New to Hearing Aids

Hearing Aids
1

Hello,

I went to my doctor a few days ago because the occasional tinnitus I suffered on and off has become more persistent in the last few weeks. She recommended Sudafed and Flonase, and sent me to the ear doctor as a precaution.

I went to the ear doctor yesterday, and had a hearing test performed by an audiologist, and was immediately told that I had significant hearing loss and I was an “excellent” candidate for hearing aids.

I’m 41 years old. Though I did listen to loud music when I was younger, I believe there is also a genetic component at work here–both of my older sisters have had hearing issues. One was told she had the hearing of someone twenty years older than her and she suffers from constant tinnitus. The other has occasional problems hearing people in conversations and has occasional tinnitus.

Anyhow, I have been freaking out over the last 24 hours. I’m a very active person, I run, hike, have dinners with friends. My work vacillates between working at home alone and being in a noisy environment. I have lots of friends and love long group conversations. I have noticed a bit of a decline in the ability to hear in those situations, sometimes it feels as though I’m underwater. I have been asking people to repeat themselves, sometimes multiple times, for years.

I’m beginning graduate school this fall, where I will be teaching as part of my fellowship. I feel it is important to address this issue now so that I can adjust to hearing aids before moving to a new city and beginning a new career.

I am a pretty young 41. I take care in the way I present myself to the world, and I guess I just want to find the best hearing aids for my lifestyle and hearing loss. As I said, I am also beginning graduate work, so really–the cheaper the better!

I am hoping that some of you vets have an idea of where I can begin this search? They were trying to sell me hearing aids at the audiologist, but I don’t know if that is the most practical place to buy them. I had already heard that Costco sold them, and have noticed from poking around this board that a lot of you have had a good experience there.

Should I get a second opinion? Should I go to another audiologist? Straight to Costco? Straight to a hearing center-type place? I live in Seattle, if anyone has some local advice.

I guess I’m most curious about the devices that are completely in canal, as well as the smaller over-the-ear versions. I have long, dark hair, so part of me feels as though maybe the small over-the-ear model with dark tubing would actually be the least obtrusive? But maybe I am wrong. I don’t really know.

I just did not expect to be having this conversation just yet in my life. I literally expected to be on Sudafed or ear drops right now.

The results of my audiogram are in my signature line. Thank you for any help in advance!

2

Hi,

I think you are in a situation where hearing aids might help you - or they might not. You will have to try. And, to be honest, cheap aids probably won´t do. As your hearing isn´t so bad yet, you´ll probably need really good aids to get an improvement.

While your experience might be completely different, I think it very likely that open-fit receiver in canal style will be best for you.

Open fit, because your hearing is well for low frequencies and for very high frequencies. With in-the-ear aids, your ear is (more or less) closed, and you cannot use that natural hearing anymore. Also, you are likely to have more occlusion with those aids.

With long hair, nobody will ever see them, don´t worry.

It might be a good start to try the top aids at costco (rexton trax 42, kirkland signature 6, bernafon juna 9). If one of those works really well for you, you can stay with that. If not, there are other (but more expensive) options.

I´m 43, and hearing aids were a big improvement for me. I have bernafon juna 9. If the aids work for you, they will help you to continue to have a very active lifestyle, they won´t hinder you!

Yours

Musician_72

3

If you plot your hearing loss on a copy of the “Speech Banana” that you can pull off the internet and you will be able to see that you are missing some key parts of speech and that is why you have the problems you do.

Get the best HA’s to handle your loss, don’t worry about the cosmetic aspects of them because nobody will see or notice them anyway.

If money is tight, and since you are in the home of Costco, go there, you can’t lose because they have the best trial and return policy of anyone selling HA’s. I would ask around and see which Costco has the best HA fitter and schedule an appointment at that location because just like private practices they have good and not so good fitters and you want to avoid the bad ones. Good luck!

4

Hi Emily,

Graduate student here. I’ve found grad school to be one of the most challenging environments for my hearing loss. I feel insecure answering student questions when teaching, particularly from students who are already self-conscious about speaking in class. The classroom hearing environment is very different from what you would normally encounter in that almost everything that gets said is important. Listening fatigue is challenging to manage in back-to-back seminar classes that go on for hours. Fortunately, the classroom environment is really well suited to the improvements that hearing aids can provide. They also make a huge difference at conferences.

If you are moving, you may want to go through a national retailer like Costco so that you can get set up in Seattle while you have time to get used to them and troubleshoot any issues you have. Costco would allow you to have some portability without having to “pay twice” for fitting or maintenance services that were rolled into the cost of the aid.

