Hearing test

[1shot]

Powderbrake,
That is great news, I'll check it out.
LHSmith,
The aids that I looked at were rechargeable units that you just placed in a docking station in the evening. The Dr. said the batteries will last the life of the aid.
I'm going to look at the Starkeys to see if I like them better, as the Phonaks didn't impress me at all, even at that price.
Thanks,

Lloyd

 

[normmatzen]

Dave,

Some of your judgments on your new hearing aids are very common. It turns out our hearing, as well as other senses, are very adaptable. When you have been having hearing difficulties for a number of years, that sound you are used to is what your brain decodes as "normal." When you get new aids, they are custom set for your prescription needs and supply enough gain to get back the soft sound response you had when you were 20! Also, you may have a high frequency deficit or even a low frequency deficit. These are corrected as well. Now, with your new aids, your brain is exposed to sound combinations you haven't
heard for years. So, your brain tags these sounds as "noise." It will take 6-8 weeks to really get used to these new sound spectrums. This is called the "Gatehouse Effect" named for Dr. Gatehouse, a Scottish physicist who specialized in the physics of hearing. This is the most demanding task for an audiologist or hearing aid specialist, to coach the new user to stick with it and it will sound great! If you cannot discipline yourself to wear the aids up to 8 hrs per day, every day, you will have a hard time adapting.

 

[JRS]

Dave,

Some of your judgments on your new hearing aids are very common. It turns out our hearing, as well as other senses, are very adaptable. When you have been having hearing difficulties for a number of years, that sound you are used to is what your brain decodes as "normal." When you get new aids, they are custom set for your prescription needs and supply enough gain to get back the soft sound response you had when you were 20! Also, you may have a high frequency deficit or even a low frequency deficit. These are corrected as well. Now, with your new aids, your brain is exposed to sound combinations you haven't
heard for years. So, your brain tags these sounds as "noise." It will take 6-8 weeks to really get used to these new sound spectrums. This is called the "Gatehouse Effect" named for Dr. Gatehouse, a Scottish physicist who specialized in the physics of hearing. This is the most demanding task for an audiologist or hearing aid specialist, to coach the new user to stick with it and it will sound great! If you cannot discipline yourself to wear the aids up to 8 hrs per day, every day, you will have a hard time adapting.

Well done, Norm. The brain.

 

[300_whisper]

I just got scheduled for a hearing test with a clinical audiologist. Maybe I should say lack of hearing test! LOL
Regardless, those of you that have hearing issues, what advice can you offer as to what type of devices are out there for daily use? Pros/cons, price etc.
Thanks,

Lloyd

Just pray to god you never get tinnitus. I’m 29 and have it in my left ear and I want to run head first into a concrete wall.

I started running peltors and they are amazing for everyday shooting use. I use them at the range and when I go hunting. Amplifies regular sound but blocks out gunshots and other loud noises. Highly recommend. A real step up in hearing protection.

Can’t help in the hearing aid department because tinnitus doesn’t count as actual hearing loss (according to Uncle Sam)

 

[Tnslim]

My cousin is having this procedure sometime this coming spring and i'm waiting on his results to decide if I want to go this route. Not sure of the costs involved but does seem to be a better idea than hearing aids. One possible problem is affected balance over the age of 70, I'm 67, so mighty close to the cutoff point. These systems bypass the damaged part of your ear and use an electronic signal to improve your hearing. I told my cousin that he would need to screw some bolts into the implants to get the Frankenstein effect.
https://www.advancedbionics.com/us/...ZtcuqfjQjAFirFKDE0QqmlFY47QmzpzBoCerAQAvD_BwE

 

[swd]

Sorry but I have to disagree with part of that Norm. I've been wearing mine for three and a half years, over 12 hours a day every day and they do not sound "great". They now sound "normal" but it's a new normal, not what I used to be able to hear.

