New to hearing aids

Hearing Aids
#1

Hello everyone,

I’ve just been told I need hearing aids. Which is no surprise as I’ve known I’ve had hearing loss for 40 odd years. The ENT Dr I’ve been seeing never thought I needed HA, but I have to wonder if something could have been done to preserve my hearing years ago. It’s been suggested that “Siemens Pure 7mi RIC BTE” is the model that would benefit me the most, or perhaps the Siemens Pure 5mi RIC BTE.

Having not ever had aids before I’m after some advise. The audiologist suggested moulds that I can still hear around as opposed to those that fully occlude the aural canal. Can anyone offer any helpful suggestions here to help me decide which would the better unit for me please?

They are going to give me a trial day to see if the 5mi or 7mi suites me better.

Has anyone had any experience of a Siemens 7mi? Oe 5 mi? Or other similar brands as a comparison please? I wasn’t shown any other brands at all.

The Audiologists was not sure if I would be better with 1 or 2 aids due to the amount of hearing loss in my left ear. They have given me a 55 day refund option if I don’t consider the left ear is benefitting from the HA.

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to the type of moulds and what device I would benefit from most please.

Hz L. R
0250. 25. 25
0500. 20. 25
1000. 45. 35
1500. 95. 45
2000. 105. 50
3000. 110. 65
4000. 110. 60
6000. 100. 80
8000. 100. 90

#3

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. I’m still searching for answers here. I saw another audiologist today. She suggested that she would refer me off for a cochlear implant for my left ear!!! HUH!!! At my age? WTH! Even though her hearing aid quote was $1000.00 cheaper I’m still no closer to getting any answers from my audiologist/s. It’s becoming very frustrating as I’ve never had to deal with audiologists and not getting any straight answers that satisfy my questions. Where’ve just returned from a driving holiday of NZ. When I’m driving I can’t hear a word that is said to me… Above the engine and road noise from the tyres when driving. If I’m in the passenger seat hearing is a bit easier but not much. As both are looking out the front window as you do it’s still very difficult and very frustrating.
I will continue to shop around until I find an audiologist that will answer my questions and not just say “your not suitable” for that type.

#4

As a person who just started out on this journey (February 2014), the one piece of advice I can give you is be patient as finding the right HAs and audi can be a long process - it takes time and perseverance. I went through four different audiologist before finding one that was the right fit for me. I shopped around for HA’s and researched the technology extensively to better understand what I was paying for. Having an audiologist answer my many “why” questions was very important to me, too. My current audi does not get offended when I ask why while the other two were of the ilk “because I said so”.

Buying HA’s is not like buying glasses or shopping for a car. You can’t say “I want this model and I am going to get the best price I can for it.” When you run HA’s through their paces the model you think you want may not be the ones that works for you. This is very frustrating to people with Type A personalities - identify the problem, research what can done, quickly execute the solution. Nada - it doesn’t work like that. :slight_smile:

Keep doing what your doing until you are satisfied you have found the right person with the right solution. The people on this forum have been EXTREMELY helpful so keep coming back and asking questions.

Good luck. I know you will find what works for you.

#5

What exactly do you want answers to from your audiologist? I’ve read both your posts and from what you’ve said it looks like the audiologist has answered your questions, just not with the answer you want to hear. Maybe I missed something.

#6

You shoud be aware that Audiologists who also “dispense” Hearing Aids ( very few do not sell any products just do a professional consultation with no specific product to sell) are always kept up to date with the HA market and often trained by the Makers Rep to have their makers products get preference over the competition. This is nothing new in the medical field where physicians are “encouraged” by drug manufacturers to “push” their labels over other manufacturers with competitive drugs. How do I know - Two of my brothers-in-law are medical men and one old college room mate became a drug company field representative. This statement is from their stories while in their professional practice. In my experience as a person that have bought many Hearing Aids since my early 70’s ( I am now 82 ) the best recommendation I have received about the good and not-so-good about Hearing Aids have come from the actual people that uses them. They have learned from trial and error what they really need to benefitr their hearing and often time this eliminate many products that are loaded with “bells and whisles” even when many of these added “conveniences” does not affect or add “improvement” to your hearing level. What it does for you is add a bigger cost for the unit. As for types of aids I started wiith a Full Shell In The Ear Uint and later tests indicated progressive hearing loss and the audiologis recommended a Behind-The-Ear Unit. The basic price went up primarily due tot he state of the art digital system but my first ITE unit was also digital and served me well without any added “gadgets”. I have found now that for every one ITE unit in the market place there are not less than 20 units for sellers to offer the public. I did have difficulty with the BTE unit bacause I have small ears and close to my head -(no elelphant-style-ears) and I had difficulty keeping the Unit from falling off and more often when I was wearing glasses. Fortunately now there are ITE units just as good as the BTE unit that will serve me as good and at a llower cost for similar features. There are available now for people with severe hearing loss that fit my hearing level. You just have to ask for them. As a new person facing the challenges of loosing your ability to hear well this is important information to know - Weish you well in your search for the Right Fior You - Not the Seller/Provider Hearing Aid.

#7

Replying to Seb ( senior member)

I want answers to why I have to have BTE and not ITE. I was hoping to get ITE.
i want answers to why RIC in both ears when I’m profoundly deaf in my L) ear.
I want to know why my L) is not having an occluded ear piece to block out any feedback.
I want to be able to have a choice of various brands of aids and not just told it has to be Siemens.