I wear the ones that sit behind the ear with a thin tube (Receiver In Canal) and nobody has ever said anything to me about them, so I assume they’re fairly discreet. My last pair were quite small and matched my hair. My advisor, who I’ve known for years, said he never noticed that I wore hearing aids or had a hearing loss until I need to ask for clarification when my hearing aid was malfunctioning. I felt nervous about needing to disclose the extent of my hearing loss under the circumstances, so his response was weirdly challenging in a completely unexpected way – I couldn’t believe that this part of my life that had given me so much frustration and shaped so many of my academic decisions had gone undetected by someone I talk to nearly every day!

Feel free to PM if you need any recommendations in the Seattle area –

5

This is great info, thanks Musician_72. I appreciate you checking out my audio statistics and giving me your opinion on where to begin my search–I will definitely check out open-fit receiver in canal. I think my next stop is probably Costco.

I really appreciate the early-40s solidarity. I think I need reading glasses, too, and everything just seems to be changing all at once. Good times! But it’s better to know I’m not alone. :slight_smile:

Thanks so much,
Emily

6

Speech Banana. Wow! I have never seen that before. But you’re right, putting the two together made my difficulties make whole lot of sense.

And thank you for the reminder that cosmetics are less important. I know you’re right. I think I was just in such shock that I needed them, that that was my initial reaction. (I thought to myself: no one can know!). I’ve calmed down a bit, and I know that I really just need to be able to navigate the world in the best way with this new information.

I’m definitely going to Costco. I will ask around for who the best fitters are–great advice.

Thanks again!

7

Wow, thank you so much for this information. I wouldn’t have even thought that the classroom was any different from anywhere else, but I can see from your experience that you’re probably right. That is wild that your advisor never noticed your hearing aids!

That’s another great reason to go to Costco. I already looked it up, and there’s a Costco with a hearing center in the city I’m moving to, so that should work.

I’m going to PM you for Seattle recs! Thank you!

8

Thanks for the post. I have been wearing hearing aids for about 5 years. I decided last month to go without them. A few people noticed that I didn’t have them, but not too many. Everything seemed to be pretty normal. I thought I was doing just fine until people started getting annoyed that I kept asking them to repeat themselves. So much for not really needing hearing aids.

9

With the hearing loss you have from 2k and up, no denying it, you need hearing aids. I’m not trying to be nasty, just realistic!

10

I can address the cosmetic question.

I only need an aid in one ear. I’m currently in week 4 of a 30-day trial of an Oticon mini behind-the-ear aid.

The tube going from the aid into the ear is clear. The aids come in a lot of different colors so you can match your hair.

The audiologist I received this aid from has long hair. I didn’t even know she was wearing hearing aids until she pointed it out. And I was sitting 3-4 feet away from her. I couldn’t see the aid at all, and only saw the tube after she told me she was wearing them and pointed it out to me.

When my husband came home from work the day I got mine, he didn’t think I was wearing one because he couldn’t see it. I had to get really close and point out the tube to him. I have long hair, and I had a hard time trying to show him the aid itself because it matches my hair. Even when I pulled my hair up (I have thick hair), he had to get really close to see it.

My eagle-eyed grown son came over a few days later and had no idea I was wearing an aid. It wasn’t until he asked me why I was talking so softly that I told him it was because my voice was so much louder to me now due to wearing an aid. His response: “Where is it?”

If I wore my hair up or in a pony tail, it still wouldn’t be very noticeable because my hair is thick.

11

OK, here is my 2 cents.

First, finding out you have hearing loss, while treatable, and not that bad, is still a big deal. It is a type of loss and it is normal to feel some grief when we have a loss. So, I wouldn’t downplay or ignore that. You will have all the steps of dealing with grief.

On to the issues. I know it is a big deal, to wear hearing aids, and many people do not want to tell anyone, and don’t want the hearing aids to “show”, so here is what happened to me. I knew I needed them and I’m a software developer, which is still a young person’s game, so I tried to avoid the obvious for way too long. But the time came, and I thought I should announce it to everyone I work closely with. I got them in the hallway and announced I was getting a hearing aid, braced for the response. What I heard was something like, “good, you needed those. Where are we going for lunch”. Then, a few months later I was trying out ring tones in my office and a person walked by my office that I worked with almost every day (but not in the announcement group). He stopped and came back and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was trying to find a ring tone I can hear. He said, “you have trouble hearing?” I said yes, that’s why I wear hearing aids. He said, “you wear hearing aids?”

Then, I went to a dinner party and the hostess knew I had new hearing aids and told one of the people, a speech/language pathologist, that I had new hearing aids and she was interested in my results and would talk to me at the dinner party. So we were introduced and were chit-chatting and she finally brought up the fact that she was told I had new hearing aids, but she said “you didn’t wear them tonight?” I said yes, I’m wearing them and they turned me all around and finally spotted them (behind the ear RIC style).

