ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => Hearing Issues => Topic started by: jerseygirl on October 15, 2007, 09:28:40 pm
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I am considering Transear since this seems to be the least invasive option and so many people here are so happy with it. I have a choice of an audiologist in NJ close to home who has never heard of Transear or an audiologist in NYc (an hour plus commute) who worked with Transear. Here is the milllion dollar question : does it matter who does the impression? Is the experience key here just like in AN removal? How many times did you visit this audiologist and after how many months of AN removal?
Thanks in advance,
Eve
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I had one visit to the audiologist and requested that she order a kit for an impression. She had never sold a TransEar. Her attitude toward it was very positive. I wouldn't have ordered a TransEar that day without her help and good interest in something new. I had only her for my choice in our small town. But had I not found this person I would have driven the 115 miles to Houston to find one. I got my TransEar after 10 months post surgery. I doubt there is a set time one should wait.
The making of the impressions is not difficult. The service and communication ability of the audiologist at fitting time are very important. The TransEAr labs do a great job of building and delivering your custom TransEar mold and unit. The aid comes with support software for in-office programming, and a Dry n' Store Unit for you to maintain the aid in a germ free dry place overnight. Your purchase contract should include follow-up visits for the break-in period.
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Boppie,
Thanks for your advice!
Eve
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Hey Jersey, My experience has not been pleasant with the Transear. constant irritation, sweating, too tight a fit " but it has to be tight" etc etc. I don't even wear the thing, in hindsight I wish I wouldve gone the baha route right after the Shahinian resection through house ear docs in LA while I was there last year. My insurance probably wouldve covered it.
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Ixta,
Thanks for your post and sharing your experience. I am really afraid of irritation and sweating and plan to wear the Transear only around people but not in the house. I have considered BAHA but am really afraid of headaches since I had them for 10 years after the first surgery and my original scar is huge and very long. That is why I am asking about the importance of experience in fitting Transear because that might make a difference in ear being more or less irritated. My ear canal is small and the skin is delicate. Did you go to an audiologist who has done a number of Transears?
Eve
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I went to an audiologist who has fitted 6 or so Transears, and I think it made a big difference. I had a fit problem with it hurting the first week. He sanded it a tiny tiny bit, and ever since then, it has been fine. It did take a little getting used to, but now no problem with the comfort. He has also changed the programming a couple of times, but since he was familiar with the device, it took no time. Compared with lots of the folks I have read about, I have had a particularly easy time. I think if it were up to me, I would go with the experienced person, even if it means more time in transport. You will need to travel to NYC a few times, but you might be experimenting alot more with an inexperienced audio. who hasn't worked with the device since it works differently than a regular aid.
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Thank you everybody who posted their experience as well as PMed me. I am not sure who I will go with at this point but can't wait to try Transear. After having SSD for 19+ years, I am really tired of it. My hearing in the other ear is normal or better. Recently I attended a social function and paid attention to people who started losing their hearing due to age. Even a little bilateral loss puts them seemingly more at disadvantage than SSD in terms of speech discrimination in a noisy environment. It's good to know although SSD certainly presents with its own unique challenges. I hope to join the ranks of satisfied Transear users.
Eve
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My ear canal is very small and odd shaped. My ear shells are really small on top. The mold was designed from the impressions and I learned to insert the aid quickly. Then I got a sore spot and it was really sore, but after a second visit to the office and a bit of sanding everything worked well. My audiologist was very helpful in doing just a tiny bit of smoothing at a time so that we didn't take away too much contact surface at a time. My problem was due to the odd shape of the canal. The patience of the audiologist is key to fitting and breaking in.
I agree, my husband has age related hearing loss which is greater on one side due to industrial noise. He doesn't really have a "good" side. Both ears hear badly. He misses far more words on discrimination than I and we are only 2 years different in age. It seems that SSD renders us acute abilities in the good side. But woe be to us with loud tinnitus because that one "feature" we could all do without. ::)
Many older folks with 2 sided hearing loss will swear that aids don't help them. Perhaps they have low and mid range deficits on both sides. I believe their break in period must require a lot of patience. I think it is easy to slide into the 'do nothing' mode with long time age related hearing loss. Folks lose word discrmination skills and begin to retire or drop out of social situations.
I bought my TransEar at 10 months post op. Some posters had one after four months. The sound is natural and a nice addition to my good side.
