Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Health & Fitness => Topic started by: Aunt Maud on 28 April, 2015, 08:23:33 am
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Following on from my trouble with the "Pig Man in the Van".
I noticed that I had gone slightly deaf after I'd been through his rear window head first, so I went to see the ear specialist at Aarhus hospital yesterday for a session of audio torture.
Result, I have moderate (suitably vague diagnosis) hearing loss in both ears and I need not one , but two hearing aids......pants!
Any tips or tricks that I might find useful in using these would be very welcome.
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Don't forget to take them out when you get in the shower.
Have a routine of cleaning them, at least once a week.
Keep them in a box, with a silica gel sachet, at night.
REplace the batter[y|ies] before they run out, for instance the bog standard NHS beige ones (GN Resound) use a battery every ten days. Providing I remember I replace mine after 9.
Always carry spare batteries (I have a set in Mrs T's handbag, in the car, in my bike bar bag and in my laptop bag, as well as several spare sets at home). Sod's Law dicatates that the one time you forget to pack batteries, yours will go flat and ruin your ride/night out/visit with friends.
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When applied to hearing loss, 'moderate' is defined as 40-70 dB (fitting in between 'mild' and 'severe').
Sometimes people (especially USAnians) tend to quote a "percentage hearing loss" which is even more meaningless. Only the shape of the audiogram (an upside-down plot of frequency response) tells the whole story.
What tiermat said about batteries. Basically, treat packs of batteries the way asthmatics treat salbutamol inhalers: scatter them liberally throughout your life, so you have a reasonable chance of finding some when needed, and to hell with any strange ideas that the medics might have about "your inhaler" or "your spare batteries" singular. Advanced skills include developing a deaf-dar and working out whose hearing aids use the same kind of batteries as yours.
Don't be afraid to take them out when you feel the need, but conversely, do wear them as much as possible so that you get used to hearing with them - it's not the same as hearing with working ears, and only time, experience and tuning will let you get the most out of them.
Earmolds are disgusting. Sweat kills hearing aids (as do showers, if you forget you're wearing them). Novelty condoms are available for keeping BTE aids dry. Silica gel is your friend. Tactical scotchlite tape helps you find dropped hearing aids in the dark, when you don't have a pet hearing person to home in on the feedback. They always malfunction at the beginning of bank holiday weekends, especially if Audiology have taken the following Tuesday off for administrative reasons. DAI/Bluetooth good, induction loops bad. http://www.connevans.co.uk for useful gadgets.
Consider doing some sign language or lipreading classes. You're guaranteed to learn something useful, even if it doesn't change your preferred methods of day to day communication. (This goes for hearing people too, BTW.)
If someone makes the "I'm deaf" "What?" joke, you're permitted to kill them to DETH and ask questions later. Trufax.
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If someone makes the "I'm deaf" "What?" joke, you're permitted to kill them to DETH and ask questions later. Trufax.
Or give them the stare that makes them wish they were dead...
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He told me I was down at 84db, which is on the border of severe then.
I've got some fancy Danish ones coming in a couple of weeks when I go to see the Audio Tortureologists again, so we'll see what goes then.
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He told me I was down at 84db, which is on the border of severe then.
I've got some fancy Danish ones coming in a couple of weeks when I go to see the Audio Tortureologists again, so we'll see what goes then.
Hope they are not Danalogics in retail packaging...
I am saving up to buy a Phonak Naida 3 (or whatever the newer model is) as it is "waterproof", hopefully more so than the NHS standard ones which seem to last me about 3 months before being ruined by rain/sweat.
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He told me I was down at 84db, which is on the border of severe then.
That's well into severe, but presumably only at one frequency. They tend to categorise based on what you can hear, rather than what you can't, IYSWIM.
That also implies serious ear damage (inner, not just middle), so van man has a lot to answer for. >:(
(Barakta will no doubt be along later with her splendid example audiogram with real-world sounds on it...)
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Widex somethingorother.
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84dB is well into severe but the "definition" is based on the average of both ears across 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz and I think 4kHz so it's a bit of a fudge. Depending on how the frequencies are spread out you can have Moderate to Severe implying you've got a mix of both. http://www.batod.org.uk/index.php?id=/resources/audiology/descriptors/audiometric-descriptors.htm
US and UK definitions differ slightly - mileage varies across Europe too no doubt. I tend to assume no one is wrong, just different ways of the same thing.
I wonder if you had some pre-existing loss as well as accident related damage although if your YACF age is accurate you're awful young for that. What did the audi-torture bods say? Ask them if they haven't told you. Also ask for a copy of your audiometry, it's invaluable as evidence and also being able to link up information about deafness/hearing loss to your experience.
There are two main kinds of hearing loss.
1) Conductive which means something has affected outer ear, ear canal or middle ear.
2) Sensori-neural which means something has affected the cochlea or the auditory nerve to the brain.
You can have both types of loss at the same time.
Where the losses are also matters. High frequency losses affect consonant sounds such as K SH F TH S G CH and make English harder to make sense of. Other languages have different key frequencies. I can't recall where you are based - I seem to recall it's not in the UK. Lower frequencies affect vowel sounds and D B NG J Z so loss of these can result in distortion to what you hear especially if there is poor acoustics (lower frequencies are harder to acoustically dampen)...
An audiogram is plotted on a X axis of frequency in Hz and kHz vs "volume" in dB (Decibels). There be trippy logarithmical wossnames with sound volumes so it's not intuitive. 100x louder is 20dB; 24x louder is 12 dB - I still don't understand the maths! Different sounds are in different loudnesses and frequencies on an audiogram chart see http://www.barakta.org.uk/stuff/hearing/SMALLaudiogram-template.png for examples of speech sounds and every day noises. Audiometry tells you that you can hear a tone at X frequency at Y volume.. It doesn't tell you how well you are processing speech or if you have some degree of distortion. More info on reading audiograms at http://www.hearingdirect.com/pages/Audiograms-Explained.html and easily googleable with "audiogram explained" which will get you examples which might look familiar to you.
Hearing aids are not like glasses, they do not totally correct hearing loss/deafness. Hearing through hearing aids is different to natural hearing but I can't comment as I have always used hearing aids. You will almost certainly lose things like "cocktail party effect" which is the ability to pick out one sound (signal) in a noisy background environment (noise) e.g. restaurant or dining hall. Hearing people with normally working ears are using minute differences in when the sound hits each ear to do amazing cognitive processing which hearing aids can't yet fully do.. They're getting there, especially if you get two which speak to one another properly... You may well get directionality if not true stereo/other effects.
You will need a higher signal to noise ratio to pick up a desired sound (signal) in amongst undesired sound (noise). This means noisy places become even more difficult for you than before. You can sometimes learn to lipread/read other clues but it may always remain harder work.
Widex are an excellent hearing aid brand, many of the experienced deaf folk I know use and like them a lot. There's a whole range of peripherals such as http://www.widex.co.uk/en/products/accessories/dex/ which can connect to bluetooth, fm, TV, phone etc... I know folk who rate them highly but they are not cheap. If you are in the UK and employed you can weasel funding from employers for some of this sort of stuff. Otherwise there isn't really funding for this. These can be helpful in conference style situations.
Agree with others about batteries, you'll probably end up with orange tabbed 13 size batteries, they're the most common. It's always useful to clock other hearing aid users just in case.
When you get your aids, don't be afraid to keep going back until things are right. Earmoulds should not hurt and if they rub they can quickly cause damage which is hard to heal and will deteriorate easily. It can feel like you're making a fuss but you really aren't. Same for programming, if you find the aids are UNBEARABLE with certain sounds, make a note and speak to the audiologists as they can probably link that to frequencies and do lots of tweaking.
