Throwing in the Towel

Hearing Aids
#174

I’m all for re-growing hairs and no doubt they will crack this someday. I just had a fellow mtn biker (sorry Spudgunner, lol) who had ear crystals causing her balance issues. They put her on a machine that did some very complex whole body rotations to get the crystals into an area where her vertigo disappeared. Never knew! Crystals are still there (working on methods to dissolve them I’m told by my doc) but in an area where they won’t cause any balance issues.

I’m hopeful that if I actually get a good hearing aid in my left ear (sent the old one back after it failed to re-start for the 4th time) I can FINALLY make some progress. By turning one to 15 and the other to zero, alternating sides with this while listening to something that sounds broken up (when they both worked) I found that the right one is pretty good and only heard the high volume and very little if any distortion while the left one really sounded all broken up and tinny at almost any volume but the extreme volume really contrasted how very bad it was compared to the right. Yes I am so thankful it failed like this since they will not repair, it was easy to show Costco it didn’t work and I’ll get a new one. I kept the right one since “don’t fix what isn’t broken”, lol.

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#175

Yes, you GOT it! That is exactly what happened a month ago when I got my Phonak Life aids. REM fitting had set them up using some kind of algorithm, but I had her get on the phone with Phonak and the tech walked her through transferring the same set-up on my Marvel aids to the new Life aids. WHEW.

#176

@fbacher1: It’s probably the damned electrical bikes making the dilithium in yer ears unstable, so it crystallizes.

And that fancy equipment to get the crystals moving to where you want? … We used to call them Wild Mouse or RollyCoasters

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#177

Crystals are suppopsed to be there. Should disolve on their own once they are out of the semi-circular canals and back into the utricle.

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#178

They don’t always do that for all people and in this case they were causing this lady severe vertigo.

#179

Yes and some docs do it without the machine and there are series of specific positions the patient is put in to slide the crystals around. Maybe a good mtn bike endo would do the the same thing, lol?

#180

Had it a couple of times over about a weeks time - Googled it - It’s called BPPV for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. I did the recommended exercises, and have not had any vertigo issues since.

A number of my friends have had BPPV over the years. Some have visited ENT’s who often order tests including MRI’s. Nothing abnormal was found with any of my friends MRI’s and Physical Therapy was prescribed.

Can’t imagine having a BPPV episode while riding a bike, or driving a car…might ruin your day unless you have some of SpudGunner’s Dilithium.

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#181

BPPV is most common in the right posterior canal, so the vertigo comes on when you tilt your head back and to the right (or roll to the right while laying down). Rare motion for bike riding or car driving. Lateral canal tends to be more debilitating because the vertigo comes on with side-to-side head motion and you likely wouldn’t get onto the bike in the first place; nausea is often stronger with lateral canal BPPV.

#182

My final episode happened while sitting stationary in a Burger King drive-thru line. I looked left and slightly upward at the display to check something and WHAM. It was quite difficult to keep my foot on the brake pedal while experiencing the vertigo. Thankfully it only lasted about 5 seconds.

Wasn’t aware of the Lateral Canal BPPV.

#183

eep. Not bppv, but a good friend of mine blew out an eardrum while diving to a tricky scuba site. Cold ocean water rushing into the middle ear will cause some awful spinning. She said not knowing up from down 40m under water was the scariest thing that had ever happened to her.

#184

Long time ago, l took a scuba diving course and made it until the last step, which was to dive solo. My instructor pulled me out and won’t let me dive solo until l get a notice from an ENT doctor. The instructor was worried because he knows that some people with hearing loss have weak eardrums. Well the instructor should have told me in the first place to get an notice from an ENT.

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#185

Wow, I’ve never heard of that.

My friend of course lost hearing in her ear for a while. I was concerned that she had lost something permanent. She was only concerned about how soon she would be able to dive again. :stuck_out_tongue:

#186

The same week that I got my ticket, I went on vacation in Puerto Rico. There, I discovered serious snorkeling, and have hardly put on a tank, since.

But even free dive snorkeling can bust an ear if you’re unlucky.

#187

I’ve thrown in the towel many times on hearing aids before finally finding one’s that I can actually hear well and clearly out of and that fit and do not slip out or hurt. I once had only one hearing aid that just did not work properly. It kept on cutting in and out. Then I got a pair that was too loud and physically uncomfortable and the special mold fell put anyway. I gave up. Then I tried expensive hearing aids that sounded robotic. Then I gave up on hearing aids for years and years. I hated the very thought of wearing them or thinking of my hearing loss.Later, I brought the Wave from Audicus, because I kept missing sounds and words people were saying.But I took them back because the large domes kept on slipping out. Finally, I got hearing aids about a week ago that fit nicely so far and I can actually hear out of them clearly w/o feedback.
Hearing aids need to be adjusted by an excellent audiologist, to fit your audiogram as close as it can get to it. Then when you get them, everything is too loud at first, and you need to train yourself to get used to them. Some people wear them an hour at a time at first and build up over time. I couldn’t do it that way. I did it a way that only some people could do; and some actually do: I put them in my ears and forced myself to wear them all day! They itched, the noise was too much, I had headaches, I was even in angry and in a bad mood for a while! Again, I don’t recommend anyone do this but I gave up every time I tried to do it gradually, so I did it the hard way! Do it gradually, though, if you decide to wear HAs again.
I hope this helps, even a tiny bit. If not, you still have my great support and care.

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#188

The problem is that the very frequencies that need the most amplification to make you hear better are also ones that cause the most aggravation. Making the aids more comfortable results in less audibility. Mine might not be adjusted for the best resolution of my hearing loss, but I have gotten them to the point where I can wear them all day and not notice too much that I am wearing them. I might make a few more adjustments to enhance audibility later on.

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#189

Hello,

I’m a long time Oticon hearing aid user currently five days into a Phonak Lumity trial with little Phonak experience. I was having a very similar issue. In the My Phonak App I tried all of the equilizer pre sets and all of the adjustments for noise reduction, speech focus and dynamic to no avail. I however created a custom program in which I slightly raised the bass and treble and greatly reduced the midrange on the three band equilizer for pitch and it solved my problem. Your post is older and I’m jumping in late and am not sure if my suggestion is relevant.

Tony

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#190

Perhaps the original poster could mute his HAs when he must walk across the creaky floor? Just a thought. There are times when I mute mine, such as when I’m going to have to use one of those noisy high-volume air hand dryers.

Actually, his tale of woe reminds me of a pair I trialed from Miracle Ear about a dozen or so years ago (back when I was just starting to need the hearing help). They made every creak and rattle of my SUV alarmingly loud, and rustling leaves were horrible. I took them back and wound up buying a pair from America Hears so I could self-adjust them.

#191

Thanks for the fantastic and inspiring comments. You’re said exactly what I’ve been thinking about my own situation.

#192

I was trying to “deal” with my HAs for months. Then I went to a audiologist on Dr. Cliff’s list w/best practices. I walked in with not hearing well to walking out 2 hours later hearing so good that we all cried! Bought them at Costco; back & forth to Costco for adjustments; advised my brain would adjust; months later to this new audi who took care of my issue in 2 hours! Yes, she charged me for this, but I was so fortunate to find her plus that she would work w/Costco aids. The $350 was worth every penny! (by the way, as a side note,

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#193

Mine seem to be worse with the REM adjustments. More cons the pro’s., will go back nest week to see if I can get some help with the things not working. The acoustic seems to be off! I also heard that REM work best with custom molds,not silicon cups.