Bottom line is, with so many devices around now, nobody really notices or cares. If you have long hair that covers your ears nobody will see. You could get by fine with the behind the ear (BTE) or the in the ear (CIC or IIC). I would go with comfort which for me is behind the ear RIC style with a custom mold. I can’t feel them and don’t have any sensation there is something on or in my ears. The CIC style is not as comfortable for me.

There is a period of adjustment as your brain learns to process the new sounds and you will need to go back to your pro from time to time, so if you buy in one city and move to another it could impact you. If you buy from Costco you can go to another Costco for adjustments.

12

for class room environments the focus should be on external devices

13

Hi Musician_72,

You seem to be knowledgeable about hearing aids and bernafons in particular. I have a Costco apt set up in 2 weeks to try out Bernafon Juna 9s. I have a severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. I was interested in this brand as these hearing aids do not have any channels and I am getting the impression based on reviews that these hearing aids are the best for live music as they are the most natural sounding. Live music sounds absolutely terrible, extremely distorted, with the pair of hearing aids I have now. I have always worn hearing aids with custom fitted molds w/ vents. Could Juna 9s be worn w/ custom fitted molds? Also, what do you think about these hearing aids for my degree of hearing loss? I addressed this post to Musician_72, but anyone feel free to give me your input.

Thank you in advance,
Amberly

14

Hi,

there is the Juna CP-x, which is the strongest Juna. This has tubes, no RIC, so obviously it works with custom molds (RIC does that, too, but differently).

But I think this might be too weak for you, too. The strongest bernafon Aid is supremia, but this is not sold at costco, and I´m not sure if it has live-music program, too.

Go to costco and try it, Juna is great for live music, but I´m not sure about the fitting range. I think a real power aid would be better for you.

Good luck!

15

Thank you musician for your advice! I’ll try out the Juna CP-x and Trax 42 with Costco. If these don’t work out I’ll try the Supremia with another audiologist.

16

Hi,

there was another thread, where someone said that the supremia is sold at costco, too.

Sorry, concerning costco, I only see what´s visible at their website, there is no costco in germany.

So, in short: There are power aids sold at costco, too.

17

I was in Costco yesterday and took a look at the display case. Seems that Bernafon also has the least expensive aid they sell at $495/ea. Not sure what the model is.

18

Hi Emily, and welcome to the forum!

I smiled when I read your post. I, too, consider myself to be a “young” early-40ish person (I turn 43 in 4 days), especially since I have preschool-aged children, so when I found out I needed to get one hearing aid nearly 3 years ago, I was very distressed. (And now I, too, am just discovering I need reading glasses…) Since then, one HA has turned into two, and it’s not so bad. I wear RIC model hearing aids and almost nobody notices them! I have slightly shorter than shoulder length hair, and usually wear it down which hides my HAs, but even when I wear my hair up, very few people have noticed. Usually it’s other HA users or people who think they need hearing aids who notice. The size of RIC and BTE units nowadays is pretty discreet, especially if you order them in a similar colour to your hair.

I’m reasonably active and HAs haven’t hampered that at all. I run around and wrestle with my kids daily, jog, bike ride, and try to stay somewhat in shape. I wear my hearing aids for all of those activities and have never had a problem with their performance, other than getting feedback when my 3-year-old deliberately covers one of my aids with his hand or mouth! LOL But feedback is to be expected in that case! I’m also taking some courses, and teach a women’s group once a week, and haven’t had any real problems with my hearing aids in any of those situations. They’ve been a real benefit when I’m teaching and one of the quiet talkers speaks. When others have difficulty hearing her, I simply turn up the volume on my hearing aids.

For what it’s worth, my left ear audiogram results are slightly better than your results, and I do benefit from using a HA in that ear. When I first got tested 3 years ago, the audiologist recommended aiding my right ear only. (My audiogram then was the same as it is now.) I went along wearing a HA for my right ear only for nearly two years, and found it difficult due to the difference in sound quality between the aided and unaided ears. I asked my audiologist about getting a HA for my left ear about 6 months into wearing the one in my right ear. She thought a second aid would be of no benefit. Finally, last spring, after wearing my right HA for 1.5 years, I pushed to try a second hearing aid, and I can’t tell you happy I am that I did! Now I hear the same quality of sound in both ears, and everything is just so much more crisp! For me, going from one aid to two was a night-and-day difference. Anyway, my point is that you’ll never know if you’ll benefit from wearing hearing aids unless you try them. If you go the Costco route as others suggested, you can trial HAs for 90 days and return them if you don’t find them helpful. But if you do find them helpful, you will be so thankful that you tried!

Good luck!

Kerry

19

bernafon is a musican aid.

20

Have you looked into online vendors? Their prices are WAY less and you get the same service.