I agree with Kim on lipreading and or sign classes and if you let me know where you are based I will see what your local hearing loss organisations are - they can be useful for meeting people for advice and ideas and stuff.
The hearing aid protectors Kim referenced are called Ear Gear as at http://www.deafequipment.co.uk/catalogue/1233614/Ear-Gear
And for lolz my audiometry is at http://www.barakta.org.uk/stuff/hearing/SMALLNatalyaAudiogramtextsmall.png
The blue is what I can't hear even with hearing aids.
White + Blue is what I can't hear with hearing aids out (usual audiometry readings).
I have a mixed deafness which means both my middle and inner ear are affected.
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Try not to poke the hearing aid batteries into your ear rather than the hearing aid. DNAMHIKT.
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Try not to poke the hearing aid batteries into your ear rather than the hearing aid. DNAMHIKT.
Don't eat them either. For some reason, primary school teachers are compelled to do this. ;D
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Thanks Barakta there's and awful lot to take in there, so I'll have to read it a few times because I can't concentrate on reading something like that in one sitting (another consequence of hitting van windows head first, I really should stop doing it).
I fibbed with my age and am now in my 50th year, mainly because I don't want dob and stuff like that swimming around the web.
I'm in Denmark and all this is coming on the health service/insurance lala.
I'm British though and have been in Denmark now for something like 6 years and all the audiometry, testing etc is done in Danish which I'm fluent in, luckily. I'd hate to try and learn Danish now though as they speak like they've got their whole dinner in their mouths.
I'll try and get a copy of the chart from the man when I see him again.
Cheers for taking the time to write it all and I'll have another (third read) tomorrow.
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I think taking it all in would be hard irrespective of head injury... It is there to read whenever you can and I'm also happy to take anything to PM if that's ever easier. Allow yourself space to think and grieve if needed, it's a shock even when people half expect it.
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I believe Danish has a higher number of different vowel sounds than English, so lower frequency sounds are more important.
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Thats right Hellymedic there are an extra 3 tricky letters in the Danish alphabet. They are æ,ø,å and to me i&e sound the same and u,y&ø sound very similar too.
It's a subtle language and a chap on the Swedish brevet a fortnight ago told me that Danish children start speaking 6 months later than other Scandinavian children, but Swedes find Danish impossible anyway so it might be a myth.
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[OT] I don't remember my young cousin speaking late.
Her father only spoke Danish to her, while everyone else in her native Stockholm was speaking Swedish.
My Mum didn't seem to have much trouble with Swedish as a kid in WWII.
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I don't know how true that anecdote is and it may just be one of those cultural myths.
My eldest now 15 was bilingual from the start, but she's got a knack with learning languages and is good with German too. The youngest is a different story altogether and she took a while to get to grips with Danish.
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My hearing loss is not severe (mainly high-frequency), but my hearing aids help considerably in social situations, and they avoid having to turn the radio and TV up to levels uncomfortable for the unaffected.
However, I don't wear them while cycling. The wind noise is awful, and I suspect that my copious sweating would damage them. I know someone who wears her aids while riding, but always wears a headband to keep the wind out. And I've never even seen her hot and bothered, let alone dripping with sweat :D
This is my second set of aids; the first set had ear moulds, which I found made my ears sweaty, itchy and sore. Since changing to a set which have light plastic fittings within the ear (looking a lot like slightly heavier duty versions of the plastic thingies which attach labels to new clothing) I have been much more comfortable, but I do have to be careful that I don't knock them out when taking off specs, or pulling jumpers over my head.
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I'd forgotten that those not born deaf would find the knocking the HAs out to be a thing... I'm so used to that, it's kinda been a thing all my life :)
Wind noise is APPALLING through hearing aids. I've heard good things about Ear Gear protectors for that but a lot depends if you actually get any benefit from them in windy situations even with them.
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Apologies for hijacking this but I would be interested in the opinions of the hearing aid users on here.
I have an 86 year father in law who struggles with his hearing aids supplied by the NHS.
They are digital aids that were only supplied by the NHS about 6 months ago. He is I believe almost totally deaf in one ear and has moderate hearing loss in the other.
Would he get better by going private? I guess the more difficult question not knowing his exact range of hearing is would the difference be significant?
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Apologies for hijacking this but I would be interested in the opinions of the hearing aid users on here.
I have an 86 year father in law who struggles with his hearing aids supplied by the NHS.
They are digital aids that were only supplied by the NHS about 6 months ago. He is I believe almost totally deaf in one ear and has moderate hearing loss in the other.
Would he get better by going private? I guess the more difficult question not knowing his exact range of hearing is would the difference be significant?
I know next to nothing about hearing aids but don't think anyone can give a useful answer to this question without knowing the nature of FiL's struglle with his hearing aids.
Do the ear pieces irritate or fall out?
Does the sound through the hearing aid irritate/get too loud/ fail to make sounds clearer?
WE NEED DATA!
The Kim/barakta duo may be along soon...
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I think private can appear to do a better job on customer service, but I am skeptical about how much better the hearing aids themselves are. One issue is that I think older people NEED a lot of time to adjust to hearing aids, earmoulds, faffing etc and the NHS can appear very rushed even when staff are kind and helpful. I know folk who say, for them the cost of private is worth every penny for the sales/service but if someone isn't really loaded I'd say hold onto the cash and give the NHS a proper try.
As Helly has said, some more data about exactly what FiL is struggling with would help. Also if you are able to say "where" approximately he is e.g. North London or Southampton as there may be local hard of hearing organisations which could provide him with free face to face peer advice. A friend of mine volunteers for Action on Hearing Loss in London and is able to show people battery changing, and chat and just help them work out what's a problem and what can be helped by non-pros and what needs to go back to audiology.
Adjustment IS hard, I wish people warned folk that it can take up to 18 months to get used to aids if you've just started wearing them. A moderate loss is gonna knock out speech almost entirely and "total" could mean various things but won't help. I'm happy to interpret and provide a user's explanation of audiograms if those are available as I can identify what sounds may be harder to hear.
Hope that helps. Happy Deaf Awareness Week too! :)
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I think private can appear to do a better job on customer service, but I am skeptical about how much better the hearing aids themselves are.
That sums things up very well.
I have no data on the actual state of his hearing unfortunately.
A little history.
He has used NHS hearing aids for >5 years. About 6 months ago he had gone to a private hearing aid supplier in Lincoln after much cajoling because of not being able to hear very well with his existing hearing aids.
He was told that they couldn't do an awful lot with his worst ear as the level of amplification required was such that he would experience some ear pain. It was however possible to improve the hearing with his better ear compared to his existing NHS hearing aid.
Someone else in the family then got involved and suggested that he go back to the NHS as they were now supplying better digital aids and to save his money (he was using the older NHS analogue hearing aids) and this is what he ended up doing. But I don't think he has actually seen any improvement.
He does find it more difficult to hear someone if other conversations are going on in the same room. I guess most hearing aid users find that the case though. His hearing aids always seem to be making a whistling noise. Not sure why this is but he is one of those people who can't leave things alone and is always fiddling with it.
I'd rather he spent his money on making his quality of life better but he make take some convincing and there is no point in paying for something that isn't going to improve matters.
One issue is that I think older people NEED a lot of time to adjust to hearing aids, earmoulds, faffing etc and the NHS can appear very rushed even when staff are kind and helpful.
I think this is very true of him, and his generation if anything, feel that they are taking valuable time up or being awkward if they ask lots of questions or say things aren't right.
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If his hearing aids are constantly whisltling then they are badly fitted, as sound is leaking out from the output side and being picked up by the input side (feedback).
