#6

@MDB

@craftycrocheter

NICE requirement just to even get an assessment for a CI.

For the purposes of this guidance, severe to profound deafness is defined as hearing only sounds that are louder than 80 dB HL (pure-tone audiometric threshold equal to or greater than 80 dB HL) at 2 or more frequencies (500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, 2,000 Hz, 3,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz) bilaterally without acoustic hearing aids.

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#7

Seems to meet that requirement for 2,3 and 4 kHz

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#8

Your hearing loss is a great one to try frequency lowering technology. This technology helps reduce high frequency gains to stop feedback too. You might also get by with a lower powered set of aids.

Your loss is bad enough that you need to realize there are things you have to give up to hear speech better. Occlusion is one of them.

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#9

Might be worth a try @craftycrocheter, another hospital will maybe give you better aids, or something more suitable for your hearing loss? You can but try… Anything that stops that infernal feedback, is a blessing! I would just tell them your aids aren’t fit for purpose, you need something better, you struggle on the phone, you need Bluetooth, for work purposes, the feedback is driving you insane as well as other family members! You have to advocate for yourself, if that means going to the press or your local MP, so be it… (suggesting it might be enough?) As NHS don’t like bad publicity, and sometimes you have to force their hand! You have to push them, or they will just sit on the fence… And do sweet FA… Good Luck, Cheers Kev :wink:

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#10

With the way NHS is dealing with me and my hearing aids I do not think I would have much luck having cochlear implants if I did go down that route which I have decided not to. Been on the phone and the next appointment to get hearing aids sorted at all 3 hospital is not until middle of next month, latest is end of June so I just said whatever do the middle of next month then. I bet I will come out of the audiology department and something else will go wrong.

I have literally had enough of dealing with them. I lasted 20 years without so I will manage again until I am able to buy privately. In my previous posts, I know I said that I am thankful for the NHS, they are brilliant in so many ways but this is ridiculous. Twice I have had faulty hearing aids, and now the left one is not working properly. I did tell them at the appointment that the left hearing aid does not sound right but as usual she just said go off and see what they are like… well they are sh!t. That is all I have to say about them!

I have to keep going back to get them adjusted and now the will not shut up whistling and I now have to wait for a month to get them sorted out. They are now back in the drawer because, well what can I do? I have told them this is something that I urgently need… and all I get is “sorry love, but that is the only available appointments we have.”

@kevels55 probably worth a try but I doubt it! All of those things above would help so much… plus reliable hearing aids :smile:

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#11

I got fed up of waiting so long for appointments which is why I went down the DIY route.

I then started buying hearing aids from eBay.

@craftycrocheter

Where I am, it’s a 14 week wait to sort a broken hearing aid. 14 weeks without hearing! Think it’s madness, really.

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#12

@craftycrocheter

Not Bluetooth but these would fit your hearing loss and are brand new and sealed.

£179.99 for one.

Just realised there’s only one available but this seller is always selling hearing aids.

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#13

There is only one reason for the feed-back. Sound is escaping your ear.

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#14

Or there could be wax in the way.

Or there could be a hole in the tubing/ear hook.

Or there could be physical obstruction in the tubing.

Or there could be a physical breakdown in the hearing aid mic/receiver isolation (split casing).

Or there could be a change of the resonance of the receiver (precursor to failure).

Or there could be a failure in the long term mic averaging system.

Etc….

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#15

Yes, there are zebras, but when somebody complains about feedback with nearly new hearing aids right after they had high frequency gain turned up, I’d bet on it being a horse.

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#16

I used to have BTE NHS hearing aids myself so I completely understand your frustrations on feedback! It was something every hospital I used said there’s nothing we can do about it suffered 25 years with feedback it didn’t matter what style mould or hearing aid I could never hug anyone without them going nuts, couldn’t brush my hair or lean in to listen to something close without feedback or even move my head too fast. I found asking for absalutely no vents helped a tiny bit but not much, downside is the occlusion but i found I rarely notice it now…

I’m not berating the NHS at all like you said it’s a wonderful function but most NHS audiology units see feedback as something you have to “live” with past a certain leval of hearing loss in my experience and they say well it’s normal. My loss isn’t quite as profound as yours and I had that exact same issue…they couldn’t or wouldn’t take the time to fix that issue over 25 years I don’t think it’s a hearing aid issue it’s a programming issue within their budget allotment so they give whatever is “deemed suitable and available for a particular loss” and one due to time limits and budgets for that particular hospital

Any side problems often gets pushed to the back burner because their main objective is to make sure you can hear something even if it’s produces feedback/whistling their main goal is to just fulfill the need
to hear anything fixed beyond that is a bonus. Some audiologists really do work with you as best they can with their software I’ve had some amazing NHS audiologists and some really shitty ones too

They fail to realise it doesn’t just impact you, if other family members are complaining about whistling to you then it’s a problem. Maybe at the next appointment ask are these the only hearing aids that will suit my losses or is there another option, also ask for moulds that are solid I found skeleton ones were more prone to feedback than a solid mould.

