Up to now my audi has been fantastic and I suppose he was remiss not fitting them in the first place. However he has tuned the H/A to be incredibly useful to me in my teaching role and general life so I am going to let him off, with only a small admonishment. To give you some idea how much I benefit from them, I rushed out to a restaurant with friends the other day, and forgot to put them in after a shower. I missed them so much all evening. Hearing ‘normally’ has become a natural part of my life now. I was reading the threads here and elsewhere, where users asked whether using hearing aids could damage their hearing. The conclusions were that they did not and users thought that there hearing was worse without them, because when the loss had been gradual, as in my case, one simply forgets how badly your hearing was before the aids. In my case, I was shocked how much difficulty I had in the restaurant without the aids and how good it feels to hear all the sounds I now take for granted, wearing my aids.
Although my loss is mild to moderate and in the higher frequencies, I can function perfectly well without hearing aids. However with them, I gain so much and feel so less fatigued, as my job requires me to pick out nuances of speech and react quickly. Having had the Oticons for 6 months now, and after not wearing them just for one evening, I realise how much I gain from using them.
I am very grateful to be financially in a position where I have been able to gain this benefit.