I don't like to use my TransEar outdoors in the heat. The ear canal just gets too sweaty. In south Texas we know about heat. ::)
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Oh, Boppie, I hope I certainly hope that Transear is good for me! There was NOTHING available in 1988! Now we have a choice of BAHA vs, Transear. Technology sure moves ahead!
Eve
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We met with my ENT Dr. on Friday to discuss surgery and broached the subject of hearing alternatives. I don't have much to add here, since his attitude was that we don't have to deal with that issue right now, but generally, we learned that Cochlear is still not an option for folks that are SSD, only those deaf in both ears. Between BAHA and Transear, he likes BAHA best, stating he felt I would get the best results from it, but Transear is less obvious.
Best of luck Eve. Keep us posted.
Judy and Gib
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Thanks, Judy and Gib. I heard that BAHA gives superior results to Transear but BAHA is invasive and expensive (my insurance does not pay). Thanks for an update.
Eve
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Belated reply to Ixta about his dissatisfaction with TransEar.
We're always unhappy to hear of anyone who is not successfully with TransEar, but fortunately they are not numerous. As Boppie and others have said, adjustments to the transfer unit are vital to success. While there are some on this forum who have required no adjustments at all (Jeanlea comes to mind), most will require one or more "fine-tunings" by their provider to ensure comfort. This is because ear canals change shape during movement of the TMJ, and in some individuals, chewing or talking can radically flex the ear canal. Each of us can get some sense of this by putting the little finger in each ear, then opening and closing the mouth. The cartilage where the little finger is (in this example) is quite flexible in most people, but past the second bend - where TransEar's "sweet spot" is located - it is only bone covered by a thin layer of very sensitive skin. So, even though each TransEar is built by laser to exactly match an individual's ear canal, such impressions cannot anticipate movement of the jaw. That is the reason why adjustments (light sanding) are frequently required.
In previous posts from this summer, Ixta, you said you had never gone back to your provider for any adjustments. If this is still the case, the discomfort you describe is understandable and predictable, and I strongly encourage you to make an appointment to have the shell modified as soon as possible. While the calcium deposits you mention could indeed be problematic, I see no reason why they can not be mitigated by your audiologist.
Best regards,
Rick Gilbert
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My frustration was not with the TransEar company, but with my audiologists. They were unfortunately the only game in town, so that is who I had to go with. Sadly they were hesitant because it was new on the market and they were not sure of the longevity of the company. I didn't care about their views, they didn't suffer from SSD and I was determined to give it a try. Imagine sitting across the desk and having someone continually sigh and roll their eyes when I asked for it to be sanded or reprogammed... >:(
Anyway, during the whole process of 7 remakes the Transear company went above and beyond the call of duty to try and make it work for me, but in the end it was the attitude of my audiologist that made me finally say "You are not being supportive and I can't go through this anymore".
I'd like to give it another try someday.
Cheryl
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I could not agree more with Matti. I don't want to go into detail, but if I had it to do over again (and knew then what I know now), I would not have used the same audiologist. I can certainly relate to the sighs, but whether the eyes rolled or not, I didn't notice - the voice tones certainly went along with eye-rolling though ;) . Everything that went wrong was either my fault or eventually the company's fault (EarTechnology) - or at least that's what came my way from the audiologist. At one point I called EarTechnology (the TransEar folks), and when I next visited my audiologist, I almost felt like a little kid being scolded for having called them (uh, the box it comes in SAYS to call them if there are questions!). My aud. had only done one previously, and told me the patient liked it. Apparently forgetting she'd told me that originally, she later said that patient returned it very quickly. She also had another patient who got one shortly after I did, and he returned his almost immediately. At one point, if I had a longer return privilege, I was ready to return mine, too.
