New to Hearing Aids, Life is too Loud!!
joanne said:
We always used to laugh in lip reading class that if you're not careful, you can get caught out: 'my left shoe' looks like 'I love you' to a lip reader. So careful with communications and hearing impairment, and plan to perhaps backup with written info! (Or learn some simple Signs)
Now that's funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Useful stuff:
http://nj.gov/humanservices/ddhh/equipment/
http://www.adcohearing.com/
http://issuu.com/hearinghealthmagazine/docs/hearing_health_spring_2014
http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/current-issue
With out question I like program #2 the best. I have found that if is am someplace with my back to a hard wall I get a heck of an ecchoo, so I move. If I get too close to something or someone with an ear I get a whistle that sux.
Today was a real kicker. I was just vegging at my office computer and out of now where I had this VERY LOUD and scary Buzzz in my right ear. I slapped my ear. That was not too smart as it turns out. Then I saw the source, a small mosquito was a buzz around my head. I'm guessing that when I go close the system picked it up, Amped it up and pumped it into both ears LOUD.
Gotta watch that.
Joanne, thanx for the line. Tomorrow we are having dinner with some folks and one is a Lip Reader and Signer because her parents were deaf. I will whisper across the table so he spouse will hear it but not her, "my left shoe" and see what she does with it.
Good post. I noted today that I could hear people on the cell phone. Not the people in the room I am in, but the person on their ear piece. Kinda odd dropping into both sides of a conversation. And you are right, I hear birds chirping everywhere now.
Last night I told my wife I could hear a water drip in the living room. I checked all out and found no thing. Today my wife calls to tell me she sees a water spot on the celing in the living room. We called the super and he found a leak in the apartment above us.
Now that you said it, one of my Associates was walking out and when I said good night I made comment about the song she was playing. She turned and pulled an ear phone and asked me how I knew she had that song on. I did not think abut it, but as you said, she had it so loud that I could hear it.
Wow.
George, some people find that 'foot' works better than 'shoe' in that phrase! ;-) (depends on mouth shape)
I have to say that once I got a little familiar with Sign, whenever I saw people Signing in public, I always felt I was eavesdropping. Awkward...
jgberkeley said:
Dotty,
Good post. I noted today that I could hear people on the cell phone. Not the people in the room I am in, but the person on their ear piece. Kinda odd dropping into both sides of a conversation. And you are right, I hear birds chirping everywhere now.
...
Now that you said it, one of my Associates was walking out and when I said good night I made comment about the song she was playing. She turned and pulled an ear phone and asked me how I knew she had that song on. I did not think abut it, but as you said, she had it so loud that I could hear it.
I've noticed this a lot, and I don't wear hearing aids. However, the people with their cell phone volume up that high and their ipods at full volume will undoubtedly one day be future hearing aid customers.
Hello All,
I actually just joined this club on Wednesday and thought I might find some useful information here....I hope maybe we can revive this thread a bit.
George-
Has it gotten better?
In junior high school we would try whispering "elephant shoe" across the classroom, to stand in for "i love you". Amazingly we got a huge kick out of it!
re: hearing and the brain, they are intertwined. Your brain is re-learning all that normal stuff that hearing folks take for granted. So give you and your brain a bit of a break as you are dealing with baby steps with your new hearing aids. 
@jgberkeley - how satisfied are you now with your HAs? Did you stay with the ones you originally selected?
It took me about a week to get used to them, but I did go back three times in first 6 weeks for adjustments.
I am finding that by late afternoon my ears start to feel irritated/itchy. Also, they start moving out of place and need to be messed with more. I have open-fit.
This may be a dumb question, but do hearing aids simply amplify? I ask because my hearing has definitely suffered with age. However, I find a big difference between simply turning up the TV volume (for example) and using the kind of listening system Broadway theaters offer. The latter seem to make dialog more distinct, rather than just amplify it. Is the equivalent of such a system available for hearing aids?
Not a stupid question at all.
