Hi Folks,
Here’s an update on my experience with KS hearing aids. I received them on Friday afternoon and have been wearing them just about full time now for four days. As a reminder, this is my first-ever set of hearing aids, so some of my experiences may be more related to the newness of hearing aids in general rather than the KS aids in particular. If so, I’d sure appreciate you’re pointing this out!
Overall, I’m pleased with how much better I’m hearing those who are important to me. I am amazed how infrequently I have to ask my wife to repeat herself because I didn’t understand her. When we were listening to a speaker at a conference I found myself telling her what he’d said, rather than the other way around.
At the same time there are several things that seem to be problems:
-
My left ear continues to have some soreness caused by the tube pressing against the ear. I’ve tried to bend the tube a little, and fiddled with how deep I push it into the ear canal. The fitter told me that he’s using the smallest covers for the tubes, so I hope he’ll be able to adjust this to be more comfortable.
-
When listening to a piano concert I heard intermittent “chirping” in each ear, but more in the left than the right. Seems like feedback. I heard this a bit during a movie also.
-
It’s quite annoying to have to push the button on the hearing aid to change the program as my environment changes. Program 1 for general hearing. Program 2 for crowds (I think this uses only the forward mics). Program 3 for the car (seems to make no difference at all). Program 4 boosts the volume (never used it yet).
The literature for the Vereté suggests that those hearing aids are “smart” and will self-adjust as my environment changes. Has anyone tried them, and does it work?
-
I still find my own voice sounds like I’m speaking into a tin can – particularly with Program 2. Is this a matter of adjustment, the HA’s, or something I’ll just get used to?
-
Tinnitus continues to be more prominent than pre-hearing aid.
-
Outdoors the background noise is surprising to me. In particular, almost everywhere I go there seems to be a low roar. The best way I can describe it is the way it sounds when you blow over the top of a bottle but don’t get it to produce a musical note. Just a hollow, windy sound. It seems to come from a variety of sources: tires of cars on the road, air conditioners, fans. I don’t hear it when I’m inside, and it doesn’t seem to have any correlation with whether it’s windy or the air is still. Has that noise been there all along and I just didn’t hear it?
I’m out of town until the weekend and I’ll have my first adjustment on Monday. I’d appreciate any feedback before then and will update what progress I make after that adjustment.
Jeff