Let's talk hearing aids (again?)

I saw an audiologist about getting the BAHA. She let me try a strap on ....I was not impressed with the sound quality. She did the spectral adjustment for my loss....but, it sounded like I was in a barrel.

I since am seeing another specialist for reconstructive inner surgery. I might be a candidate...and it will improve the hearing loss. I have transmission loss....not nerve damage (common with older age). I do have some regular loss in both ears....

 

They're pretty amenable to it because the pre-RELAD hearing test (at least in the past) wasn't very comprehensive, was often administered by a medic/corpsman, and could easily miss some types of hearing loss.

If you have a statement from a "civilian" ENT that suggests the possibility of service-related hearing loss that was missed on the pre-RELAD exam, VA should offer to at least evaluate you. Where they go with it is regionally dependent. Some regions are better than others.

Rich

 

Time for first impressions...

I picked up my hearing aids (Resound Preza’s) at Costco a week ago Thursday, and had my one week followup yesterday. Quite pleased overall.

Not what I expected. I envisioned that with my 40% hearing loss, hearing aids would just make everything 40% louder. That’s not how it works. Most of my loss was mid to high frequencies. My domes - the little rubber tips that go in the ear canal - are highly vented, so most sounds reach my ears unmodified. What gets amplified is the mid to high frequencies. The overall effect is that everything sounds a bit more “brittle”, and I hear stuff I was otherwise missing - my feet shuffling on a tile floor, the sharp “click” of my iPad’s home button, that sort of thing. While I could barely hear my turn signals, I now pick up nuances in the clicking I never knew were there. On the down side, I’m also hearing little squeaks and rattles in my cars and trucks I also didn’t know were there.

I occasionally wonder how effective the hearing aids are when watching TV, let’s say, and I use the iPhone app to mute them. Immediately the sound turns “muddy”, and the difference is quite noticeable. The app lets me set up different “profiles” for different environments and gets the job done.

One disappointment is the sound quality of Bluetooth input, best described a “tinny”. Podcasts are tolerable, music is not. Apparently that’s due to the venting of the domes - to get better sound quality may mean smaller vents, which can lead to other annoyances, mainly what’s described as a “stuffy” feeling that one does not get used to. Eventually I may experiment, including custom molds, but the audiologist suggests the open venting is appropriate to my level of loss. As an aside, the domes get a bit “itchy” from all-day wear. I got some drops at Costco that are supposed to help, but have not tried them yet.

Anyway, that’s my impression after just one week. Will update as I adapt. Curious as to how this compares/contrasts with other’s experiences.

 

Interesting to hear back. Those are very similar results to what I found.

The first thing that really hit me was when the aid (I only have one, in my left ear) was turned on. I could hear the "t" and "p" sounds when the audiologist was talking to me. The before/after difference was really stunning.

I've played around with various settings, but the generic setting seems to be most useful. Maybe it's because I've gotten used to it. The open domes are meant to allow ambient sounds through, and that's sort of a problem when it comes to streaming music. I can use ear buds even with my aid and that works better for me.

You are right about hearing squeaks and rattles in the car.

It's been about 6 months for me now, and I rarely notice the dome in my ear anymore.

 

Probably a boring little anecdote, but...

Yesterday we were in a shop and Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon was playing. I wondered how much the hearing aids were helping and turned them off, and immediately what I assume was a snare drum marking the beat in the background was totally lost. I mean, without the hearing aid I would never have known it was there. Going back and forth and literally turning the snare drum on and off was just kinda weird.

I assume others with hearing aids have had similar experiences, but this impressed me with how much hearing acuity one can lose and not even be aware of what they're missing.

 

PIREP request on how the hearing aids perform (fit, form, function) while using headsets in the airplane?
What about with electronic ear muffs for shooting?
Earpiece for com radios (security team?)

 

My DC passive fit just fine. They seal up in such a way that I don't get a feedback squeal. But after a long flight, several hours, I can start to feel the pinch. It's a combination of the aid plus sunglasses getting squeezed. Next time I'll probably remove the aid and do without while flying, or work a little more on getting the headset to sit "just right".

RIC aids have a very small footprint in your ear. Ear buds will fit, but any earpieces that fit inside the canal won't work with the aid in place.

 

I use this kind of in-the-ear for my handheld radio ... I guess I would see if they can "co-exist"

 

So....I never got the bone conduction hearing aids. Thinking of revisiting them. My hearing is deteriorating and I started using cheap amplifiers and they are helping.

Can anyone provide feed back on their experience with BAHA and the implant surgery? Any are there any FAA medical implications?