The things that you can buy at Walgreens or Amazon are called Personal Amplification Devices. You don't need a hearing test. The ones that are under $100 per ear are garbage, and just make everything louder. The pricier ones do a little better job of improving speech.
Hearing Aids require a hearing test by an audiologist or a licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist. They are programmable, and the person will program your aids to address your particular deficiencies. The word discrimination problem you speak of is exactly what I have, and is the most common type of mild-moderate loss. It means that hearing is impaired at the higher frequencies. They program the aids to amplify the frequencies where you are impaired, and may even suppress other frequencies and background noise.
I have been wearing hearing aids for close to 10 years and the changes in the models are amazing.
For me, when I don't wear the HA, hearing seems like I have a wad of cotton in my ears, wearing them takes that sound 'blocking' away allowing for better hearing. No HA can distinguish which sound your brain wants to listen to, so your brain learns to work with the HA's. If you have a fuzziness in understanding certain words or letter combinations, that will not change.
Some hearing aids and phones now allow you to BlueTooth from your phone to your HA, but that usually requires wearing something around your neck.
When you put your HA's away for the night, try to separate them in distance a bit-like an inch, some HA's continue communicating with each other even though the battery door is open. This leads to additional batter drain.
The tickling in your ear is also something you have to train yourself to ignore. Sometimes I am bothered by it, especially in warmer months, sometimes not. I have small ear canals so I removed the bell from the end, and that helped me with the tickling.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the insight. What's your experience been so far? Is the HA accomplishing what you'd hoped?
I find that I'm missing some dialogue while watching TV, even when amplified. Also, trouble hearing conversation in noisy situations (e.g., restaurants).
debby said:
Not a stupid question at all.
The things that you can buy at Walgreens or Amazon are called Personal Amplification Devices. You don't need a hearing test. The ones that are under $100 per ear are garbage, and just make everything louder. The pricier ones do a little better job of improving speech.
Hearing Aids require a hearing test by an audiologist or a licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist. They are programmable, and the person will program your aids to address your particular deficiencies. The word discrimination problem you speak of is exactly what I have, and is the most common type of mild-moderate loss. It means that hearing is impaired at the higher frequencies. They program the aids to amplify the frequencies where you are impaired, and may even suppress other frequencies and background noise.
I think it's a little soon to tell, but TV is definitely better - I have never asked for it to be raised, and I don't notice myself asking people to repeat themselves so much. I go back for my recheck today.
@mssumida thank you for the advice.
I think you are incorrect about this particular thing:
"If you have a fuzziness in understanding certain words or letter combinations, that will not change."
My clinician showed me on my audiogram that the consonants sounds k,t,f,s and th are in the frequencies for which I have a deficit. These are at the beginning and end of many, many words! The aids are programmed to enhance those frequencies.
debby said:
I think it's a little soon to tell, but TV is definitely better - I have never asked for it to be raised, and I don't notice myself asking people to repeat themselves so much. I go back for my recheck today.
@mssumida thank you for the advice.
I think you are incorrect about this particular thing:
"If you have a fuzziness in understanding certain words or letter combinations, that will not change."
My clinician showed me on my audiogram that the consonants sounds k,t,f,s and th are in the frequencies for which I have a deficit. These are at the beginning and end of many, many words! The aids are programmed to enhance those frequencies.
My current HA's are about 3 years old, so that frequency update maybe on the newer side, I am going to go to my Audiologist to see if that can be programmed into mine! As much as I want to listen to British Comedy's and Drama's I just can;t get past the accent and being able to comprehend what is being said. Restaurant noise can be tough, I have learned to watch peoples lips as they talk, and that helps tremendously.
Psst, I'm 59, been wearing them for 10 years, so feel free to ask about my experiences... Also, if you can get insurance for them, GET IT!
I am 50, and so far I am finding it to be a pleasant experience. I went back yesterday, and I described the physical/tactile issues I had been having, and he swapped the wires and the domes, and I am already much more comfortable. I must say, I have been VERY impressed with the service at Sam's Club. Incidentally, Costco and Sam's Club get top marks from Consumer reports.
Scotland