Good morning/evening everyone …
im 28 yo new hearing aid user , back in 2017 i was diagnosed with SHL … i have got oticon Opn S1 Ric for 5 months and things were great until a sudden illness occurred (fever and inflammation in my inner ears) , after i recovered i noticed out my hearing got worse and i run a hearing tests to find out i lost around 25 db in 2000-5000Hz and 15 db in 500-1000hz.
Currently am using 85 db receiver and my audiologist said the receiver almost reached its maximum potential. and to be honest even after the adjustments (been a month) i feel my aids are so annoying and in crowded places the sound is so High and unclear ( also so distorted) it feel like listening to a broken radio especially when listening to a song … i called him and he said i have to Change from Bass 2 vents domes to Custom mold and run a new fitting appointment.
What do you think guys ? i like my domes ( double vents 8mm) it was a really great months with my new aids but now i feel lost 
… any recommendations for custom molds type ? also based on my audiogram does switching to 100db is neccessary ? Hint i do use a feature that called speech rescue that worked great for me . (audiologist isn’t very expert and there is no much to expect near where i live )
I am sure some of the others know better than me but I think that you could benefit from speech recovery, and ear molds. and more than likely stronger receivers.
hmm, you qualify for a Cochlear Implant? it looks like it based on your current audiogram…
Evening sir , am not sure i understand the speech recovery part .
as for now i still can manage person to person chat and phone calls just fine (none female or kids ofc) .
currently i have spent my whole day without the aids since they become uncomfortable with all tones leakage and unclear speech when i have to deal with more than 2 people around me …
am not sure to be honest , my word recognition score was good (before i got sick). did only hearing test for tones at the Doctor … as i still can do 1 to 1 chat . my highest loss is at 4k 110db
have you been retested after your illness, by a hearing professional, and you may need to see an ENT, you may have fluid behind the ear drum.
i have had my ears checked at the doctor when i realized after recovery my hearing got worse … went immediately to him and my audiologist .
Doc offered some medications and i feel pretty healthy rn .
My audiologist adjusted my aids with the new audiogram , he knew i needed a fitting appointment for a new molds and reprogram … the 100db receiver was recommended from the doctor as well .
after your illness what is you word recognition scores. Also like I said earlier setting the aids to speech recovery may help. It lowers the information from the upper frequencies to lower frequencies that you can hear better in.
i actually haven’t done Words test yet cuz my doctor insisted to wait for couple weeks.
i will see my audiologist in 4 days we will run new tests …
my word recognition before illness was 80% .
i will uplode my old Hearing test audiogram here
1)Speech Rescue is Oticon’s form of frequency lowering. Higher frequency sounds that one can’t hear are shifted down to lower frequencies so one can hear them. In your case, I’m not convinced you have enough space to shift them to.
2) It’s pretty clear 85dB receivers are going to be inadequate for that loss. If you’re going to try new receivers, I’d go for the 105dB ones.
3) When you hear the higher tones, do you still hear them as tones or do they sound like static? If they sound like static, it would suggest cochlear dead spots.
4)I too think an evaluation for a cochlear implant is in order.
Keep us posted!
Is your issue sensorineural (auditory nerve) or conductive? If conductive, a bone assisted hearing aid (BAHA) may be appropriate, and much simpler than a cochlear implant.
I have a power aid in my right ear, with custom molds in both ears. I also have blocked the vent in my right ear. this boosts bass response, but may impede hearing voices. Works well for me.
I also have a Cochlear brand Osia BAHA. The damn thing is terrific. I only use HA’s for playing my classical guitar and live concerts, along with the Osia. but my auditory nerve is perfectly fine.
Thank you sir for your reply.
i will make sure to update my statu once i make it to audiologist .
-about speech rescue atm with my 85db its really helpful i have got 2 general programs one with the SR On and another without (both high frequencies bands ON)
i still can sense the benefits out of it like my car noises and alarms microwave and the clocks still can be heard with SR on , On the other hand without SR i have to foucs more to hear these sounds (more harder) but still sensible
before my illness i managed to hear birds, cockroachs and Water drops on both programs .
-Doc said its too early for cochlear as he believe i have chance to recover some of my recently lost db he recommended to get the 100 db receiver and my audiologist also recommended to switch from domes to molds which he asked me to decide if i want them Acrylic or silcon , hard or soft colored or not … i preferred the transparent acrylic abit more .
- For high tones : i did hear 2k 4k 5k but 7k / 8k were static
-i will do new word recognition test before updating my aids and will do Rem after switching to 100db receiver
-105 db wasn’t recommended from my audiologist , he said that i was able to speak with him over the phone without any aids and also with the notes i made it may cuz some troubles for the sound clarity, my ear canals small abit .( has no clue what that mean but he was impressed that i managed to speak with him without repeating many What!? ) … - will update you guys on my next fittings appointment.
Thank you
The 100dB receiver is massive overkill for that loss. There’s the possibility of dead-spots on that Audiogram
Bigger coils and larger diaphragms aren’t doing you or your batteries huge favours.
Certainly defer to your experience, but wouldn’t 100dB be better than 85dB at 1500 Hz? I’m unclear on what OP means that he was tested at 5k, 7k and 8k as that is not typical. Seems pretty clear that 6k and 8k are cochlear dead areas, and even 2k ahd 4k look pretty iffy.
Look at the actual differences in output on the Full On Gain (FOG) levels between the two receivers.
excuse my Typo it was 6k and 8k****
and yeah my doctor did test my 5k ranges on external device and i managed to hear it hardly.
am not sure what to say sir , in 3 days i will run new hearing evaluation test .
Doctor told me to be optimistic .
as for 2k and 4k my i have them 105 and 110 after illness occurred.
Nothing wrong with using them if you need them: after all I can’t see the size of your canals or do a REM, to see the in-situ output, and note the losses from your mould etc.
Whatever works for you, my point was more a general reference to your Audiogram and the typical receivers we’d use.
I’d probably abandon above 3Khz as the ‘return’ is unlikely to be worth it.
so ur recommendation is to keep the 85db receiver and switch to custome Molds and amplify only up to 3k-4k Hz ranges ?.
audiologist said my domes drawing me back .
Should i ask audiologist to do a tones test while using the current set to check if Higher frequencies are completely dead or not ?