If they are earmould type, maybe the earmoulds need redoing, if they are otherwise then the actual way they fit needs looking at.
I would suggest a long discussion with the ENT specialist would be in order.
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Ouch re worse ear, I wonder if that is due to extreme high frequency loss but reasonable lower frequency losses making it difficult even for programmables to do much... I know for profoundly deaf people a hearing aid is lucky to bring you into speech range pickup zone which is why cochlea implants were SUCH a revelation there...
If he's still on NHS analogues then he definitely needed switching over but it is a change a lot of people find difficult and takes time. A lot is going to depend on what he's expecting from any hearing aid. If he's SO deaf on one side he's losing out on funky "paired hearing aid" tech and won't benefit from even pseudo-stereo location or much improvement in noisy places.
The noisy conversational background is hard cos the undesired sound (noise) is similar to the desired sound (signal) so keeping the signal to noise ratio higher is hard. Hearing folk need about 6dB difference between desired sound and undesired sound. HOH and deaf people can need 15-25dB difference which is A LOT in amplification terms. I suspect with such an imbalanced loss that this could be even worse. I've never had hearing so I don't know how good brains can be, but this ability-loss is the one deafened people I know of complain about most bitterly.
I agree with Tiermat about the whistling aids, that's a sign of badly fitted moulds and tubes and should be fixable. It might be worth trying to identify what causes squealing, is it when he laughs, eats, talks, etc... I have sometimes helped older people by sitting with them beforehand to work out questions and taken a list to audiology so he knows he has got some answers. If there's a drop-in service another trick can be going for a cup of tea and seeing how his aids are settling cos if they're definitely not right that can show up and you can go straight back...
It is sadly a matter of persistence, probably also with private but as previously said you feel entitled to it cos you're paying upfront for it and they have posher swankier less busy offices. It may be worth telling him that he will cost the NHS and society lost overall if his hearing is aided as best as possible as we know from extensive research that hearing aids are incredibly cost effective in terms of general health and wellbeing cos people who can't hear get more isolated and get more ill and "expensive". Also presumably he's paid his taxes all his life, he's entitled to good NHS care which is what current tax payers are paying into the system for.
Good luck, I hope he finds a solution which is as best as possible. He might find local hard of hearing or lipreading groups. They can be an invaluable source of tips, tricks and knowledgeable local people in the area who may be able to support him too. Little things like knowing how to control the conversation or teach family how to include him.
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Hope that helps. Happy Deaf Awareness Week too! :)
Same and thanks for all the advice.
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:thumbsup:
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Thanks also from me.
To add to his woes the father in law suffers from age related macular degeneration so has poor eyesight as well. The comment about him feeling isolated is even more relevant because of this.
I'd really like him to get the best possible help with his hearing and if that meant going private then I'd encourage him to do it. However from what has been said it is not as simple as that.
I'll encourage him to go back and get the fitting sorted and to speak to someone about what he can and can't hear. Hopefully some improvement can be made.
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Hearing aids are fiddly enough if you can see them. It might be worth saying he'd give the NHS 2 chances to show some improvement and if no joy or not good enough joy to try private. IIRC they have to accept return within 30 days if that isn't substantially better. Good luck!
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UPDATE
I've had both hearing aids fitted this morning and it seems that they are working quite well. The fitter (not quite sure what they're called) had to turn them down a lot as I was complaining...as is my want.
They are Widex Clear Fusion, or something like that and are a nice titanium grey colour, which matches my PDW mudguards. :thumbsup:
First experience.....the world's a very noisy place!
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Hurray.
It's not uncommon for people to start our with the aids programmed to be quieter than needed as part of an adjustment process and then tweaking them up and up over a few week period. Especially if you have been a fair bit hard of hearing for some time...
Hope getting used to them goes OK! :thumbsup:
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A weird thing I have found is I haven't used my hearing aid now in about six months.
This seems to be related to my increasing familiarity with German and its different noise profile which means I am better able to understand what people say to me in German than in English (because of no issues with is/isn't, did/didn't etc which are the bane of my life in the English-speaking world). I think also the fact that German is quite a loud language helps me.
I also avoid noisy environments generally, but even in some of these environments (such as the choir practice room, which has catastrophic acoustics for hearing-impaired people) I seem to be improving and I no longer wear my aid there either. Perhaps my lipreading in German has improved too. It's hard to say, but although I carry my hearing aid around with me I expect if I went to put it in the battery would be flat (I carry lots of spare batteries too so that would not be a problem).
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Thats interesting H, I've noticed that when I'm on the road Americans are far easier to hear than British or Danish riders.
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I'm not yet 49, so that's surely still mid-forties, but by golly do I feel old now. And typing this the keys are weirdly loud. This thread is eight years old -- is there any newer advice for the newly-NHSed?
In particular, I do sweat like billy-oh on the bike. Is this likely to be a problem, and if so how do I (a) mitigate it (b) resuscitate the aid if it gets wet?
And is setting it up to listen to the radio / podcasts while riding likely to be a bad idea?
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Today's advice would appear to be "look before you flush" (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=95565.msg2821677#msg2821677)
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I'm not yet 49, so that's surely still mid-forties, but by golly do I feel old now. And typing this the keys are weirdly loud. This thread is eight years old -- is there any newer advice for the newly-NHSed?
1 in 5 of the adult population have hearing loss above 25dB now - it used to be 1 in 7. The prevalence increases with age so you're just slightly unfortunate in having it, but lucky to have it picked up with plenty of time with a young(er) brain to acclimatise to hearing aids.
In particular, I do sweat like billy-oh on the bike. Is this likely to be a problem, and if so how do I (a) mitigate it (b) resuscitate the aid if it gets wet?
Ear Gears (https://www.connevans.co.uk/catalogue/1233614/Ear-Gear) are your friend and you could do worse than buy from Connevans themselves who are a smallish company who I have a lot of time for. They'll keep your hearing aids from ping fuckit-ing off somewhere too.
You may also want to look into a Drying Box (https://www.connevans.co.uk/catalogue/188/Drying-sets) of some kind which will dry it out overnight and reduce moisture build up etc.
You can also click up the hierarchy on that page and see all sorts of (largely unnecessary) hearing aid care kits.
I haven't had ear moulds since 1987, but I always cleaned them regularly to reduce risk of ear infection and cos they felt horrid if not clean. You can probably clean modern domes in an ultrasonic cleaner and dry them out overnight etc, or have 2 domes on the go with one resting/drying to reduce mankiness.
And is setting it up to listen to the radio / podcasts while riding likely to be a bad idea?
I don't see why not - its very handy.
If you let me know what make and model your aids are I can point you at appropriate instructions and or gadgets that may or may not be needed.
Increasingly hearing aids will bluetooth directly to stuff IFF the right programme is selected, so you have to ask audiology on that, but they SHOULD be reviewing your hearing aids at 4-6 weeks for fit and sound quality etc and possibly even reviewing loudness as they tend to under-volume till people acclimatise.
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1 in 5 of the adult population have hearing loss above 25dB now - it used to be 1 in 7. The prevalence increases with age so you're just slightly unfortunate in having it, but lucky to have it picked up with plenty of time with a young(er) brain to acclimatise to hearing aids.
Most of the damage was done eight or so years ago, probably by a coronavirus. They didn't offer me an aid at the time, but age or covid has worsened matters.
Day 1 is tiring. I took it out after a couple of hours and still collapsed by 5pm, and I'm not wearing it today as I have work to do. It will take a while.
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It's always a fine line between audio overload and genuine need to get your brain to acclimatise.
