Should I get hearing aids?

Hearing Loss
#1

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great day! I’m new here.
I (24/M) am an ESL teacher and have been having some problems with hearing my students since September 2023. I’ve had my hearing tested few times since then, and this is my last audiogram. My audiologist told me that my loss is not severe enough to require the use of hearing aids. However, this does not change the fact that I’m still having trouble understanding my students in the classroom, especially the females. Would you aid this loss? Do you think this is noise induced? My audiogram is attached to my profile.

Thank you in advance

#2

You might want to try an over the counter hearing aid. They are designed to address high frequency hearing loss where you are beginning to see some decline. I found the Sony CRE-E10 to be very good and they recently dropped their prices. Sony describes their CRE-C10, which is a little cheaper, as designed for people who do not yet need hearing aids but who could benefit from a boost. That sounds like you.

SONY gives you a 60-day trial period although the people at Best Buy where I bought min were poorly informed and thought the trial period was only 30 days. One of the problems with an over the counter hearing aid is that the people selling them are not hearing care professionals and don’t necessarily understand these products or the policies which accompany them.

There are certainly other good OTC hearing aids out the besides SONY. Others posting here should also have suggestions.

#3

Do you have trouble with female voices in quiet or only in noise?

It suddenly got worse in September 2023? That’s when you started this job and so noticed the loss?

#4

No harm in trying although any benefit is likely to be subtle. You could try over the counter aids but I think spending ~$1500 for custom fitted hearing aids at Costco is better value. (I’m assuming you’re in the US)

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#5

Agree with Billgem above. OTC like Sony or even the Apple Pro, on sale now, might be enough for now. Your hearing might change and you may need something more but for now it seems that you need a specific boost in one area. Try and see.

#6

I agree with MDB. Benefit will likely be minimal but only you can decide if it is enough to warrant wearing them. If you are near a Costco, you will know pretty quickly if they help but you six months to get your money back. I used to tell people with your loss that they don’t need aids. But after trying them, quite a few patients told me that they really did need them. You have nothing to lose by trying them (as long as you get a trial period, not all places allow a free return).

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#7

I don’t know what the benefit of going to Costco will be, where he will pay twice as much as an OTC hearing + the cost of a Costco membership. His loss is only in very high frequencies, which should be simple enough to address with an OTC. If the OTC doesn’t solve the problem, then Costco would seem to be the next step.

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#8

In addition to the other suggestions it might be worth thinking about doing some confidence boosting activities with your students to encourage them to speak up a bit. I was a speech & language therapist before I retired and one year we decided to run a confidence building group in the summer holidays for those kids who had improved, but were not ready for discharge. The difference in those kids in 2 weeks was transformative and noticed by everyone in September. All the little things you do will help you.