Hi All,
My previous starkey muse i2400 got old , i am looking for new HA Which is best for my hearing loss.
Since far all HA i used before, had one common problem, i couldn’t hear low voice speech or girls speech in closed ac rooms . I need HA which can solve this problem, kindly recommend me for the best with budget limit 2500 dollars for pairs
Regards
You have more than high frequency hearing loss.
Are you anywhere near a Costco? They could sure help you for under $2500.
The issues you mentioned should be easily fixed with the correct acoustics, probably earmolds and properly fitted hearing aids
Good luck with your hearing.
Hi thanks for reply,
I do stay in india , unfortunately there is no Costco service in india, can you please guide which particular HA will be best for my loss. Your suggestion will be helpful
Regards
I’m not an audiologist, but it seems to me that you have a conductive hearing loss. I wonder if a bone conducting hearing aid would be appropriate. @Neville can you comment? Thanks.
Her AC loss should be able to be helped with standard hearing aids I believe. Her BC loss is much less than the AC. Seems they track each other closer typically but hers does track her AC loss.
She needs earmolds with whatever aids she gets in my opinion. Hopefully one of the pros can chime in on this.
I do not know much about hearing aids in India. We have forum members from there that would have much more help for the OP.
I should have waited to let Neville reply.
They would be a possible bone anchored hearing aid candidate. But it would depend on the financial supports available for that in their country; a single bone anchored hearing aid can run $6k, let alone two, and I’m not sure how the surgery would be handled where they are.
Also assuming that they can’t have surgery to resolve the hearing loss (e.g. stapedectomy).
But I’d usually expect someone with that loss to do quite well with hearing aids given that the cochlea is largely intact and you just have to overcome the conductive component. Any entry level super power BTE with an earmold should manage it. I’d guess the difficulty with soft speech is a fit issue. The trouble is if they don’t have access to REM where they are–it’s common with a loss like that for the manufacturer fit to be dramatically under target. This gets worse if the ear canal acoustics are complicated by a history of middle ear surgery or bilateral eardrum perforations. With no access to real ear measures, the fit would be a bit of a shot in the dark. But at the very least a deeply fit earmold and ensuring the bone line is input into the software should help.
Thanks. I always have to think a bit what the bone line actually means (better than ignoring it like I used to do :>)
@Neville , thanks for response, my life is relli not was that easy with this loss, so shall is go with phonak lumity 30 ric with proper earmold fit which fits my budget or should I go with something else with any power BTE. Please do guide me .
Regards
The phonak 30 level is fine, but consider the naida M SP BTE with a silicone mold. People here will perhaps complain that it’s a bit older, but at that level it really won’t make a difference and it will have enough power to support you.
Totally agree with this. These are great aids that still use size 13 batteries which I always preferred.
Thanks
@Neville , thanks for this, one last question i would like to understand why is power BTE is more prefered than RIC for this loss, and how does it help it, as my all previous hearing aids were RIC.
Regards
And you’ve struggled with soft speech, yeah? But realistically it depends. Your hearing loss needs significantly more headroom than the manufacturer guides will show because of your conductive loss, and the manufacturer guides are optimistic anyway. Additionally, you need a good fit with the mold to boost the lows that you’ll want and optimize feedback management in the highs. This isn’t impossible with a RIC and a custom tip, but it depends more heavily on the individual ear as the fit and retention on a custom tip often isn’t as easy as with a silicone mold. Still, if one has a REM system it is easy to identify the problems and either compensate for them in the programming or initiate an exchange. But if one has to fit a hearing aid blind, as one does when they don’t have a device for real ear measurement, it’s worth optimizing everything else as much as you can.
But yes, a RIC could work. Chances are higher that it will work well if you have a big ear canal with a good bend in it to hold the custom tip in snugly.