As a life long deafie I kinda have to do this every time they change the hearing aids on me.... It is genuinely tiring and it is worth being as kind to yourself over the next few weeks as you can while you adjust. Some people find it easier to build up, maybe 2 hrs a day and work up rather than on and off.
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Just waiting for my package to drop through the letterbox..l
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I gave up using my hearing aid while cycling - admittedly I hadn't come across Ear Gears - I tried a neoprene sleeve (possibly suggested here) which dealt with the wind noise, but was a problem with my glasses.
My hearing is sufficient that I can happily cycle without needing to use the aid, YMMV.
Mine is an older NHS type without Bluetooth but I've got an adapter which links to the T setting on the aid. It's a bit of a faff but it does allow me to listen to stuff on my phone when I don't want to hear Mrs M.
Audiology gave me some extra long 'retaining wires' (the bits of nylon that go in your outer ear) that I can cut to length - this keeps the inner ear part somewhat more secure when I'm exercising (or on my bike) - this was suggested by them when I told them I was a cyclist.
I've never had a problem with sweat or moisture, and I've never (yet!) had the thing fall off / out. Reliability has been excellent.
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Does anyone on this forum have experience of hearing loss and hearing aid use in the context of playing in musical ensembles? I see that Auntie Helen is involved with a choir, but I was wondering more specifically about orchestras, etc.
I was told a while ago that my hearing loss is bad enough that hearing aids would be useful, but I really wouldn't want hearing aids/tests that use a few frequencies an octave apart and interpolate/extrapolate what's going on in the other frequencies. It's one of the main things stopping me getting them (plus cost, faff, etc).
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I never used my hearing aid in choir - the sound quality was too bad.
I don’t use it at all now I have moved to Germany and people speak louder and with better diction. It’s amazing the difference it makes having a language without the ‘is or isn’t’ or ‘does or doesn’t’ pairings.
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Just waiting for my package to drop through the letterbox..l
They have arrived and I have had A Great Excite setting them up.
The iPhone app that everything told me wouldn't work works v well.
I watched TV without Subtitles!!
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Just waiting for my package to drop through the letterbox..l
They have arrived and I have had A Great Excite setting them up.
The iPhone app that everything told me wouldn't work works v well.
I watched TV without Subtitles!!
:thumbsup:
Removed mine on the way to the barber's this morning. Forgot to replace them and didn't really notice any difference. Although Mrs B did when I stopped responding to "mmphnph?"
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;D
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Well, a week and a half in. I didn’t wear them at the music festival :D
I have done 10 hours in the car.
A full day with them in, and lots of shorter bursts.
Walking around brings up exciting things like birds tweeting.
The most challenging thing has been the milk fridge in our home Tesco. Loud clicks like industrial machinery.
The phone rings in them. I have made but not accepted a call. They seems as good as my bone conduction headphone things for that.
Can’t really decide on the brain getting used to them bit. Occasionally they seem to boost too much so I use the phone app to bring them down a notch or two. Only once after taking them out have I thought that everything is muddy and muffled.
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The phone rings in them. I have made but not accepted a call.
I take all mobile calls through the HAs. I do still do the occasional check with the person at the other end to make sure I am not shouting at them - it's quite difficult to judge.
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Walking around brings up exciting things like birds tweeting.
There's a Postman Piers (who was profoundly deaf from birth and received a cochlear implant in his early teens) quote: "Lots of CI people think it's great to hear birdsong for the first time. I say shoot the fuckers."
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A question for regular users - do you ever get dud batteries in a pack?
I performed my first ever battery change yesterday and within half an hour one of them had made the battery low noise and then turned off. Replacing it with another new one means I have two working aids again.
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I've been using them for about 4-5 years now, and have never had a dud battery. Also: birdsong was the first thing I noticed when I got mine; that and the sound of my gear pawls as I rode away from the audio unit at the local hospital :-)
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The sound of my dog's claws clicking along the pavement. I hadn't realised that was a thing.
The noise made by someone reading a newspaper.
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A question for regular users - do you ever get dud batteries in a pack?
No but I have put the dud one back in again by mistake.
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Is there a standard review period for NHS hearing aids?
I've had mine for about four and a half years now and was wondering whether I need to get in touch about a re-test or whether it happens automatically.
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I think that depends on the local health board. After about 2 years I asked mine for a review and they offered me new digital aids, which took a year to appear.
Aberdeenshire.
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A question for regular users - do you ever get dud batteries in a pack?
Not so much, unless you disturb the sticker on an unused one by accident, but you do occasionally get whole batches of crap batteries. Power One eventually brought out a separate range of batteries for CI/BAHA patients who were getting poor performance from their regular ones. Other brands seemed not to have this problem.
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Has anybody used this lot?.
https://eshearing.co.uk
Claim to offer high end products at low end prices (which arouses my suspicions straight away, further fuelled by some patchy feedback reviews - i'm always suspicious of gushingly positive reviews), so i'm looking for opinions from anyone who has actually used them?. Good, bad?
I've had age related hearing loss picked up at my annual work medical for several years now (confirmed by an even more recent hearing test) and its getting to the point where i'm going to have to do something about it.
Thanks in advance
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Has anybody used this lot?.
https://eshearing.co.uk
Claim to offer high end products at low end prices (which arouses my suspicions straight away, further fuelled by some patchy feedback reviews - i'm always suspicious of gushingly positive reviews), so i'm looking for opinions from anyone who has actually used them?. Good, bad?
I've had age related hearing loss picked up at my annual work medical for several years now (confirmed by an even more recent hearing test) and its getting to the point where i'm going to have to do something about it.
Thanks in advance
A
It appears to be a legitimate company.
There's a couple of things I don't understand though.
First, they appear to claim they are designing and making their own bespoke devices - I find that surprising.
Secondly, while they do have partner resellers they will also sell direct to your. I know from long experience with the NHS that setting up hearing aids is not just a case of 'pump up the volume' - there are subtle frequency adjustments to be made to achieve even basic effectiveness. So how are they allowing for these adjustments? (There's no mention of an app or smart phone linkage) which makes me wonder if they are just amplifiers.
Sent from my moto g22 using Tapatalk
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Have you asked your GP first? I asked for a referral and had my hearing tested, and was given hearing aids, all free on NHS.
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Have you asked your GP first? I asked for a referral and had my hearing tested, and was given hearing aids, all free on NHS.
I’m going through the GP referral process now, if I understand correctly the NHS offers a limited range so my trawl through the web threw these guys up and I’m exploring and evaluating the wider options available 👍
‘Going private’ can be fearfully expensive, I have discovered
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From my limited research private means £1k per ear, or more…
The over the ear Phonak ones I have are made specifically for the NHS and seem pretty good. I don’t know what happens if you need more tech, such as in ear ones.
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Have you asked your GP first? I asked for a referral and had my hearing tested, and was given hearing aids, all free on NHS.
That's what I did, took a year for the first appointment but I walked out of that with aids for both ears, and much improved hearing.
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NHS aids for most people are not bad, especially if you have a common kind of deafness (age related for example).
Just cos they have limited range doesn't mean the quality isn't good. It does tend to depend on what your local NHS entity (IBCs is it now?) commissions.
I would see how NHS works out. Cos if you decide you need something better you're looking at Proper Private with a reputable brand not some randoms like what that smells of. They'll take your money for something that is probably a lot less good than decent NHS provision.
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barakta speaks Teh Sense.
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And if you have a sufficiently serious uncommon kind of deafness, there's a decent chance the NHS will provide whatever non-standard aid is needed.
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A question to hearing aid users. The interweb appears to indicate a life span of between 3 & 7 years on average for the devices themself. When they fail, what actually breaks? And for the rechargeable types, when the battery gives up can it be replaced or is it a throw away and start again story?
