Author Topic: hearing aids not making it better  (Read 6659 times)

Hillgorilla

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hearing aids not making it better
« on: February 25, 2016, 02:11:24 pm »
Hi,
I live in the Uk, been searching out for places to get support and advice from people with an AN. I have got one  :'(, found after I went to get a hearing test to prove to my wife that not going deaf  :(, then it has all snowballed from there. Just got hearing aids, but find now that in groups / office that hearing is actually worse, also fed fed up  :( :( :( :( :(.

arizonajack

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2016, 05:39:05 pm »
Check out the hearing forum (if you haven't already done so) and you'll find that all of us with hearing aids have issues with noisy environments.

http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?board=17.0

Some hearing aids handle it better than others but none of them are perfect.

3/15/18 12mm x 6mm x5mm
9/21/16 12mm x 7mm x 5mm
3/23/15 12mm x 5.5mm x 4mm
3/13/14 12mm x 6mm x 4mm
8/1/13 14mm x 5mm x 4mm (Expected)
1/22/13 12mm x 3mm (Gamma Knife)
10/10/12 11mm x 4mm x 5mm
4/4/12 9mm x 4mm x 3mm (Diagnosis)

My story at: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=18287.0

caryawilson

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2016, 10:49:27 am »
I threw my CROS hearing aids away (Phonak cross II) since they were terrible with background noise. For me, one ear is better than two noisy ears.
4.5 cm, 17.5 hour modified retro surgery
John Hopkins: Lim / Carey
Complete Facial Paralysis
Facial Plastic Surgeon (amazing): Dr. Boahene

arizonajack

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2016, 06:55:23 pm »
I threw my CROS hearing aids away (Phonak cross II) since they were terrible with background noise. For me, one ear is better than two noisy ears.

Did you have the remote control device that allows switching between programs and making adjustments depending on the environment?

I found that having that flexibility helped a lot in noisy environments but no hearing assistive device is going to fix background noise 100%.

Even the Cone of Silence didn't work too well.
3/15/18 12mm x 6mm x5mm
9/21/16 12mm x 7mm x 5mm
3/23/15 12mm x 5.5mm x 4mm
3/13/14 12mm x 6mm x 4mm
8/1/13 14mm x 5mm x 4mm (Expected)
1/22/13 12mm x 3mm (Gamma Knife)
10/10/12 11mm x 4mm x 5mm
4/4/12 9mm x 4mm x 3mm (Diagnosis)

My story at: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=18287.0

caryawilson

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2016, 09:13:14 am »
I did not have the remote control device. I guess  really impatient. Really didn't understand when the hearing aids weren't better as such thing as filtering rain. This is a completely different frequency than standard speech. I even call the manufacturer. It really sounded like they needed one setting for speech and another for concerts since the frequency range for music is much larger than speech. Frustrating. Maybe I should have spent more time but for the money, my requirements were basic.
4.5 cm, 17.5 hour modified retro surgery
John Hopkins: Lim / Carey
Complete Facial Paralysis
Facial Plastic Surgeon (amazing): Dr. Boahene

bbrian77

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2016, 03:25:09 am »
We should choose HA's after considering several factors. It should be chosen according to our needs and comfortability. There are varieties of assistive listening devices are easily available in the market. If you have any specific needs, then you should specify that to your audiologist before choosing the HA's. For Example, if you are interested in swimming, then you have to get HA's which are suitable for swimming or if you need an HA which is not visible to the public, then you should have select such hidden type HA's. Try to find an HA which can clean and maintain easily.  I am using solid ear plugins which have maximum noise protection that is prescribed by my audiologist in Bowmanville. Remote control devices are also good options. It is better to choose the suitable one with the guidance of your audiologist.

arizonajack

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2016, 11:53:02 pm »
I did not have the remote control device. I guess  really impatient. Really didn't understand when the hearing aids weren't better as such thing as filtering rain. This is a completely different frequency than standard speech. I even call the manufacturer. It really sounded like they needed one setting for speech and another for concerts since the frequency range for music is much larger than speech. Frustrating. Maybe I should have spent more time but for the money, my requirements were basic.

My first month (4 years ago) with my hearing aids was a disaster. The button on the right hearing aid raised the volume, the button on the left hearing aid lowered the volume. I was constantly lifting my arms up and down like playing Simon Says. Drove me nuts. I had trouble understanding a person sitting 3 feet away.

Then I found out about the remote control on Phonak's website and had my audiologist order me one. I also learned about programing. I had it programed for different scenarios: Automatic, Speech in Noise, Comfort in Noise, Music, and a Custom Program that attempted to reduce the frequencies of ambient noise. Not perfect but a hell of an improvement. I had the flexibility of changing programs on the fly, going from one to another without looking at the names, but just until the hearing environment was more comfortable. The Music setting worked well at concerts.

Last year the CROS II came out with a bunch of improvements. I found that the automatic setting handled noisy environments a little better and was more directional at picking up speech of a companion sitting across a table in a noisy restaurant. I also found that I could pick up conversation 20' away like in a waiting room where there wasn't a lot of background noise. I got a new remote control with it and my old programs were duplicated in it in a addition to the upgraded automatic features.

For a long time I had trouble understand dialog on TV with all the background music and street noise. My audiologist suggested the TV Link which sends the audio directly from the inner workings of the TV to the hearing aid and bypasses the usually lousy TV speakers. While the background music is still annoying, the dialog comes through quite a bit better with the TV Link.

I think you should have given your hearing aids more of a chance for you and them to adapt to each other and I recommend that anybody with a CROS system get the remote control.
3/15/18 12mm x 6mm x5mm
9/21/16 12mm x 7mm x 5mm
3/23/15 12mm x 5.5mm x 4mm
3/13/14 12mm x 6mm x 4mm
8/1/13 14mm x 5mm x 4mm (Expected)
1/22/13 12mm x 3mm (Gamma Knife)
10/10/12 11mm x 4mm x 5mm
4/4/12 9mm x 4mm x 3mm (Diagnosis)

My story at: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=18287.0

caryawilson

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Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2016, 06:00:13 am »
Thanks for the advice  I had the CROS II without the remote control. I even called the factory, which was no help. Great info.
4.5 cm, 17.5 hour modified retro surgery
John Hopkins: Lim / Carey
Complete Facial Paralysis
Facial Plastic Surgeon (amazing): Dr. Boahene

arizonajack

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  • Arizona - It's a Dry Heat
Re: hearing aids not making it better
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2016, 10:01:39 pm »
Thanks for the advice  I had the CROS II without the remote control. I even called the factory, which was no help. Great info.

Yeah, I tried calling the factory when I had questions. They don't tell you squat and just refer you back to your provider.

Fortunately, there is plenty of information and specs about their products online.
3/15/18 12mm x 6mm x5mm
9/21/16 12mm x 7mm x 5mm
3/23/15 12mm x 5.5mm x 4mm
3/13/14 12mm x 6mm x 4mm
8/1/13 14mm x 5mm x 4mm (Expected)
1/22/13 12mm x 3mm (Gamma Knife)
10/10/12 11mm x 4mm x 5mm
4/4/12 9mm x 4mm x 3mm (Diagnosis)

My story at: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=18287.0