I am a frustrated owner of a new pair of aids and an old case of low frequency hearing loss. I’ll give background info and ask questions at the end. I don’t really understand enough to know if you need all this info or not to answer the questions I have.
My audiogram from last Feb:
Hz/fq: 250…500…1000…1500…2000…3000…4000…6000…8000
dB-R:…55…60…50…20…10…5…15…10…5
dB-L:…75…70…60…35…25…15…20…15…5
Aids: Miracle Ear ME2100 OP BTE (behind-the-ear)
Cost: $4280
Date of purchase: 7/27 (I have a 30 trial period)
My hearing is functional at work. But, I get complaints from my family that they are frustrated with my lack of hearing. I think the difference is 1) work is less chaotic noise-wise, 2) I work with children and women mostly, and 3) my family members mumble. My high and mid-high ranges seem to do a good job of assisting the losses I have at the low end.
I’ve been in with the audiologist twice to tinker with the aids. We have tinkered with both the sound quality and the comfort of the aids. On the first round she gave me large, closed domes. I heard a good friend worse with the aids than without them (she has a lowish voice for a woman). I may have heard a male friend better, but the results weren’t dramatic. On the second round she swapped out the old domes for smaller, vented domes because I felt the others were uncomfortable and my voice sounded booming. She boosted the lowest two frequencies almost all the way up and I got a warble in some mid-range frequencies (sounded like someone speaking under water). She lowered the mid-range frequencies which made the warble quieter, but didn’t make it go away.
The Questions:
How can I help direct the audiologist in helping me? The warble is in women’s voices mostly (I was using NPR as a guinea pig). It happens in words brOAd, bOArd, wAter, cOm, shOwEr, pAssed and nIne with capital letters being warbled. I hear it in my voice as well. I don’t seem to hear it in music.
Is this style of hearing aid a bad choice for me?
Am I being overly ambitious expecting a big difference in my hearing with these aids?