I finally got a trial pair of hearing aids. It’s been a bit of a journey and wearing them makes me wonder why hearing aids aren’t as recommended for mild loss.
So far I’ve discovered several new sounds (breathing makes noise?) and a lot of sounds have so much more depth to them that I was never hearing. I can also hear and understand people in challenging sound environments. My daughters were impressed that I actually ordered at a restaurant and was able to understand the server. All this and my loss is so mild that I’ve been told several times that it’s essentially not worth it.
The audiologist I got the trial from was lovely and actually listened and has said that I likely have auditory processing issues as well due to my word recognition and trouble but still.
The only thing I’ve had issues with is the retention locks that fit weirdly. I tried taking them off but then the receiver part wouldn’t stay in my ear.
I cannot speak for audiologists, but what is probably behind your case is recent history over the last 40 years with hearing aids. For people with normal hearing who had become deafened, they could be perceived as having terrible sound quality, squeal with feedback and eventually be destined for the draw.
The fact that you have near normal hearing and are talking up the benefits of the aids shows great strides taken since then. The advances in signal processing, technology and reliability is undeniable.
Of course, in your case, you have to weigh up the improvements. I would expect that you would be able to hear whispers, as they are given you a super power i.e. more amplification. I would place less stock in that personally, but pay more attention to whether you are getting significant benefit in noise. As it’s those situations which are going to be more relevant to you on a day to day basis.
Regarding receivers staying in the ear. There are multiple things that can be done. Audiologist can put more or less curve into the retention lock and also shorten the length. There are also different sized domes that can be tried. If all else fails, custom molds are available, but if you went this approach you’d want to make sure you had adequate vent size. Fit issues like this have a solution, but unfortunately it’s trial and error.
I also wear hearing aids for a slight/mild loss and find it truly bizarre how people, including audiologists, keep questioning whether I actually benefit from them. Yes, even a mild hearing loss makes hearing in difficult listening situations more challenging, and yes, hearing technology is actually good enough to offer a significant benefit for people with a mild loss. I suspect that it‘s the stigma around wearing hearing aids that is making even audiologists assume that people would rather not hear well than wear a hearing aid.
I‘m also having issues with my retention locks, btw, and am in the process of switching to custom molds to see if they will be less painful while still allowing me to hear as well as I do with open domes.
I completely agree. Everyone, including audiologists, laugh that I’m trying to get an aid and even outright deny to try to help.
Thankfully, I had an ENT comment to me that I may want to explore getting an aid, especially since I’m a musician. If there’s no benefit within the trial period, I can always walk away. Immediately, there was a HUGE benefit for me and I literally had tears the first couple weeks with the new things I could hear for the first time in my life. After that experience, I want an aid, so much so I’ve been working nearly a year trying to get fitted.
I had my first day back at work with them yesterday and the difference was huge. I’m a teacher and the whole reason I pushed for the trial is because I was struggling to hear my students over background noises. If they weren’t talking loudly at me within around arms reach my comprehension was pretty terrible. Yesterday I held a full conversation across a set of desks with a student while the rest of my students were having group discussions and I could have cried cause I did not have to ask her to repeat herself once. Not only that, but my fear of things being too loud with hearing aids on hasn’t happened at all. The only thing that has been noticeably loud is my own voice haha.
One thing that I noticed last night though after taking them off is that my speech comprehension takes a nose dive taking them off. My partner was listening to a podcast and I went from being able to understand to it sounding like gibberish and I had to ask him to turn it up to understand it again. Will my brain get used to things being louder and not having to work hard to understand and get worse at understanding quiet speech?
I have found that when I take them out at night I feel like my ears are blocked and I can’t understand anything at first. But if I leave them out for a while, it’s like my brain remembers and I can hear again (although obviously not as well as with the hearing aids in). Your brain will get used to everything being louder, but that’s a good thing, because you’re hearing things the way they should be and that is better for your brain long term.
This is great news, especially as a use-case for those with mild loss who are doubtful of the possible benefits of modern HAs. You have an excellent audiologist, that’s for sure: Understanding your needs, and getting the fitting right. I was similarly lucky and the aids have worked out great for me as well.
Preface: I am not a hearing professional, nor did I stay at a holiday inn last night. But I did fit my own HAs. Take that for what it’s worth.
My guess: If you look at my fit diagram, the lowest setting of an LP receiver is well above my hearing threshold. For yours, it would likely be too much over the entire spectrum.