Tks
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A question to hearing aid users. The interweb appears to indicate a life span of between 3 & 7 years on average for the devices the self. When they fail, what actually breaks? And for the rechargeable types, when the battery gives up can it be replaced or is it a throw away and start again story?
Tks
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I recently asked for mine to be checked out - I got in touch with the local hospital audio unit directly, because that's where the aids came from - when the left aid seemed to be cutting out intermittently. The audiologist simply gave me a new pair, tuned to my requirements, and told me that these were now being phased out and that he would put me down for a fresh ear test, at which point I would be issued with the newer version. That was about 6 weeks ago and I'm still waiting for the call, but in the meantime I'm very happy with the new/old replacements and even more happy to be on the receiving end of superb service from the NHS. To answer you query more directly: in my case they lasted 4 or 5 years, and their death was announced by intermittent failure.
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My experience is that the behind-the-ear component can realistically last 7 years and I in the past I have had non-rechargeable ones that lasted longer.
However, in addition to the BTE part, I have receivers-in-canal, with ear moulds, and it is these that are highly unlikely to last 3 to 7 years IME. The current ones have had to have both left and right in-canal parts replaced. Replacement has been free and as I was given an extra set in error when I bought them, and can swap them out myself, this has not been an issue. It could have been a major hassle otherwise as I would have had a few days with only one aid which, depending on the ear, would have made going to work impossible.
My current ones (Phonak) are rechargeable and after 18 months or so I am beginning to see a slight decrease in capacity. I understand the batteries can be replaced but it’s a back to the factory job.
NHS ones will just get replaced as soon as you can get seen, The programming can just be transferred to the new units. If you just have domes then that’s job done. If you need to replace ear moulds with receivers in, those can take a few days to come back.
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As with anything hearing aids have a bathtub curve for reliability and some models are better than others. The NHS tends to buy in massive bulk slightly outdated models (2-3 years old) at HUGE discount (like £60-120 per aid on average) which are no longer sold to Private healthcare users in the UK and Abroadshire.
With standard BTE aids some parts are considered replaceable like the tubing and the mould/dome and various attachments, lifespan estimated 3-6 months but some get longer, some don't. A lot can depend on how acidic your sweat is for example.
I don't know if the NHS recycles rechargeable hearing aid batteries, they will be fairly small capacity by the standards. I think most NHS aids are still disposable batteries due to rechargies not lasting long and still being more expensive. There's pros and cons to rechargies, if you forget to charge or can't charge you're stuffed (unless you can also use disposables or get a different battery part).
Usually the main electronics bit can keep going for as long as snappy plastic survives and the electronics cope with whatever they're exposed to. That's likely to depend on the user e.g. older person who doesn't go out much may get longer than a middle aged person who does sporty stuff or in/out of rain and a lot longer than they'll last for a child (children are notoriously hard on hearing aids). The failure is likely to be electronics and they're sealed units so they don't really repair them, it's cheaper to just go with a new aid at £100ish a pop compared to time cost of repairs. Modern aids are on average more reliable than the old analogues because they're digital and have fewer actual wires in.
As a child, I had a wonderful hearing aid repair technician who used to have my back when I reported faults that the repair centre (I had obscure aids which he couldn't fix) said weren't faults. I believe he once sent my aid back 3x (when I was about 5) and eventually they dismantled it and discovered a loose wire - which I could hear. Lovely man who understood that those of us who use an aid everyday know when it is wrong.
Most NHS areas will leave you with your aids for as long as they work (and you're happy with them). If you go back after say 3 years or so, for whatever reason, there's a chance you'll get a new model because of the way commissioning works. Although some friends of mine say their audiology punishes them by removing their upgrade if they ever lose a hearing aid even if they pay the £50-150 fine for it...
One gotcha is if you move house with working but old aids and keep going till they die, cos then you need a NEW referral from GP which can take A Long Time TM. A profoundly deaf friend did this, his aids died age 11 and his GP said it'd be 12 months for an audiology appt so he had to go private cos he had only 1 half working aid and desperately needed them for work and y'know hearing everyday life. I'd have kicked up A Stink in his shoes but I suspect he couldn't go to Shitty Specsavers/Scrivens/Boots cos he was severe/profound which makes him 'special' in audiology terms. So if you move house, and the aids become 4-5yrs old, get a new audiology referral in before they die so you're back on the books...
I think sometimes working but old NHS aids are collected up and taken to poor countries for reuse but there's challenges with maintaining and setting up random aids and indeed they're likely to be unreliable before they hit very hot and or humid/dry climates and people living there may have difficulty accessing electricity or batteries and ongoing care.
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Had a follow-up letter with an unsatisfactory questionnaire to send back. In my letter was this:
Going forward you will remain on our system with a permanent open appointment; this means that you can get in touch as required without needing to seek a new referral. We won’t arrange any further appointments until you ask us to.
If you are having any problems, questions or queries, please let us get in touch. We recommend requesting hearing tests every 5 years, you can do this by phone or email.
Please note, that the quickest way to have a hearing aid repaired is to post it (or drop it in) to us at xxx Hospitals. Our address is at the top of this letter.
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Good in theory they're keeping you on their list, maybe someone got a bollocking for kicking hearing aid users off their list all the time. Kinda shocking they expect you to chase them for 5 yearly tests rather than having a functioning system to followup patients themselves but that's what happens when you shred the NHS which is under-adminned.
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Been given some Size 13 batteries by a neighbour, but I (and Mum) are using size 312.
Any suggestions as to how to get them used - I'm pretty sure if we took the back to hearing services somewhere they would be disposed of?
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I use size 13s.
When a friend had some to get rid of, she just asked me what size (or rather colour pack) I needed and gave them to me.
Do you have other friends who use aids to pass them on to?
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I also use size 13, so they seem fairly common.
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I also use size 13, so they seem fairly common.
Oh, sorry about that. Are 312s posher?
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Yes. Only us plebs use 13.
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You will almost certainly lose things like "cocktail party effect" which is the ability to pick out one sound (signal) in a noisy background environment (noise) e.g. restaurant or dining hall. Hearing people with normally working ears are using minute differences in when the sound hits each ear to do amazing cognitive processing which hearing aids can't yet fully do.. They're getting there, especially if you get two which speak to one another properly... You may well get directionality if not true stereo/other effects.
I never knew there was a name for it, but all my life I've found it from hard to impossible to hear conversations in noisy places. At school I never understood how my mates could learn the lyrics of pop songs easily. When I got a half decent hifi it helped, but headphones can give me tinnitus.
Without a noisy background my hearing is ok, often I can even decipher tannoy announcements in many parts of the country.
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This is why single-sided hearing loss is more debilitating than you might expect - you still hear well, but lose the ability to filter sound based on spacial cues.
It's also possible to have audiologically normal hearing and struggle with that sort of speech-in-background-noise auditory processing. It's common in people who suffered from temporary hearing loss as a child, as well as in autistic people. Bonus points for later having to use hearing aids on top of that.
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My husband and I had a Skype chat with his uncle H and aunt S the other day. He's had to use hearing aids for quite a long time and is competent with them. So we got connected, and S was complaining she couldn't hear us.
"Ah!" says H, "I can hear them, I know what the matter is."
Close up of his hand while he made adjustments to the settings of the tablet they were using, so that it was no longer bluetoothed to his hearing aids, but broadcasting to both of them...
They then told us that one time, S had been trying to play some music on the tablet and couldn't understand why it wasn't working. Then she got a phone call from H, who was in their next door neighbour's house, in a room right next to the room S was in... you've guessed it, the tablet was playing the music into his hearing aids!
