Hello everyone
I have been having hearing loss for a while (since my early 30s, now late) now and have pulled up the courage to see if aids will help.
I am currently on a trial of the Lumity 50 and 70, with initially with open-dome and now with active-vent. With the main reason for trying the latter being my desire to stream music and pod-casts.
The context for my question, is that during the trial period, I have had one audiologist saw that my hearing loss (refer to my profile) pattern is “tricky”, and tried me on open domes to “preserve” the native low frequency hearing I have. This is the audiologist who has been doing my adjustments. Another audiologist, who I visited to shop around for hearing aid qoutes, said that trying other domes, including the active-vent, would be better.
I personally have noted improvements, albeit not necessarily “wow”, and the 2nd audiologist said that it’s likely due to suboptimal programming and a lack of REM (which were not done by 1st audiologist, unless I actually buy the aids). I am mindful that 2nd audiologist has a vested interest to get my business, although the consult was free.
As such could I ask
- what the hive-mind thinks about my situation?
- For those who have used active-vents, should the receiver stick out of the ear? I ask because I use stethoscopes, which were fine with closed dome RIC, but not so good with the Active-vent, when used in the ear. I have wondered if it’s just the generic tip that does this or, will a custom do it too.
Extra context
a. I am in Australia.
b. The price difference for the same product between the two audiologists is dramatic (about 4k AUD).
c. I work in healthcare (hospital emergency department) and use a stethoscope. The stethoscope, whilst bluetooth, is tricky to use with the active-vent.
d. I am limited to Phonak, due to pricing and current quotes available to me. I also like the water-resistance (for sweat and rain) of the Life series, as much as I am aware that there is alot of marketing magic behind it.
Thank you for you thoughts.