All I’ve been old is this is what’s best but no explanations as to why it’s best.
The company I saw only sell Siemens I don’t have any choice in what I purchase and no trial of other brands that just might suit me better.

#8

1.Fitting range, the aidable portion of your loss is beyond the fitting range of most ITE.

  1. You aren’t profoundly deaf in the lower pitches of either ear, but the higher pitches of the LHS are very difficult to aid with sufficient gain.

  2. Occlusion and the downward spread of masking: you would hate the effect of the ear being plugged AND the delivery of 50dB of gain in the higher pitches in addition to the incoming signal of speech (65dB) will mask out the normal sounds heard through the ear in the lower pitches.

  3. Go somewhere else.

  4. Try an open fit CROS setup, Phonak and Widex have products that work in this area.

HTH.

#9

Thank you Um bongo. I appreciate your answers as they do make a lot of sense.

I have gone to another audi as several suggested. The new one supplies all brands of HA’s. she also explained thoroughly the pros and cons, and answered all my questions. I get to try the HA’s for 1 week each and I can work my way through as many brands as I want until I find one that’s perfect for my requirements.

#10

Hello Jfulen- I’m in a situation pretty identical to yours. Like you, I “started out on this journey” in February. I’m a professional female, 60’s, with moderate hearing loss. Today I fired my audiologist - or maybe she fired me - after unsuccessful test drives of Starkey IIC aids and Oticon Intiga RIC aids. (The latter were better, but still not satisfactory.)

My questions are:

  1. How were you able to finally locate a sympathetic, competent audiologist, and
  2. What kind of hearing aids did you finally go with?

One thing I found intolerable about the much-touted Oticon Intigas, was that when I hugged someone, if the aids were even lightly pressed they emitted an audible squeak. When I mentioned this to the audiologist, she just blew it off. But today I was “chatting” with an online rep at Hearing Planet, who told me “they solved that problem years ago!” I don’t know what to believe; so discouraging!

Thanks for any advice,
Amitie

#11

Dear jfulen - being new to this website, I don’t know how to work it exactly! I replied to your post, but my reply is not included under your post; it’s at the end of the thread! So if you read this, please scroll down and locate my reply - it starts out “Dear Jfulen”.
Thanks,
Amitie1

#12

Amitie1 I live in Australia. There’s one audiologist company her in Aus that are contracted to Siemens, they don’t have any other brands. I sat at the computer and googled “Melbourne audiologists” up came a heap of companies. It was just a matter of going through all the websites to see how many brands they advertised on their website. Then hubby and I went and spoke to one company close to us.

Trying these different HA’s is really trying on the patience. Going back each week for months is very frustrating. But it just has to be one.

Im now on my 3rd brand of HA’s on a trial basis. First we’re Oticon -I didn’t like them at all.
Second we’re the Phonak Audeo Q70 312T. I really liked these, but didn’t have all the added apps for the trial period of 3 weeks.
Currently I’ve got Siemens Pure 7 which I’ve had or 3 weeks now. I also really like these but I can’t stand the “whistling” feedback all the time. Im told Siemens are known for the whistling feedback. So I’m due to make up my mind which will be my permanent HA’s this week. I’m pretty sure I’m going back to the Phonaks.

Amitie1 give the Phonak brand a try and any others you want also. They have an inbuilt whistle reduction app. And request your Audi to let you try as many brands as you want until you find one that you are happy with. If you are not happy with that Audiologist move onto one that you re happy with.

#13

I have had the Siemens Micon 7 for 10 months. I told my audiologist about trouble hearing my granddaughter in her car seat in back behind me. The audiologist made a change in the main program so when my granddaughter makes any noise and the car is in motion I can tell there is some kind of immediate change that enhances my granddaughter’s voice so I can hear it very clearly. When the car stops I can tell the automatic adjustment reverts back to the original setting. Amazing! My audiologist has since referred to this setting as the “car setting”.

I am VERY happy with the Micon 7. I never tried anything else and I don’t know why I should I am so satisfied with them. I recently switched from the single open domes to the closed double domes. As for me I like this change a lot better.

My audiologist is with the Boys Town National Hearing Institute and is a doctor (Aud D) that is salaried. She gets no additional compensation based on which out of all of the major brands she can choose.

#14

my auduo-gram is almost as bad as yours… I wear a pair of the Siemens Pure Carats w/HD receivers, size 13 rechargeable batteries and dryer/eCharge with custom molds with vent. if you can handle the price of the 7’s I would go with them. don’t go over board with programs. I run 1 as auto/default, 2 as BT phone, 3 as miniTek, 4 as speech focus (which you can now set to kick in automatically in the default but I like being in control of that). if you decide to go the Siemens with a miniTek I have several suggestion to help you get them fine tuned.

when you get the HD receivers WHICH YOU NEED… Siemens will only put them in their hard molds.

Siemens is NOT know for feedback unless you have the wrong molds which if he got you the correct receivers it would be impossible.

Sounds like you have the wrong level of receivers for your loss… guess it could be a way for him to sway to his product with the most mark-up.

which aid are you trailing?
http://hearing.siemens.com/Global/en/professional-area/product-portfolio/micon/pure/features/features.html