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I managed to rickroll barakta this way last week. It wasn't even intentional.
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I apologise in advance if this is either far too obvious, or has already mentioned, but twice is better than not at all I feel.
For those of you with (proper) ear moulds and have need to clean out the holes and pipes, I’ve discovered that disposable interdental brushes make a good tool for the job.
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That's clever! I used to use pipecleaners back in the 3 months I had a BTE "trial" in the 80s (didn't work, we knew it wouldn't work but fuckwits insisted).
Also ultrasonic cleaner on any kind of earmoulds/tubes can be good to get the schmoo out.
Ear wax issues vary, some people have more of it, or gooier/dryer variants than others. One friend found her ears got super waxy when she was pregnant. Bodies!
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I apologise in advance if this is either far too obvious, or has already mentioned, but twice is better than not at all I feel.
For those of you with (proper) ear moulds and have need to clean out the holes and pipes, I’ve discovered that disposable interdental brushes make a good tool for the job.
Gosh. That's an amazing coincidence.
Yesterday afternoon I was clearing out a bathroom cabinet prior to ripping it off the wall.
I came across a couple of those very items and the thought crossed my mind that....
Well you know what thought crossed my mind. :thumbsup:
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I got a referral to the NHS audiologist, only a 7 month waiting list. In the meantime Boots will clean out the earwax, 2 week waiting list and I need to spray olive oil in for a few days prior.
Recently I started getting tinnitus brought on when I drove the car and lasting several hours after. About 3 or 4 weeks ago Toyota sent me a letter telling me they were updating the car software, including emergency signalling. They said it would be undetectable and when it was finished a light would stop being red and turn green.
When I drove the car I noticed an uncomfortable ‘singing’ noise a bit like a dog whistle. It wasn’t very nice. Also, the app I used to car status info packed up and I had to re-install it. After reinstallation the car lost connection with the app and was constantly trying to regain it. Unfortunately my attempts to reconnect failed so I called in at the dealer. Only the manager had a clue what was going on and got it sorted. Since then, no more singing noises and no more tinnitus. I still haven’t worked out which light should have turned green.
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I’ve been a bad user of hearing aids for the past 30 years or so. I have reverse slope hearing loss which hasn’t really altered a lot for most of my life, and certainly not since I was issued with hearing aids. Part of the reason for my poor compliance is that the technology hasn’t really been up to dealing with my atypical hearing loss until very recently and partly because I’ve been in denial for much of my life.
So much for the history. Technology has improved and I’m now wearing my HAs pretty much all the time, a thing I find very tiring. But my family and friends all agree that my interactions with them is vastly improved as a consequence, so I’m stuck with using the HAs.
However, this evening I was out with my drinking buddies and I found it very difficult to keep up with the conversations, especially when they were talking face to face and neither of them looking at me. The background noise was almost overwhelming. That said, they were both very receptive to my enquires and complaints when I questioned them about where the conversation went, so that’s a plus.
I’d like to,say that I hate wearing my HAs, but I cannot ignore the fact that those around me consistently agree that I’m more sociable when I wear them.
The jury is still out on whether I like being considered more sociable.
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Seeing this thread reminds me that I've not updated my hearing aid situation.
I went to the hospital audiology department for a self-requested reassessment about 10 days ago. I had become aware that my hearing was poor even with my single left side aid in my ear - to the point where I'd stopped using it as it didn't seem to help.
The short story is that my left side needed 'the volume turning up' and my right side (which was fine 3 years ago) has deteriorated to be slightly worse than the left but with a similar frequency loss profile.
I was fitted with two new hearing aids at the appointment and the world is bloody noisy again.
Curious to say that now, with two hearing aids in, my tinnitus is much less trouble, but is just as bad when they're out.
The new aids (NHS Oticon) have an app with a 'speech in noise' setting which tweaks the frequency response to allow speech to be a bit clearer when there's a lot of background noise.
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The new aids (NHS Oticon) have an app with a 'speech in noise' setting which tweaks the frequency response to allow speech to be a bit clearer when there's a lot of background noise.
I have NHS Oticon (Engage) and on "Speech in Noise" I think they work by switching off the rear microphone. The frequency response could well be tweaked too.
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Fatigue from listening using hearing aids or 'while deaf' has a name "concentration fatigue". There's a great article by Ian Noon in the Limping Chicken blogsite at https://limpingchicken.com/2013/06/28/ian-noon-concentration-fatigue/
Their highest commented post ever.
For those people struggling with the cost (fatigue) vs benefit (easier to talk with, sociability) I recommend breaks from hearing aid wearing. Anything from 5 min microbreaks to hide in a toilet cubicle with the hearing aids off through to actively building in down-time to your day; a time when family know you're "Having A Break" cos it is very tiring to listen through hearing aids all day.
Another Googleable term is "listening effort" basically hearing always takes some effort. Hearing people with working ears and cognitive processing do not use much listening effort most of the time (and get a shock when they do have to do it). Zoom Fatigue is basically hearing people realising video calls are harder to hear due to the variability of people's microphones and internet connections making the sound poorer than f2f. Deaf people whether using hearing aids or not (e.g. mildly deaf people) need to put in more listening effort to achieve the same or a poorer ability to follow speech. There is increasing work this past 10 years to measure listening effort and create ways to objectively measure this so that during hearing aid fittings the audiologist can objectively get the best possible outcome (least listening effort). Again, I suspect prelingually severely/profoundly deaf and later deafened people will have different issues with this cos cognitive wossnames. Anyway, nice rabbit hole of reading for anyone wanting to be nerdsniped by that.
While I know tinnitus is often better when hearing aids are worn (I'm actually the opposite, mine gets worse with too much hearing aid time or audio overload). That doesn't preclude short breaks or times each day you have a break if the brain is otherwise a bit overloaded.
As for group discussion, there are apps and gadgets which can help, but I don't think much can fully replace working ears and ability to do directional hearing and cocktail party effect. I know people who find benefit in using the streamer with their hearing aid, either clipped to themselves, someone else or on the table (watch beer spillages!) and you can buy specific table top mics which help. I can't comment on their usefulness as I'm prelingually deaf and too conductively deaf as well as deaf overall to get directionality so I find those features just mangle the sound unbearably for me, but that's unusual.
So yeah, TLDR: take breaks, even short breaks can really help. Hopefully families would be understanding of a regular and predictable break time, or extra breaks during increased listening effort situations.
Good luck my fellow deafies. It is very tiring out there!
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The new aids (NHS Oticon) have an app with a 'speech in noise' setting which tweaks the frequency response to allow speech to be a bit clearer when there's a lot of background noise.
I have NHS Oticon (Engage) and on "Speech in Noise" I think they work by switching off the rear microphone. The frequency response could well be tweaked too.
Thanks - that makes more sense
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I have NHS Oticon (Engage) and on "Speech in Noise" I think they work by switching off the rear microphone. The frequency response could well be tweaked too.
It's probably cardioid microphone witchcraft (where you can make a microphone directional by mixing the signals from an omnidirectional and figure-of-8 element) rather then simple 'front' and 'back' facing, as that gives you the option of true omnidirectional pickup, which is obviously important if you want general awareness of the environment.
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However it achieves the cleverness, it doesn’t work for me. I find it actually amplifies that group of noisy women over in the corner more than the people I’m sitting with. And they’re already spending far too met electrons on the agroup befor I wish it modes!
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After a visit to the audiologists (for a new ear mould) where I had her tweak a setting, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Oticon Companion app is a steaming pile of donkey excrement after it’s eaten a particularly bad curry. Even ignoring the reconnection latency the control options seem to work fairly randomly on the functions of the HAs.