Most folks hearing loss, mine included, is in the upper frequencies with an audiogram that looks like a ski jump. We've forgotten all the sounds like the stupid birds and silverware clanging. In time we adjust to this "new normal" - for the most part.

What hearing aids cannot do, at least the RIC type, is effectively amplify the low frequencies. It's not physically possible to build a sub-woofer that fits in an ear canal. But it is possible to deliver those frequencies, amplified, through a reasonably priced pair of over the ear headphones. I have the gizmo that sends the TV audio to my HA's and I tried it for a couple weeks. The difference between that and my Sennheisers is like night and day. The gizmo has been in the box every since.

I had cataract surgery last year and went from 20/200 corrected to 20/20 without glasses. Now that was great! On a scale of one to ten I'll give that a ten. On the same scale I give hearing aids a six. Life is much better with them. They're a necessity for sure and I'll never be without a pair. I have a wife and daughters and granddaughters and I care what they say. I no longer drive for hours with my turn signal on. I can hear the car when it/she says "Low fuel - should I look for the closest filling station?" I also hear a lot of crap that I wish I didn't but that's a lifestyle/personal choice problem and not the HA's fault.

But anyone who needs HA's and is considering spending a fair sum for them should be aware that they do not restore the "normal" hearing remembered from years gone by. They will make it better but they can't make you a virgin again.

Oddly one of things I miss is crickets in the summer. Can you hear them with hearing aids? My tinnitus is so loud I'm not sure even restoring some of my high end would bring them back.

 

[1shot]

Just pray to god you never get tinnitus. I’m 29 and have it in my left ear and I want to run head first into a concrete wall.

I started running peltors and they are amazing for everyday shooting use. I use them at the range and when I go hunting. Amplifies regular sound but blocks out gunshots and other loud noises. Highly recommend. A real step up in hearing protection.

Can’t help in the hearing aid department because tinnitus doesn’t count as actual hearing loss (according to Uncle Sam)

Unfortunately, I have had tinnitus for most of my adult life.

Lloyd

 

[Macropod]

I have continual tinnitus, loud enough to drown out the same frequencies in a hearing test. Caffeine makes it worse but I will not forego a good coffee.

 

[normmatzen]

Dave Berg,
I am not talking from a purely theoretical position. In addition to working for Etymotic Research for 10 years plus consulting another 8-10 years, I also wear hearing aids!
Some losses such as a precipitous high frequency loss (as I have) can not be helped with hearing aids. At least not yet! Most men with precipitous high frequency loss have it because of damaged inner hair cells. With damaged hair cells in the cochlea, there is no electronic means to correct it. However most folks with proper performing aids still have a 5 dB deficit in ability to hear speech in noise. That means we need a factor of two lower "noise" to not mask the sounds we are trying to hear. One can get back that 5 dB with the simple addition of directional microphones. When you were fitted with your aids, were you offered directional mics? Did you say no as they cost a couple hundred dollars? I have a mild hearing loss (25 dB HL) but I have a hard time with speech in noise so my aids have directional mics. They are great for meeting rooms full of many folks talking at once or in restaurants, as well as hearing my wife when she is talking in a high noise background.
Another factor some hearing aid dispensers and audiologists down play causing discontent with their patients is some aids have abysmal frequency response! I am lucky, I still have access to analog aids and in general they offer a purer sound experience. Many digital aids have minimum high frequency response. The digital aid has the advantage of software tailored to make the hearing experience more comfortable but there is no digital magic that makes poor fidelity acceptable. Ask your dispenser what the frequency response of your aids is and I'll bet he or she doesn't have a clue! There is an old stereotype among hearing aid manufacturers that people with poor hearing do not need high fidelity. 20-30 years ago my boss at Etymotic, Dr. Killion, wrote a peer reviewed paper based on his research that proved even hard of hearing folks can tell if they are hearing high fidelity or garbled hash!
As to not being able to produce low frequencies in a hearing aid, that is patently false! The main cause of poor low frequency response is a poor seal in the ear canal. Etymotic has been making high quality insert ear phones for 20 odd years and the ER-4 version is considered the studio standard for high quality sound. Right, they use hearing aid receivers!

