Is "in the ear/canal" excluded for me?

Hearing Aids
#1

Hello from Sweden, new to the forum and to this world.
I was born with a hearing loss that hasn’t gotten much worse over the years and I have now become old enough to take the step to start using hearing aids.
When I visited the audiologist, I was recommended Phonak Paradise and an “in-ear/canal” device was not possible according to the audiologist.

I’ve never had a hearing aid and one of the reasons is that i think that the devices been i little big.

Once at home, I realize that Phonak Paradise is an older product line, that I got that recommendation got me thinking…
The audiologist did not recommend Lumity and it made me think that maybe she did not make the right assessment recarding type of device?
I said I would love to have one “in the ear/canal” but it was not possible according to her and she even said that these do not have Bluetooth. Which I understand now is not true.

I understand that a hearing aid behind the ear can be preferable in many ways, but for me it is important that it is not clearly visible. It’s okay for me to miss some features also.
So was I misled?
Is it theoretically possible for me to have an “in the ear” device?

At 500 I have minus 20 on the right an minus 10 on the left.
At 1k I have minus 75 on the right and minus 45 on the left.
At 1.5k minus 65 on the right and minus 30 on the left.
At 2k minus minus 60 on both.
At 4k minus minus 50.
At 6k minus 30

#2

My very first set of hearing aids are the Phonak 90 Lumity Lifes. I was expecting lots of issues being a first time user. Generally, I have had few. Having no experience with the Paradise by Phonak, I can not say anything much about them, except that Lumity has the newer generation of software and that it generally works extremely well for me; very little fussing with the aids, if any. If there is not a price difference, and re-chargable batteries are fine for you, then I would go for the Lumity variety.

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#3

Yes you can if you accept that shortcomings which you say you are.
Research the manufacturer websites and you will find the "range " they have as regards hearing loss.
Starkey do a very powerful ite which has Bluetooth.
When you have researched then do a search on here for that specific aid and note the real life experiences.

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#4

The problem isn’t so much that you wouldn’t fit within a ‘fitting chart’, it’s that your hearing at 500Hz doesn’t really suit a ‘closed’ fitting at all. Now, you might have huge canals that could allow for a 3mm+ vent, but you also need a decent chunk of gain in the next couple of octaves.

A RIC aid can do this with relative ease while not blocking your ears, an ITE/CIC struggles to overcome the physical/acoustic parameters to get the same result.

Also: why just Phonak? There’s better ITE options out there.

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#5

Thanks for your answer, I know understand more :slight_smile:
What do you recommend?

#6

Both Starkey and Oticon make better ITE, imho.

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