options after a short trial period, if they do not work for you. My biggest problem is tinnitus, the brain still try's to 'hear' from the impacted side, which is at times a real inconvenience and nuisance.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, that’s interesting. My wife is going for a 90 hearing test with a new, local, independent private company that can source aids from various providers. And, yes it looks like it’s going to be expensive, because she’s one for the latest tech with Bluetooth and everything. I wish she’d looked into it all years ago, as it’s quite disruptive to our social life - I don’t think she even realises how much. I hope the trial period is successful, but at the moment we don’t know what we don’t know, so I’m sure there will be a learning curve.

 

[Fungus]

Sorry I can’t help with the cross system hearing aids, that’s new to me.

Good timing of thread though. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears with my right ear being slightly worse a couple of years ago and given quite small NHS aids. My hearing has not been great all my life as when I was a baby my eardrums burst after an ear infection. Years of being in bands and going to gigs/listening to music too loudly has made them worse - you just don’t listen to those warnings when you’re young do you?!

Anyway, the NHS aids I’ve been given are really quite discreet but as I’m (only) 42 I’ve struggled with vanity and not really worn them much, my hearing is not that bad that I can get away with it. I probably need to get over myself though!

Anyway, I went for a check up a couple of weeks ago and been recommend to have an MRI on the right ear as it’s got ever so slightly worse (left ear the same). Apparently this is something they do when hearing deteriorates in one ear more than the other to see if they can work out what’s causing this and if there is a non cancerous growth on the nerve (I believe from research this is called an accoustic neuroma). Has anyone on here with hearing worse in one ear than the other experienced this?

Thanks. It would be good to know the cause of my wife’s deafness, but I assume it’s congenital. Luckily, she’s never liked rock music - it’s just “noise” to her! In your situation, I’d definitely want the MRI scan. Good luck!

By the way, we were told that wearing aids can help to slow hearing loss - we didn’t quite understand the logic, but I assume it’s something to do with stimulating the sound processing parts of the brain? I’m old enough to know that vanity is a bastard, so keep wearing them!

 

[Daddies_Sauce]

Thanks, that’s interesting. My wife is going for a 90 hearing test with a new, local, independent private company that can source aids from various providers. And, yes it looks like it’s going to be expensive, because she’s one for the latest tech with Bluetooth and everything. I wish she’d looked into it all years ago, as it’s quite disruptive to our social life - I don’t think she even realises how much. I hope the trial period is successful, but at the moment we don’t know what we don’t know, so I’m sure there will be a learning curve.

Does you wife currently have any NHS aids, if so has she tried to obtain cross aids from them? that would give her a bench mark to gauge any improvement.

Social life disruption - oh yes, it's so very difficult in at lot of situations.

 

[Fungus]

Does you wife currently have any NHS aids, if so has she tried to obtain cross aids from them? that would give her a bench mark to gauge any improvement.

Social life disruption - oh yes, it's so very difficult in at lot of situations.

No, she’s never worn aids, and it’s only recently we became aware of cross-aids, so it’s a whole new world to explore. I’m afraid she doesn’t have much faith in NHS services - our Trust seems to suffer in the postcode lottery, being down here in the far west.

 

[zefarelly]

I'm confused. He just wants normal hearing aids not in ear monitors so he can hear what the drummer is playing

So am I.

Quality, not quantity.

 

[Weststander]

I may have to bite the bullet on getting hearing aids at some stage. Paying the price for 25 years of live music and other amplified music at venues. I was first informed about 15 years ago by the top ENT consultant in the Brighton area, then confirmed today at another hearing test. Loss of hearing across the mid the high range to an extent in both ears. The advice today was not to go for entirely in the ear aids because I have narrow ear canals, the devices would effectively block my natural hearing which is still decent. Interestingly, the sooner you act the better, because the part of the brain that processes sound starts to permanently shut down when not receiving signals. Before that point, help via hearing aids trains it up again, giving a hearing virtuous circle.

The worst situations for me are; cafes with background noise, especially the oaf excessively banging when making Cappuccino's, trying to hear my mumbling teenage daughter, some TV dramas with constant background music and no subtitles option, or noisy loud groups on nearby tables when out and about.

Naively, taken aback by the £3.5k plus cost.

Any other recommendations? Anyone rate Specsavers for service, devices and lower cost?

 

[happypig]

I may have to bite the bullet on getting hearing aids at some stage. Paying the price for 25 years of live music and other amplified music at venues. I was first informed about 15 years ago by the top ENT consultant in the Brighton area, then confirmed today at another hearing test. Loss of hearing across the mid the high range to an extent in both ears. The advice today was not to go for entirely in the ear aids because I have narrow ear canals, the devices would effectively block my natural hearing which is still decent. Interestingly, the sooner you act the better, because the part of the brain that processes sound starts to permanently shut down when not receiving signals. Before that point, help via hearing aids trains it up again, giving a hearing virtuous circle.

The worst situations for me are; cafes with background noise, especially the oaf excessively banging when making Cappuccino's, trying to hear my mumbling teenage daughter, some TV dramas with constant background music and no subtitles option, or noisy loud groups on nearby tables when out and about.

Naively, taken aback by the £3.5k plus cost.

Any other recommendations? Anyone rate Specsavers for service, devices and lower cost?

Get NHS issue hearing aids first and see if they fit your needs before spending anything.
Also be sceptical of what private providers will promise you.

 

[Sirnormangall]

I may have to bite the bullet on getting hearing aids at some stage. Paying the price for 25 years of live music and other amplified music at venues. I was first informed about 15 years ago by the top ENT consultant in the Brighton area, then confirmed today at another hearing test. Loss of hearing across the mid the high range to an extent in both ears. The advice today was not to go for entirely in the ear aids because I have narrow ear canals, the devices would effectively block my natural hearing which is still decent. Interestingly, the sooner you act the better, because the part of the brain that processes sound starts to permanently shut down when not receiving signals. Before that point, help via hearing aids trains it up again, giving a hearing virtuous circle.

The worst situations for me are; cafes with background noise, especially the oaf excessively banging when making Cappuccino's, trying to hear my mumbling teenage daughter, some TV dramas with constant background music and no subtitles option, or noisy loud groups on nearby tables when out and about.

Naively, taken aback by the £3.5k plus cost.

Any other recommendations? Anyone rate Specsavers for service, devices and lower cost?

I suffer increasingly from tinnitus and will soon have hearing aids on NHS. Thought I’d try that first before private. Maybe we should all meet and shout out our experiences to each other

 

[Seagull58]

I'm not in the UK so I don't have access to NHS hearing aids but the ones I bought 2 1/2 years cost €2250 and are from a sister company to the one that provides the NHS aids (Audax, I think). The quotes I got from two other companies were both over €4000 and, despite their marketing hype about the number of channels that could be tuned, didn't sound any different to me.

 

[BN9 BHA]

I suffer increasingly from tinnitus and will soon have hearing aids on NHS. Thought I’d try that first before private. Maybe we should all meet and shout out our experiences to each other

Do you find that they help with your tinnitus?
I have really bad tinnitus in one ear and recently got NHS hearing aids after some tests, I have slight hearing loss in my ear with tinnitus.
Found i definitely can’t wear the hearing aids all the time though.