 

[yukonal]

I have a set of Starkey hearing aids, and they are very good.

I have had other brands and I recommend the Starkey, which is supposedly the brand that some of our Presidents have worn.

NOTE!!!! If you are a NRA member, hearing aid discount benefits are part of your membership. http://www.nrahearingbenefits.com/

Me too, and they have really helped me. Once I got serious, and really started wearing them, things got better for me. (I have tinnitus)

And I have a great audiologist that really knows her stuff. I tell her about an issue, and she turns her computer screen towards me so I can see it, and makes individual adjustments as we go...until they are perfect. Fine tunes them while I watch her screen, while they are in my ears!

A good set of aids, and a great audiologist will help you a bunch!

 

[Medic505]

Jeeesh, this is gonna suck!

Lloyd,
Thanks for starting this thread. And to everybody who has posted your experiences, thank you very much also.

From what I can gather I'm in the same boat as Lloyd. I've been putting this off for more years than my wife would like. I remember too well when my dad got hearing aids. I went by his house a couple weeks later and he wasn't wearing them. I ask why. His reply was, "there are things a man just don't need to hear". Best one was when he said he took a whiz for the first time with them in. He said he thought he was at Niagara Falls.... That I could live without.

 

[yukonal]

Best one was when he said he took a whiz for the first time with them in. He said he thought he was at Niagara Falls....

Ya, that was an eye opener for me too...lmao!

 

[LHSmith]

Oddly one of things I miss is crickets in the summer. Can you hear them with hearing aids? My tinnitus is so loud I'm not sure even restoring some of my high end would bring them back.

I can hear crickets. I hear them every waking minute.That's my good days. On bad days (too much caffeine) I hear a D-8 Cat's screeching tracks. This has been my normal for years. I just learn to live with it.

 

[swd]

I can hear crickets. I hear them every waking minute.That's my good days. On bad days (too much caffeine) I hear a D-8 Cat's screeching tracks. This has been my normal for years. I just learn to live with it.

Between aspirin and caffeine I hope I'll be able to hear them again one of these days. The brakes on my truck squeal, drives my daughter crazy. Doesn't bother me a bit since I can't hear it..

 

[Deton8tor]

I lost 80% hearing in my right ear and a bit over 15 in my left due to an explosion during a EOD training exercise. The tech's wiring was wrong. Anyway, I just got my 3rd set from Oticon, about 6,500. I have to say they are the best I have ever used. I can actually hear almost everything my wife says, which may be bad!!

 

[1shot]

Medic505,
You are most welcome. This has been a real learning experience for me. I took the advice of "powderbrake" and contacted the NRA hearing benefits group. http://www.nrahearingbenefits.com/Hearing-Benefits
They were seeming very helpful and got me into a HA office right away. In fact, I'm going there this morning. The carry Starkey line. I have all the printouts from my exam last week, so we shall see what today brings.
Thanks all,

Lloyd

 

[normmatzen]

First,
Cochlear implants are NOT just another type of hearing aid!!!

They are for folks with virtually NO hearing. What the doctors do is cut a hole behind the ear in the skull and first, insert a probe into the part of the cochlea that is like a helix coil. This probe is fastened to an implant that is placed just under the skull and contains a magnetic metal plate. After all this heals, they place a "hearing aid" that has a strong magnet in it and it clings to the skull over the implanted electronics. Now, the "AID" instead of amplifying the sound, it actually puts electrical signals into the cochlea itself. This signal is not an analog signal but a digital signal with out a lot of the frequency or amplitude information we usually hear. Instead, the person that had no hearing before now has "hearing" but the sounds are no where near what natural sounds sound like. The persons brain must now learn to process these new sounds so as to be able to understand speech. As time goes on, cochlear implants get better fidelity, but still, not just a type of hearing aid! AND the cost doesn't even compare to a standard hearing aid.

