Hearing aid newbie thanks, Phonak questions

Hearing Aids
#1

Many thanks to everyone contributing to this wonderful forum :smiley:

I wish I’d discovered the forum sooner. My HA journey got off to a rocky start. Now I’m three months in with my first aids, Phonak Audeo L50-RL, wearing them all day every day, getting minimal benefit from these expensive little gadgets

I tried adjusting settings in myPhonak app, finding it hard to test properly in real/realistic situations. I’m mainly (only!) wanting to improve my speech understanding in group conversations and with distant/soft voices, high pitched voices, mumbly voices, mild background noise, etc.

Suitable situations don’t occur often enough for testing, plus in real conversations I can’t totally focus on adjusting the app. Does anyone have suggestions how to simulate realistic situations for testing?

My frustration with testing various settings is also complicated by automatic switching (set up by audi) that changes between programs when I don’t want it to.

I’d like to disable “Auto” mode (at least temporarily) until I gain understanding of which settings actually help/hinder my hearing. I can’t disable “Auto” in myPhonak app. Could an audi disable it?

#2

Do you have a music program? Many times much of the processing is disabled for music.

#3

You have a pretty subtle loss and I would expect improvements to also be subtle. The situations you describe as wanting help with are challenging for many. For high pitched/mumbly voices, just increasing your volume should help. Hearing aids really aren’t designed for distant voices. For a distant speaker, a Phonak PartnerMic would help. For group situations, a much pricier Roger Select iN or Roger On iN could help.
I would personally encourage working more with your audiologist and less relying on the app.

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#4

Your loss is pretty similar to mine, I use the phonak partnermic in places like classrooms or at a dinner table or in the car. I have found it very helpful for me. I would suggest working with your audiologist to figure out what settings are good for you, we had to make several adjustments but I have additional auditory issues on top of my hearing loss and it has definitely taken time for me to begin to “learn” new sounds even if my loss is considered mild-moderate. If you need give yourself hearing breaks, sometimes the small noises like someone chewing would be crazy difficult since I wasn’t used to hearing it.

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#5

Do you know if your HAs were set to experienced user?

A good way to judge if they are working for you is to actually ask other people you interact with if they notice a difference.

Maybe you are saying what less often.

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#6

On the Lumity or the Paradise, there is the Phonak Speech Enhancer. You must be set in your fittings to “Experienced” or “Long-Time” user for that feature to be on. Speech Enhancer works in quiet environments (30 to 50 dB) to specifically amplify soft speech over environmental noise. The amount of amplification can be adjusted by your HCP, but it can be up to 10 dB, which is a lot.

As far as better speech understanding, increasing the mid-tones and trebles and lowering the bass in difficult speech situations can often help. ReSound has a setting called Speech Clarity that does this in the smartphone app with a single tap. You could probably approximate the same in the MyPhonak app if the Phonak AutoSense is not doing this already. In noisy situations, don’t turn up noise suppression to the max as it will begin to chew into speech understanding - at least that’s true for ReSound HA’s, where ReSound recommends staying one step below the max setting when speech is involved. AutoSense should be provided directionality as needed to your speech focus, but you could always try turning it up in the MyPhonak app to see if there’s still room to max it out. MDB’s suggestions on a remote mic are good. You’d need one in the noisiest situations to make out specific speakers, as there’s a limit to what HA’s can do as compared to remote mics.

#7

@prodigyplace @MDB @DeafAntifa @japple @jim_lewis thank you very much for responding :smile:

I understand ‘working with the audi’ would be very desirable!

Sadly it’s not effective in my case. Their interest evaporated after I paid for the HAs, They disregard my actual listening experiences and keep on saying my HAs are adjusted fine and I must “just get used to them”.

Well… I’m used to wearing them, yes, but no, I’m not “used to” spending thousands of dollars for negligible improvement in hearing :roll_eyes:

I am sure my HAs are not working well for me (yet!) so I;m trying to find out what I can improve by adjustments available in the myPhonak app.

I’m grateful for details from @jim_lewis and I’ll try to use some of them, just need to figure out which Phonak settings correspond to the ones Jim mentioned for ReSound.

These are my first HAs and I don’ think they were set to ‘experienced user’.

#8

When the fitting is first created in Target software, the audi (HCP) has the option of setting the experience level of the user. The default setting appears to be "first-time user (0-3 months). More advanced settings are available from a dropdown (see picture):

image

If the audi has already created an entry for you in the Target database, there are probably ways to create a new fitting for you, set the experience level differently, and import all your other data from another entry of “you” (and recalculate your fit to the greater experience level).

Here’s a post on the forum from many moons ago - 2016!!! - (and a much older version of Target software) on what the user experience setting does. It mentions a linear vs. a non-linear fit, too. If there’s that option in current Target software as well, maybe a DIY Phonak user can comment on whether that settings option is still available and where an HCP can find it. Both user experience and linear vs. non-linear are available for current ReSound HA’s. ReSound said in its literature several years ago that the linear option was just a vestige left in the fitting software to accommodate “old-timers” coming from analog hearing aids!, IIRC :grinning:

Personalizing Patient Fittings – The Official ReSound Blog (gnresoundblog.com) (says experienced non-linear ultimately best for speech recognition, but the user needs to acclimate, etc.)

#9

If there is a refund period return them NOW and go elsewhere. Going to Costco would give you a less expensive option, likely with a better experience. At least with Costco you have the option of going to a different location. That is why I used Costco for 10 years. I am now trying a more expensive, experienced provider.

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#10

This. The audiologist is absolutely key to your success with any hearing aid brand. Unfortunately it sounds like yours is either unable or unwilling to help you. Is there another audiologist in the practice?

#11

Unfortunately I’m already way past the (short) return period so I have to do the best I can with these HAs.

Currently learning a lot from reading older posts in this forum and I’m kicking myself for not finding this forum before I stepped on the HA train!

#12

I’m in Australia and I live far from the bigger cities. Very limited choice of audis within driving distance. Not sure I’d get better help from going to a different audi. Will be expensive because I didn’t buy the aids from them.

#13

Maybe try the DIY route?

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#14

Good question. I was having a bad experience with an audiologist who would not listen to me because she knew better as the expert. I asked the manager there for a different professional and was refused. Those aids got returned and I went elsewhere.

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#15

That is difficult. DIY may be the best option if you are comfortable with the computer.

#16

Thank you @jim_lewis for all that detail which will be very helpful If I go the DIY route later on. I’m not ready for Target etc, still at ‘baby-steps’ stage with the app adjustments!

#17

So then, do you experience more benefit when you just turn them up?

#18

Thanks and yes, I might perhaps try DIY but I need to read more about it first. I’m happy to DIY in lots of other areas. With HAs though, I need to hold off trying to run up mountains until I learn to walk :laughing:

#19

No benefit simply sliding the volume up, just unpleasant.

To my (oversimplified?) logic, I need to boost the higher frequencies because that’s where my natural hearing has diminished.

Follow through on that thought, I’ve just found the ‘equaliser’ adjustment in myPhonak, feeling a bit more optimistic I might get some benefit that way.

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#20

Unpleasant in what way?