I suspect that a user with a single portable computing device who only uses the app to control the volume of the HAs might have a reasonably consistent and reliable experience. Possibly.
With two iOS devices as regular sources for direct connection to my HAs plus a TV adapter the app is as described above.
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I don't use the Oticon app, it's laggy and slow even on a brand new phone - it spends ages showing a splash screen every time it opens which feels deliberate. It is quicker to cycle through the 6 progs myself on the BAHA (esp as you can skip the bong-bong-bong-bonging for the later enumerated ones by clicking a volume click one ping only).
Kim wired up a small mixer for me to the Oticon EduMic gadget which means I can keep the hearing aid largely in the Edumic prog and then control audio from phone, computer(s), etc.
When they take buttons off the hearing aid for prog/volume, I will have a massive shitfit at the manufacturers. I am hoping Oticon won't actually do that, Cochlear already have.
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Having the buttons do anything remotely predictable is somewhat relient on the audiologist have a modicum of clue with respect to Genie. At least until,I get my own copy set up. I’m hoping that will be achievable without me having to,invest in a windows capable PC newer than those I can dig out of cupboards in the beardycave.
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After a visit to the audiologists (for a new ear mould) where I had her tweak a setting, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Oticon Companion app is a steaming pile of donkey excrement after it’s eaten a particularly bad curry. Even ignoring the reconnection latency the control options seem to work fairly randomly on the functions of the HAs.
I suspect that a user with a single portable computing device who only uses the app to control the volume of the HAs might have a reasonably consistent and reliable experience. Possibly.
With two iOS devices as regular sources for direct connection to my HAs plus a TV adapter the app is as described above.
Well, Mum has Oticons now. I thought the app would be good for her to learn, as it should be straightforward. We failed at the first hurdle, in that the options available were not really worth trying to get her to learn them. But the real downer was the “funny noise in my ears” every time she walked away from her phone.
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Having the buttons do anything remotely predictable is somewhat relient on the audiologist have a modicum of clue with respect to Genie. At least until,I get my own copy set up. I’m hoping that will be achievable without me having to,invest in a windows capable PC newer than those I can dig out of cupboards in the beardycave.
Ah yes. A friend of mine has the Genie software for his BTEs and has had a fiddle and is very happy with it. He kindly offers to lend it to me, but I use BAHAs which are a whole other level of tricky to reprogramme. I don't think it's particularly spec-heavy.
My kind friend keeps offering to send me his wires and help me download the software but as I use BAHAs they are complex to program and I don't think it's worth me mucking around and fucking it up. My audiologist is both excellent very easily available for urgent or non-urgent appointments (which not everyone has). My audi was able to solve the tone issue I reported straight away and we went through a fair old list of quibbles, many of which are improved on this review.
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After a visit to the audiologists (for a new ear mould) where I had her tweak a setting, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Oticon Companion app is a steaming pile of donkey excrement after it’s eaten a particularly bad curry. Even ignoring the reconnection latency the control options seem to work fairly randomly on the functions of the HAs.
I would rate it worse than that, in fact I don't use it/can't use it, 9/10 it fails to connect. Oticon took a perfectly basic but functional (and working) previous app and stopped it working, forcing users to use the new app. Look at the 100's of one star reviews on the App Store and the cut and paste platitude stock reply from Oticon. I've had my Opn aids for 5 years now and they're just out of warranty, although they work perfectly, apart from crashing almost daily, which I've got used to. I'm seeing my audiologist tomorrow and will bend his ear about the app. I was new to aids 5 years ago and trialled Oticon and Phonak - I actually thought the Phonak was a better sound but their app just didn't work so I went with the Oticon. The things I really dislike about them are the prominence they seem to give to sounds behind me and also their poor performance in a noisy room, especially a restaurant or meeting. The presets are too crude to make much difference and not editable. The Phonak Audeo looks promising when the time comes.
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Has no one created an app for the hearing aids?
It was diabetics who really pushed the integration of pumps and sensors with third party apps.
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Phonak is ok, but i hardly use it. The differences between the settings aren't that noticeable, and after an app update it no linger remembers special settings i have programmed, like Meetings.
I really like the ability to stream stuff from the phone to the aids, but only recently noticed that they stop being hearing aids when streaming.
Chris, there must be so much money in doing hearing aids properly, can't understand why the industry hasn’t been democratised…
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Hearing aid companies make apps, but as mentioned in this thread, they are ABSOLUTELY crap. The Oticon app takes ages to load for me even on a brand new phone, and it doesn't "stay open" properly, so each switch to the app is 20s of staring at a startup screen, which is USELESS for any HA settings I'd want to change. I need it instantly loaded so I can go "vol up/down" or whatever I'd do. If it isn't quicker and more reliable than on-aid buttons (which I find unreliable 30% not doing as I want rate and slow cos digital bullshit) then it's worthless. (I would like the buttons to be 100x less crap but that's a lost cause, modern digital nonsense, a loss from analogue that was instantaneous and reliable). If I could revert to my 2011 BAHA, I'd still do it.
Hearing aid companies' link between app and HA is proprietary (or they'd like it to be) and the companies spend a lot of time trying to sue one another for stealing ideas etc.
I annoy audiologists by changing volume manually a lot. They claim it shouldn't be needed but I won't/can't use the "magic settings" for sound management cos they sound terrible and I hate having my audio messed with. I suspect it would work better if I had directional hearing capacity (which I don't, too old, too conductively deaf, too deaf overall) which is where the magic is trying to replicate. It's all designed for deafened people not born-deaf folk like me.
Also the hearing aid companies are getting fewer in numbers, one or two companies are buying out all the rest. My audiologist had to give evidence to the UK government about why Cochlear buying out Oticon would be anti-competitive for BAHA users and leave us with even less choices than we have now. Especially as Cochlear are particularly evil. Incidentally, Cochlear have taken the volume controls off their BAHAs now which is a hard nope for me. Apparently this was successful and Cochlear was told that the UK Competitions and Markets Authority or whatever wouldn't allow the merger/buyout.
Diabetes apps aren't actually that great, there's been a big kick off from diabetic Twitter recently where Apple's update broke one of the CGM apps and the CGM company took weeks and weeks to fix it properly leaving people in limbo or having to do manual somethings to ensure the readings were correct.
I am really wary of medical anythings controlled by apps by commercial companies and at the mercy of OS updates and companies taking 'their sweet time' about communicating bugs or fixing them.
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It's all designed for deafened people not born-deaf folk like me.
Indeed, and the apps are for tech savvy people.
I agree also on the buttons versus the apps, and I’m pretty tech savvy.
But as a deafened person, I’d say that what is on offer now is streets ahead of what was about years ago.
There’s theories that losing hearing is a factor in dementia, and social isolation.
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Digitalisation has actually made HAs almost functional for me. Analogue (and earlier digital) HAs didn’t have the capability to meet my needs.
I agree with everything said above about just how crap the Oticon app is (I’ve no experience of others) and having managed to get the audiologist to switch on the buttons on the HAs at my last visit has improved things no end. One problem though, is that many (most in my experience) audiologists are not techie in any way and they are still struggling to understand the capabilities of digital aids, let alone how they might interact with each other and a particular users needs.
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As a recent 'beneficiary' of the Phonak app (myPhonak) I have to say that I am less than impressed to the extent that I'm considering removing it from my phone. As Jaded says, the HA stops when it is receiving a signal from the phone. The sound quality when listening to, eg, the radio is awful. Certain notifications (I haven't done an exhaustive study) produce a tone in my ear which is far too loud and I can't see any way of turning them down. The equaliser setting editing functions are confusing and of limited value...