Second,

There is a lot less difference between brands of hearing aids. They all now use inexpensive digital signal processors and attack hearing problems in much the same way. That is with signal compression as close to normal hearing as digitally possible and produce amplification that may include tailored frequency response. All the other bells and whistles and directional microphones are somewhat similar but specific to a manufacturer. Strangely, the overall majority of patents for directional microphones for hearing aids are owned by Etymotic Research!
This is why I always recommend COSTCO for your hearing aids. They have very competent hearing aid specialists and sell very competent aids made by different manufacturers. In fact, the cheapest aid they sell is house branded, but they look just like one of the more expensive aids they sell except for some small cosmetic differences! Some folks think that a more expensive product must be better. NOT ALWAYS TRUE!

 

[1shot]

1-18-18 update,
Went to the "hearing-aid salesman" and was greeted by a "sales specialist". I'm thinking car salesman here, but I couldn't have been more wrong. After looking at my paperwork from the visit to the audiologist the week before she said she wanted to look in my ears. I informed he of the wax plug removal and that the ear canals should be clear, but she wanted to take a look see anyhow. Suddenly, I'm looking at a very high resolution live image of my ear canals! She had inserted a fiber optic camera into my ear and I was viewing it on the screen in front of me. The right side was clear, but the left where the wax plug was removed was all scabbed over and looked like road rash.
None the less, she had me try on an office set of HA, then proceeded to tune them What a huge difference from my experience a week previous! They offered several different makers and a long list of models to choose from. The brands were NUEAR, Audibel, and Starkey. All had four different grades from basic to premium. Prices between brands were comparable within the grades.
Of these makes, have any of you had experience with them?
* As an aside note, the contact person from the company that was contracted by the NRA called me before I even got home from the appointment to see how everything went. How was my experience, did I have any questions, was there anything she could clarify for me.
I was really impressed with the level of customer service for the whole experience.
Any advice you can offer moving forward would be most appreciated.
Thanks,

Lloyd

 

[JRS]

1-18-18 update,
Went to the "hearing-aid salesman" and was greeted by a "sales specialist". I'm thinking car salesman here, but I couldn't have been more wrong. After looking at my paperwork from the visit to the audiologist the week before she said she wanted to look in my ears. I informed he of the wax plug removal and that the ear canals should be clear, but she wanted to take a look see anyhow. Suddenly, I'm looking at a very high resolution live image of my ear canals! She had inserted a fiber optic camera into my ear and I was viewing it on the screen in front of me. The right side was clear, but the left where the wax plug was removed was all scabbed over and looked like road rash.
None the less, she had me try on an office set of HA, then proceeded to tune them What a huge difference from my experience a week previous! They offered several different makers and a long list of models to choose from. The brands were NUEAR, Audibel, and Starkey. All had four different grades from basic to premium. Prices between brands were comparable within the grades.
Of these makes, have any of you had experience with them?
* As an aside note, the contact person from the company that was contracted by the NRA called me before I even got home from the appointment to see how everything went. How was my experience, did I have any questions, was there anything she could clarify for me.
I was really impressed with the level of customer service for the whole experience.
Any advice you can offer moving forward would be most appreciated.
Thanks,

Lloyd

The names you listed are Starkey brands. I used Starkey 2 times, and both experiences were terrible. COSTCO carried the Starkey brand many years ago, and there is a reason why they got away from them. My best experiences have been with Phonak. ReSound and Oticon are a close second place.

Edit: The arrangement between the NRA and Starkey isn't what it's cracked up to be. The discount you receive is taken off the MSRP. No one pays MSRP for hearing aids. You can purchase Starkey hearing aids for less than that.

 

[1shot]

Thanks JRS, thats good to know.
To all, The nearest Costco is 80 miles from me, so I'll be looking at closer alternatives.
Thanks,

Lloyd