Oticon Zircon 2 have not helped my ability to hear speech clearly

[Member284]

Hi,
Very new here. I’ve had Oticon Zircon 2 rechargeable hearing aids (recommended by an audiologist) for about a month now - I’ve never had HAs before, and I’m 56.
I had them fitted by an audiologist and after a couple of days, I went back to them as I was getting a lot of static through the left HA. They replaced the wire into the ear canal (that they had fitted), which seemed to fix that issue.
What I’m now finding is that, in general, I often have trouble hearing speech, because the HAs seem to amplify ALL noise, not just speech - and so often ambient/background/other noise is loud enough that I can’t make out what a person is saying.

I don’t know much about it, but the logical conclusion seems to be that the audiologist has not adjusted the HAs properly to optimise for hearing speech. I’d just like to know what people think - I’m rather frustrated, because I’ve spent an awful lot now on the HAs plus fitting and, if anything, it feels like my ability to hear speech clearly is little, if any, better than before.

Another issue is that I can never get the Companion app to connect to the HAs via Bluetooth. This is a major issue, as I find I often want to adjust the left or right HA independently, which you can’t do without the app. So, just wondering if anyone has experienced this, and what they might advise? The one thing I haven’t yet tried is uninstalling and reinstalling the app…

Thank you for any help.

[cvkemp]

Have you audiologist to set your aids so they can be adjusted separately. Not all aids can be set separately but it is worth asking. Also if you constantly have your aids set different in volume explain that to your audiologist and ask for your aids to be adjusted so you don’t have to do it yourself.
One thing I do a week or two before my appointment is email audiologist with my list of requests and also a list of what is working and doesn’t need touching. I walk into my appointment hand my aids to my audiologist and he programs in the needed changes. He can make the changes when he has some spare time and the precious appointment time is saved. For more information things like hearing test, and word recognition test, and cleaning my aids. My aids are cleaned by the hearing tech quarterly.

[1Bluejay]

OK. Y’gotta start with your audiogram or we’re groping in a black sack. I say that cuz I found from my own personal experience that my hearing loss (and my brain) simply can not comprehend speech as well with Oticons as with Phonak aids. That’s just ME.

Part of the problem could be that your aid’s “Autosense” (different makers have different terminology) may not be set to your preference. If ALL sounds are simply roaring (as I found with the Oticon OPNs I wore for 9 mos) then you will have a very challenging time discriminating speech in just about any setting.

If you can articulate to your audi what situations you find challenging that could be a clue: like restaurants, shopping malls, traffic outside, seated in a car, wind noise, just put it all on paper. It’s possible that the frequencies could be tinkered with or you could have your aids set up with a set of dedicated programs to switch into when in certain environments.

As for the Companion app … yeah, it’s not uncommon for these to simply be flaky with the very brand of aid they are intended for! I found all kinds of inconsistencies and irritation with myRoger and myPhonak apps - so I deleted them. Not optimal for folks who like taking control of their aids and tinkering in situ in various situations. Hope you get some more replies here?

[Member284]

Thank you, I think I’ll be booking another appointment with the audiologist.

[Member284]

Thank you; think I’ll be booking another appointment with the audiologist. It did occur to me that my audiogram would be critical info for people, but I was never given it - is it usual for them just to give it to you, or is something you generally have to ask for?

[1Bluejay]

NO. Typically audis treat us like children and the audiogram would be WAY beyond our comprehension! But folks who take charge of their health and hearing aid purchases simply ask the audi right out: “Can I have a printed copy of my audiogram cuz I hang at a fabulous Hearing Forum and want to share it with the members.”

After you get the printed copy it IS a bit of a painstaking process to enter the numbers manually using the tools here at the forum to add it to your PROFILE. I’m gonna surf up to mine and see if there’s an obvious path for entering the RIGHT and LEFT ear audiograms…

Stay tuned …

[1Bluejay]

OK FOUND IT!
On the Forum home page, click on the link in the top menu bar that says “FORUM”.
Click “My Hearing Tests” in the drop-down menu:

Click “My Hearing Test” here and you should be able to manually enter your audiogram for RIGHT and LEFT ear:

Let us know if you get lost … (I was VERY lost trying to get to this page for my audiogram)

[AlexE]

I just ask if I can take a picture of the screen. The NHS posted me mine when asked.

[Member395]

I cannot get it to upload a photo for the CGI profile. I get blog error. I have a jpeg

[1Bluejay]

That’s cuz it has to be entered MANUALLY. I wondered why, but figure it’s so all our audiograms have continuity and can be interpreted and compared much easier that way.

Yeah. Gonna need a pair of READING glasses, a nice straight RULER, and a lot of PATIENCE to enter the audiogram results for LEFT and RIGHT ear.

[Member395]

Entered numbers for hearing at least

[1Bluejay]

Glad you got that audiogram posted! You have a very interesting curve - symmetrical for both ears but a ski slope down the hill!

I’m no audiologist, but it’d be good to know why the Oticon Zircon isn’t helping you. Hope you get some insights here.