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Following on from my earlier post, I saw my audiologist this week and he was painfully aware of the failings of the Oticon Companion app. He offered me a loan of a new Unitron model, the Moxi V-R. (Unitron are owned by Sonova, who also own Phonak - there is, apparently, a deal of shared technology). On the face of it, the app seemed to do want I wanted and allowed for lots of customisation. Sadly, it's shortcomings were revealed very quickly. In short, it's rubbish. Sound is 'pumping', with the processor too slow to react to changes in ambient sound - eg sitting in a quiet room with the radio on, add in a sound like a door opening or wife talking, and radio fades and then pumps up and down while the app flails around trying to set a sound level. Also, as for the Phonak, switching between programs has an overloud bong, which can't be adjusted. Falls at the first hurdle - for £3200, these people are having a laugh for sure. They must pay a lot for the guff written on their website ("Choice makes life beautiful") - it would be better spent on some decent app writers.
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One problem though, is that many (most in my experience) audiologists are not techie in any way and they are still struggling to understand the capabilities of digital aids, let alone how they might interact with each other and a particular users needs.
To me that seems to be well into you had one job territory, though I appreciate that the bulk of day-to-day audiology work[1] can be done with little technical understanding.
I'm used to people not knowing what 'digital' means, but you'd really expect audiologists not to be in that category.
[1] Which the NHS now seem to be outsourcing to highstreet optiquacks. Nothing good can come of it.
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The Oticon Companion App (on iOS) seems to be well thought out in terms of functions and has a reasonably well designed UI. It just doesn’t work fast enough, and nearly always needs to reconnect whenever you leave the app. It also routinely ‘forgets’ any setting changes you’ve made which is very very annoying.
Whether the problems are due to poor detailed design or poor coding I can’t say, but I suspect it’s a result of ‘off-shoring’ that part of the development to the cheapest bidder. One day, tech execs will accept that the brand hit they take costs more in the long run than the savings they’re making through off-shoring and ignoring the resultant crapness. What? I can dream can’t I?
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Ah. You’ve forgotten that the first responsibility a Board of Directors has is to its shareholders. Customers, staff, products, they come later.
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Indeed. And when it comes to hearing aid technology in general, innovation is driven by trying to sell things to rich Americans. Which mostly means people with stigmatised age-related hearing loss who want things to sound as 'natural' as possible, and who don't actually want to twiddle things, but might see compatibility with their Mega-Global Fruit Corp products as desirable in abstract. Or parents of deaf children who don't have to actually use this stuff.
I'll stop before I get to the Wet Willy rant.
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It’s all massively disappointing. I’m watching a Hannah Fry doc about earbuds, and it made me wonder again why Apple and Bose don’t get involved. Surely it is possible just to make earbud-shaped HAs with vastly improved (music) sound quality? Why can’t a HA have diaphragm like a Bose earbud, fully user customisable for those users who want it via an app that works.
Just before posting the above, I see that Bose did briefly have a go but they were traditional BTEs. Now they work with Lexie:
https://lexiehearing.com/us/compare-hearing-aids
Powered by Bose, pair with the Lexie app, the first self-tuning mobile app that’s clinically proven to provide audiologist-quality customization.
They don’t stream though.
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The Lexie ones look interesting - I've read good stuff about them - the top model B2 does now stream to iPhone by bluetooth, but as far as I can see they are USA only for availability. Agreed ref earbuds, I've thought this for a while.
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My niece is an audiologist and she bought some of the hearing aids with her to try out on me as I was issued them 14 years ago and stopped wearing them about nine years ago Once I moved to Germany as I didn’t seem to need them here.
She redid my audiograms, and actually they were not quite as bad as the original ones, which she said could’ve just been one of those things on the day I was tested then. She then put some high-quality hearing aids in and it was amazingly different than my previous experience, where I just heard noise and crackling music was absolutely impossible to listen to. They seem really good, the only thing that sounded slightly weird was my own voice.
These were from phonak and she said the app is crap, but if the audiologist sets them up okay then they can be really good. When she has fixed where she will be in about five months time I shall make an appointment to go and see her and probably buy some from her so she gets the commission. Interestingly, she said that people with moderate hearing loss who don’t wear hearing aids seem to develop dementia, a bit sooner, possibly to do with having to concentrate extra to hear.
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Mum had analogue hearing aids until 25 ish years ago at which stage she was offered digital ones. Dad accompanied her to the audiologist and they hooked up the audio for him so he could experience the difference between the two technologies. The description he gave was useful for those of us without a hearing loss. The analogue hearing aids had been like listening to a transistor radio, he said, whereas the digital ones were like listening to a CD.
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I've heard good stuff about Phonak's aids too. And yes, there is increasing evidence of dementia being a higher risk for people with moderate hearing losses, possibly not just the extra effort, but the isolation and loneliness and them having to opt out of social situations due to hearing difficulty.
Staffordshire hospitals tried to stop providing NHS hearing aids for anyone with less than a severe hearing loss and had to be challenged (and taken to court) by people citing the dementia evidence. Also if you don't get used to wearing hearing aids earlyish with a progressive loss you may never adjust once it is more severe or you are older and less flexible to change.
I know lots of people who find digital hearing aids much better an analogue ones. Even I do, but struggle cos I learned to hear with analogues and find a lot of modern hearing aids annoying to use, the buttons are unreliable, fiddly and take too long to switch mode which is annoying when trying to change modes in a hurry e.g. someone calling you or in a video call.
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...take too long to switch mode which is annoying when trying to change modes in a hurry e.g. someone calling you or in a video call.
I was contemplating that the impatience of hearing people waiting for someone to answer the phone has reached the point where the etiquette has inverted, and in these days of nearly universal CID, a phone call merely functions as a de-facto "call me back" request, with no expectation that one should finish peeing, wash the oil off your hands, fish the baby out of the bath or put your hearing aid in before answering.
Of course, it doesn't work in real life. Couriers still give you less than 5 seconds to answer the door, and people will babble at you while watching you pick up the dropped battery, put your hearing aid in, and perform the universal mime for busy cursor, before getting annoyed when you ask them to repeat themselves.
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people with moderate hearing loss who don’t wear hearing aids seem to develop dementia, a bit sooner, possibly to do with having to concentrate extra to hear.
I think it is more to do with relative social isolation and not being able to fully participate in conversation.
These were from phonak and she said the app is crap, but if the audiologist sets them up okay then they can be really good.
The app is quite crap. You can modify or set programmes but personally I find the only programmes I use are “full auto” and “raw unmodified”, for want of better terms. The latter for music. (Speaking of music, there is a huge variation in how different HA brands sound when listening to music, Bernafon being the best I have had). One of the main things that is crap about the app is that if you want to use it to change between programmes, you have to wait a bit for the app to connect to the HAs first. The app doesn’t allow you to adjust things that would be useful to adjust such as wind noise.
The Phonaks are good. The only negative for me is that, in common with every rechargeable item on this planet, the battery life is not as good as claimed. A night ride, if one is into such things, would require a recharge at some point during the day or evening before said ride, otherwise one will not experience the dawn chorus. As well as the charger / drier, I have a smaller charger which attaches to its own battery. Together they form quite a portable package, although of course you could connect any portable charger to it.
It is all about how they are set up at the time of purchase, a process that has been improved immensely by better fitting tools that have been around for a few years now: a mic is placed in the ear canal which picks up what the HA is delivered to said ear-hole, rather than relying on the user to, under pressure, identify what needs to be changed. I used to need 3 or 4 post-purchase adjustments before this equipment came along, and was usually left thinking that if I had a bit of time with the software I could do a better job myself. Now there is a good chance they will be right first time.