IF they cannot accommodate you it may be worth trying another hospital if it’s in your catchment area but if the travel isn’t far they may only have 1 brand…i.e London back in the day it was Siemens in South Essex I had the option of oticon or Phonak tried both ultimately preferred oticon. Lincolnshire and Yorkshire it was just Oticon for me as the preferred choice they recommended. On wait times it seems normal to wait months sometimes several months between appointments and one of the drawbacks of the NHS. If possible ask to go on a cancellation wait list sometimes I’ve been able to get earlier appoints that way with the NHS audiology unit, doesn’t always work but sometimes I’ve got lucky.

I hate to say it but if you are still unsatisfied with your NHS hearing aids it may be worth venturing privately, my first set of privately brought hearing aids reduced me to happy tears. I’d complained of a lifetime of feedback my fitter assured me with the newer technology that could be prevented or stopped completely even with my severe losses. 5 years on 2 sets of hearing aids and I have had NO feedback except if the moulds slide out on a sweaty ear day. Or I take them out before I turn them off.

I wish you luck!

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#17

Reading this thread I can see why those in the NHS area go with self programming.
The private audiologist are a gold mine.

#18

@Zebras 14 weeks! How the hell can they do that to people? Like you and many others, hearing aids are a lifeline! Thank you for your reply and very helpful with the link, too. I am currently searching for 2nd hand hearing aids and I have consulted an audiologist who can program them to my needs at a cost. Any idea whether Oticon Synergy would be OK? I found a pair on eBay, but says it is for severe hearing loss so is that too much of an overkill? Looking at Phonak as well. I will not randomly buy. Will consult either on here or do proper extensive research first. I cannot afford to pay full price for new hearing aids otherwise I would, without a second thought. I am without my hearing aids and feel really low and lost. I simply cannot wear them I am worse off with them than without right now.

@LoubyLou thank you for your kind response. That is how it seems to be with me, unfortunately. I am going to another hospital now so hopefully there is a different audiologist that can at least sort them out and help me work with what I can only have (nhs aids) until I get to have private, more reliable ones. I understand they are under pressure with time etc., but I do not deserve to keep on having to go back every few weeks to get them sorted out. It is beyond ridiculous and I have to keep leaving work early or take a day off because of it.

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#19

They are locked to the NHS and we don’t have the code for them. They are also quite old and use older software.

#20

I had no idea they were NHS! I thought the Zest was. See, thank goodness for this forum (and to you) lol. So these people still selling NHS hearing aids. Putting me off bothering to go on eBay now. Most private ones are all mini rite or ones that are not suited for me.

#21

When they are whistling try using your finger to press the mould deep into your ear. If the whistling stops then consider a different mould material or a different fit. Likely your boost settings are triggering the feedback and if you can’t reduce boost, fit might help. Frequency shifting would move the offending frequencies a bit and that might be palatable. IMHO of course. Personally I did not care for frequency shifting but I was not quite driven to it–a luxury I admit.

#22

Hi @VinceJ

Tried all of that but still whistled. Even just turning my head it screeches like mad. But this is the 2nd time they have replaced them now and my left hearing aid is significantly quieter than the right one, but both of them cause so, so much feedback. She has shifted my high frequency “dead” regions to other frequencies that I can hear, but in all honesty I am not really hearing much different than before.

#23

Zest was first and then Synergy.

There is a Pink Sky SP and a Caribbean Pirate (blue) Sky SP. Many people wear 2 different colours but it may not be what you want.

I’ve worn 2 different colours in the past.

You got to think if you buy old old heating aids if the audiologist has the appropriate old software and fitting device.

Phonak iCube II is needed for the Sky V70.

#24

OK. Geez. Wow. I totally feel for ya! Your audiogram looks WAY challenging to fit - altho, I’m no audi or expert here. You go from pretty good hearing in the low frequencies to like NONE at the higher ones. So jacking up the volume and high frequency settings is like setting a house on fire. I honestly wonder if there is an aid out there that can cover such a dynamic range as you have? I wish you all the luck with the suggestions posted here.

I go NUTS when I get whistling feedback, but it’s always cuz my silicone tips work their way out of my ear canals, so I just have to push them in deeper. But you have custom molds with a small vent, so I can’t imagine improving upon that.

Also just a statement to declare empathy with you NHSers. FOURTEEN WEEKS without proper hearing is like beyond cruel. I once lasted 2 full days without aids when I had otitis and had to take them both out. And then the power failed during that time (winter). So I was walking in the footsteps of Helen Keller by night.

Is it possible to hang on to a pair of backup aids if you get them through the NHS? Cuz backups are the LEAST the NHS could do for folks with hearing loss. To deny that functionality is completely unacceptable.

#25

Have you tried to plug the ‘small’ vents? They make plugs or you can improvise. It would mean overcoming the natural aversion to occlusion but it is doable. And, frankly, many of us are on a down slope to this condition. The slope varies but the end point — not so much.