Reverse Slope Hearing Loss

Hearing Aids
#9

Hi Kelly! Thanks for your post. It’s hard to find good, current info about reverse-slope loss.

At miracle ear I see a sales person. The audiograph she did for me was not good (read: wrong). But, I have a folder full of audiographs done by an audiologist at an ENT office already, so I didn’t care so much about that. She is working from the audiologists charts.
I have flip-flopped over and over again about whether to keep these aids or not (so expensive!). I’ll go in Friday and ask if the noise reduction can be turned off or reduced in some way. Maybe that’d help. Reading up at Neil Bauman’s website has given me some other tips.

I didn’t like the feeling of the closed domes, but someone said something about venting them in a small way like a pin prick.

#10

I have vents in mine, still feel a little bloked up but helps to still hear the very high frequencies we rely on and the aids can’t cover. I have done a lot of reading before getting my aids, I also got my Audiologist to read Neil Baumans’s article. I think that openned her mind a bit, she’s been in the field for 30 years and she admitted that some things said in the article were total opposite of what they had be doing.

Seems a lot of people have their 2cents to say on the subject, but you don’t read a lot of happy story from people affected. Best is to find an Audiologist that is not stuck in their ways and is ready to work with you to find the solution that works for you

Good luck :slight_smile:

#11

I think you would do well with custom made earmolds that had a Select-a-vent in them. This is a vent that allows you to place sizers in it to get the correct size of vent. Every ear canal feedbacks differntly based on the amount of gain and the size of your ear canal so it’s a balance game with the venting. Too much equals feedback, not enough equals a blocked feeling. This is easier to do with a high frequency loss because low Hz waves are longer and pass through the vent easily to the ear drum. High Hz’s are short and less powerful and need a bigger vent, which typically isn’t possible without creating feedback.
The other way to overcome this “imbalance” of sound quality is to amplify the low frequencies to audible levels and then amplify the high frequencies just enough so that both the low and High frequencies sound amplified. It makes things sound more balanced than when you have high amplified low Hz’s and no amplification in the high Hz’s. This rational works ok in low Hz loss b/c of the venting is allowing the low Hz to hit the eardrum naturally (B/c the waves travel longer through the vents, remember?) - but High Hz waves don’t act way. TThis also helps overcome the upward spread of masking you might have over the high Hz’s from amplifying the lows. The trick here is to not overamplify the highs I can’t say I have high hopes if the salesperson couldn’t the audiogram right :frowning: That’s technically the easiest part of her job. I wish you the best of luck. I always tell my patients the only hearing aids that are too expensive are the ones that don’t work. I know for what you paid for the miracle ears you could get a good mid level set of hearing aids from a reputable company and a licensed audiologist.

#12

Thanks isa555. It’s good to hear from people with low frequency loss.

And thanks again Kelly.

#13

Last week, after almost three weeks of tinkering with domes large and small, vented and not vented, the miracle ear sales person sent out for an earmold. I have been using it since Friday, and I have less than one week to experiment with it before my 30 trial period ends Wednesday. They’re more comfortable than the domes and don’t fall out when I’m chewing. This is good! And they’re definitely louder for me than the domes were. But I feel fairly occluded - it has a small sized vent hole. I sound too loud and something else that I can’t put my finger on (but, I figure I can adjust to that). I had to take them out while eating at a restaurant because I couldn’t make sense of anything (I tried two settings). I find them helpful for TV watching and conversations with one or two people. I am missing a lot of high end noises, but in the miracle ear office, I feel like the high end was set plenty loud. Is this a venting issue?

I know there’s an adjustment period during which my brain needs to get used to all the new noise levels. But, I am feeling rushed with just a few days to decide if my brain needs to adjust or if the aids need to be returned.

Has anyone ever gotten their trial period extended?

#14

So frustrated! I’ve been looking for weeks online to find useful info. Neil Bauman’s website is helpful, but the info is several years old. Aids have progressed, no doubt, since his postings. I see pleas for help that go unanswered (aside from links to Bauman). I see websites aimed at hearing aid vendors which give the exact opposite advice than Bauman does. So the vendors are getting one set of advice and we with low frequency loss are giving/getting the opposite set of advice. And, in the end, people still seem to agree that there’s not a lot to be done for reverse-slope losses.

#15

I haven’t but I was told I could if I needed to. It’s a lot of money, they would be silly to refuse. As KellyAud said, perhaps if those are not working out for you, you should consider looking somewhere else/for something else. You should still be able to hear your high frequencies, if you don’t then something is really wrong

#16

I have another (another!) appt tomorrow.

#17

I feel like a lone ranger trying to get at least some benefit from hearing aids. I’ve had low freq lost since the birth of my daughter 25 years ago. I had all the tests done and in the end the experts told me that hearing aids would not be of much help. For the past 8 years I have been using hearing aids combined with a small fm system. So the hearing aids only help if I’m using an assistive device. I am playing now with adjusting my Phonak Ambras myself. I purchased the needed equipment etc. on-line. It’s been quite a learning experience and it takes dedication. I have also been helped by using aural rehabilitation programs that help you “listen” better. The program I am currently using is called “LACE” Listening and Communication Enhancement" by Neurotone, Inc. It really has helped me and I’m just a few weeks into it. I would highly recommend it and you can download directly from Neurotone and it costs less than $100. You have to be determined to do the rehab program for about 20 minutes a day. I was at a conference in June and there were some “papers” discussing the benefits of aural rehab and the conclusions were very positive for it. I think the answer for low freq loss lies in the use of many tools.

#18

The LACE program sounds interesting. I was wondering if you could be more specific in what areas or ways the program has helped you. Thanks.

#19

CryMeARiver, that does sound quite interesting. I am just curious, do you do this with your HAs on or without?

#20

I picked up my audiograms to see what my speech audiometry was since people here seem to know what that is all about.

Above the chart with the below info, NU6 and MLV are checked off. It says:

Ear…SRT…%…SL…Mask
R…20…92%…40…40
L…30…96%…40…45

Does that mean I hear very well without noise, but much worse with noise?

#21

I want to know more about the Reverse Slope Hearing Loss. Actually My grandmother is suffering with hearing loss. I want to know about her hearing loss type so that I can get best hearing aids for her. Thank you.

hearing aids atlanta

#22

Hi Goms,

Reverse slope hearing loss means that the low frequencies are affected, but the highs are not. If your grandmother if suffering from hearing loss, and it’s only since a few years, she is more likely to have a ski slope hearing loss. Usually, hearing loss due to age makes you lose high frequencies, while the lows are untouched.
Hope this helps!

#23

I think that Goms786 post was spam.

#24

Oups… I feel naive… How can you tell so I don’t get caught again?

#25

tortue,
Spammers usually have a link to some place in their signature area and they usually ask a very general question. If you come across a post like that click on the red x, flag them and let the admin decide.

#26

Thanks Seb, I appreciate it.

#27

Sure, not a problem, if we all work together we can keep the spammers out or at least at bay.

#28

CryMeARiver, how much amplification did you apply at 500 Hz to make the low pitch sounds audible? and how much in the highs to prevent upward spread of masking?

Could you share any specific value to help me fitting my hearing aids? (Just to have an example.)