Our 7 year old has high frequency loss (see audiogram in my profile). Her audiologist recommended Oticon Play PX2 aids. She mentioned Phonak, but basically said Oticon is smaller and their upgrade program is better. Anyway, as I review the literature, it doesn’t look like the Oticon Play PX BTE will cover our daughter’s high frequencies as well as the Phonak (or Oticon Opn Play) aids would. Am I reading these correctly in thinking that?
The 85 would just do it. The 100 or 105 would have more than enough power. There is a little wiggle room in the fitting ranges. I was clearly out by 10 decibels for about 5 years but my Power receivers worked fine and had enough power.
Its fine (my amateur opinion) to get to the edge on fitting range. To me the gain numbers are where it’s at. My Power receivers had a max gain (called full on gain) of 59 decibels. My frequency ranges never went above 50, 51 decibels. So i only needed 51 gain but had 59 available. So it had more power than i needed even though i was out of the stated fitting range.
Also, you don’t match the gain to the loss. My loss in the high frequencies is greater than 100 decibels so i needed 40-50 decibels of gain.
Are you an iphone family or Android? Phonak connects to everything without the extra connect clip device that Oticon needs for regular Bluetooth (Android phones and tablets, laptops).
Thank you for your thoughtful answers. It is the 85 that she is fitting — the others listed are different aids (Opn Play and RITE style aids). Audiology feels strongly that a 7 year old should not be in RITE (although I wasn’t really told why).
Her low frequencies are normal, so I just want to make sure we give her the best chance at hearing and understanding those high frequencies.
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@Jessica_A Can you not try both?
I’ve been told that here in the UK Oticon seem to do a decent job in the NHS (National Health Service) which provide free hearing aids, so not sure if this why the audiologist prefer Oticon over Phonak.
But can she not have them for 30 days trial, one at a time?
Also, you might need to think about rechargeable vs disposable batteries, not sure how this will work with children, my brother always had disposable batteries hearing aids ever since he was a baby with sever hearing loss.
Maybe worth checking directly with both Oticon and Phonak to see how both hearing aids perform for children.
If you are in the State, maybe worth getting in touch with:
Good luck
Thank you. This a big deal for you and your family and probably all of us here are very interested in the process and outcome.
It sounds to me (yes, that was a pun) like you are doing everything just right!
It is not unusual to have several adjustments made in the first few months to get everything as good as can be. Also, not unusual for a new wearer to think everything sounds “tinny” or harsh. Your audiologist may activate a gradual increase in the sound over the first couple of months to deal with the tinny sound. She hasn’t heard the higher sounds as well, so they won’t sound “right” at first, but the brain is amazing at adjusting.
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Thank you for this! Maybe you’re right that we should give both a try. I think this is an option — it just takes more appointments to get to where we will ultimately land, but in the whole scheme if life, its probably time well spent.
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One thing to add to the mix is accessories:
-TV adaptor
-Remote microphone
-Hearing aids remote control
-Hearing aids dehumidifier
Consumables like:
-Batteries
-Wax guard!!!
-Ear molds
-Tubes…
Also, maybe worth getting a spare hearing aids in case one fails, maybe worth shopping around or getting in touch with Costco, or checking Ebay, Facebook market…
Please check each hearing aid for wax guards.
If I had known how tiny my wax guards are I would have asked for a different make. They are very hard to insert in my receivers properly. And that has affected my hearing badly.
My hearing aids are Phonak Audeo Paradise P90Rs The rechargeable batteries sometimes don’t last the day