Thank you. She sees the audiologist tomorrow and I’ve summarized all the wisdom I’ve received on this thread. I’ll let you all know what he says (or does, more importantly!). As I told another person on the thread, my mom started wearing hearing aids at about age 87, 13 years ago. She was fit by an audiologist near where she used to live with Widex Evoke (with batteries). When she lost on of them (when she moved up to Massachusetts) that’s when we started to look for a replacement. So she’s not a stranger to rehabilitation, although I don’t think she wore her series of replacement hearing aids consistently for as long as you suggest, but that’s because she couldn’t hear with them so she was continually frustrated.
Her audiologist wrote that he thought she should try Ia set of the newest Phonak devices that she could try. He writes, “the widex devices can be made louder. They are “power” devices. They can be made as loud as they need to be. We can raise the volume if that would make a difference but generally more power does not equate to clarity for most patients.”
See the definition of “fitting range” of particular receivers. There may be S, M, P or UP receivers (small, medium, power, ultrapower).
Regarding “more power doesn’t equate to clarity”—yes, it’s possible, especially in patients who have a poor percentage of Word Recognition Score in quiet (WRS). Usually, even the best-fitted hearing aid cannot overcome the WRS score ceiling…
For example, if someone achieves the best 70% word recognition score (WRS) with an 80 dB signal, hearing aids could help achieve that 70% with a quieter signal or in noise, but no more than that 70%.
This is a rule of thumb. Someone may correct me if I am wrong.
Actually, that’s exactly what I thought because I wear Widex and when I bought new hearing aids, I tried other brands but landed back at Widex because I liked the sound. However, the Widex Moment that she is wearing are completely frustrating to her and she can only hear someone who is sitting next to her in a quiet space. I wonder if the suggestion (above) of getting something more basic would make a difference?
So we did go to the audiologist. He didn’t endorse the idea of the Genesis and didn’t think it would make a difference. Why do you think it might? (I feel so caught in between knowledgeable people, and do recognize that everyone has an opinion, but I had no reason to say that this would be worth trying, especially because it seems as if it must be molded to my mom’s ears, yes?) He was going to order a remote hand control for volume for her Widex Moment. I will look at the Oticon Own 3. Please let me know why you think that a full shell in the ear would be a good option to help her hear better. As I’ve told each of you, she is motivated to hear and be part of conversations and is a person who gets a lot out of each day, and honestly is not a typical 100 year old woman. I wish I could introduce her to you on Facetime—you’d be scratching your head saying wow, if this is 100, sign me up!
Why is a remote control needed for the Widex Moment HAs? I have Widex Moment 330s and use the free Widex Moment app on my iPhone to give me control on volume, access to switch programs, and adjust Bass/Middle/Treble tones.
However I could be mistaken and your mother’s HAs are the lowest level where I gather there the app can’t be used?
Using a smart phone isn’t necessarily old hat for older folks. A remote control can be a lot more natural way to do things for them. It can also be a bit more discreet than pulling out a phone and poking at it in the middle of a conversation.
At the end of the day, she’s got a flat 60dB loss - the actual manufacturer of her hearing aids matters less than what works for her personally.
I suggested the (rechargeable Starkey/ non-rechargeable Oticon) In The Ear option because:
1, She won’t have an occlusion issue due to her low frequency hearing level.
2, It should be easy to wear.
3, The volume control should be accessible.
You then mentioned she’d been wearing a Widex aid for years. The Audiologist ’should’ have offered her another one, but didn’t, because he/she has had their head turned by Phonak.
It’s like if she’d been driving a Volvo Stationwagon for 20 years and they’ve just put her in a Porsche Taycan. Yes, it goes very fast between charges and it can change direction like a house-fly: but I’m pretty sure the ability to go from 0-100-0mph is somewhat lost on her.
There is probably a lot here that is hard to know just hearing about someone on the internet. I second (third, fourth?) the recommendation for REM. What are the chances that your mum has small, collapsing ear canals that lead to a shallow ITE build and a very poor feedback measure that is dramatically limiting the available gain? That is something that could explain why she can only hear the person right next to her.
Ah, Paul in New Zealand. How I wish! The internet happened before she could get on the train and she absolutely cannot figure out how to use a cell phone or her ipad. Trust me, we’ve tried and tried. It’s a sadness for all of us who are her children (um, very old adult children) so while the hearing aids can connect to an iphone, she won’t use one, or rather, can’t use one consistently. There is something with her fine motor and swiping that just doesn’t work for her—it’s odd. So that’s why we thought a simple remote control for volume would work. She uses a TV remote, so this isn’t that different. What she is wearing ar Widex 440 Moment that are just a year old. She is open to the possibility of putting in custom molds, although I’m not sure if that suggestion really makes sense.
I agree. I guess he has some that she could demo, but when I asked about shell in the ear he didn’t think it was a good idea, maybe because the Starkey Genesis has to have a custom mold? I looked at the Oticon Own 3 and that doesn’t look like it has a custom mold. The reason we are trying SO hard with the audiologist she’s using is that he comes to her independent living community once a week so it’s so much easier for her to just go downstairs to see him than to get transportation. What’s your experience with Oticon Own?
I would stick with Widex. i have a bizarre story to tell I was convinced to go with Oticon Real One… Audiologist tried to program the best she could, the quality of what got was not that good too much treble after 3 programming efforts. Same, not good. My Widex pair was 12 Years Old. I had with a new mike wire that put Oticon ($6.000) to shame These12 year Widex were much better. (Unbelievable)