Then I called a wonderful lady I'd talked to before at EarTechnology, and asked her to keep our conversation between us - she agreed. I told her how frustrated I was with things, to include my audiologist. During the course of the conversation, she just happened to ask if my TransEar had been sanded or ground down on a grinding wheel. I told her it had hit the grinder on two different occasions (if I remember correctly now - possibly three, but I think two). I could almost hear the gasp at the other end of the phone. I had a problem with the BTE portion, but it was decided that I'd just give the audiologist the whole unit (ITE and BTE portions, with wire). Then EarTechnology took my original mold, and made a brand new TransEar for me, shipped it back to the audiologist, and simply told her that they'd noticed it had a few grooves in it suggesting it might have been ground down, and compared it with the mold - there was quite a bit of difference. So as far as my audiologist ever knew, EarTechnology just decided on their own to remake the ITE piece without any call by me to the company. The person I've dealt with at EarTechnology on several occasions, has been exceptionally patient, and tried her best to also work with my audiologist in re-programming it several times. On one of the very first times, she asked that the audiologist call her while I was in the office, and she'd walk her through the programming. I knew that, but the audiologist didn't know I knew, so I know that the audiologist chose to just go it alone that time - and the programming still wasn't all that good. Much later, it got reprogrammed yet again (with more help by phone that time), and the improvement was a quantum leap forward! Sadly, I wasted around 5 months with a poorly functioning TransEar (and a total of more than a month without it, due to various reasons like the ear canal ulcer, having it re-made, etc.) , and I'm convinced EarTechnology is NOT to blame. If they offered me my money back now (even including the fee for the mold), I'd keep my TransEar in a heartbeat. I was amazed at the difference, finally. I learned that there are only some similarities to programming the TransEar and a "standard" amplifying hearing aid. I don't know to this day if it's as good as it could be, because I can't use it even in a special situation to carry on a phone conversation through the TransEar, like a couple of people have reported. But I was so satisfied with the last re-programming that I decided to quit while I was ahead, and avoid the sighs, little remarks, etc.
Oh - I also learned from EarTech. that the programming should be set for between 3-3½ if I remember right. Interestingly, I can't get it above a 2½ (max of 4) on the volume, or it's constantly feeding back (I hear it AFTER others do - a bit embarrassing). But the difference even at a little above 2 on the volume setting in the BTE piece, is that quantum leap I was talking about above. And my batteries are now lasting almost 3 weeks - almost double what they did before. I'm a very happy camper with my TranEar, now that 9 months has passed (and I haven't been back to the audiologist in several months now). And as for sanding, the EarTech. person told me that the amount sanded off should be about the thickness of a tiny layer of skin at a time (about the thickness of whatever skin peels off your body a week after a really bad sunburn), nothing more than that at a time. She instructed me how to do it, if needed. I never needed to. When it went back for the re-make, EarTech compared my original mold with where my audi. had ground it down, and took just the slightest amount off at the factory. I've never needed to sand it since I got the new unit back. She also told me the audi. had gotten instructions on fitting, working with, programming, etc., and the audi's instructions are specifically NOT to touch it with the grinding wheel - too much taken off, so much poorer bone conduction.
Sweating? Yes, some. And I'm in a "Deep South" state that had mid- to upper-90's all summer, a couple of 100+ days, and humidity is ALWAYS high. I haven't found the sweating to be particularly bad though. However, I also tend to take it out when I get home for the evening, and stick it in the Dry&Store well before I go to bed. ALWAYS put it in your Dry&Store. I've been amazed that the little battery door has a thin film of moisture around the outside when I open it up at night to take it off.
As for Ixta, you simply should not have to put up with the TransEar hurting, I don't believe. My original one did and caused an ulcer up inside the ear canal (had to take out the TransEar yet again for about a week to let it heal). And itching??? I've not had that except on a few rare occasions. Any chance of a fungus or something in your ear canal? And are (or were) you using the Dry&Store every night? Overall, it sounds like you may not have had a good experience with your audi, more than anything.
Finally, the issue of when to get it came up in JerseyGirl's first post. I lost complete hearing on my left side on 9 July 2006, and did not get the TransEar until January of this year ('07). I honestly believe I'm better off for having waited and gotten used to being totally deaf in one ear first. With all the adjustments that come with that (no directionality with sound anymore, poor word comprehension in crowds or where there's background noise of another sort), I don't believe I would have appreciated the subtle but important difference my TransEar makes. It's very hard to explain, but sometimes I actually close my good ear for a moment to make sure I'm still hearing things that are coming through the TransEar - it blends so nicely that I can rarely tell for sure it's on. The exceptions, at first, were dramatic though. I already knew what I couldn't do anymore, and then started finding myself being able to carry on a conversation in a setting I couldn't have pre-TransEar. Once you have a couple of those (what I call) breakthrough experiences, you KNOW you want to keep it! At one point after having it for several months, had I been given the opportunity to get my money back I think I would have jumped on the opportunity! But I've gotten a taste of the subtle (but very important) difference between SSD and having the TransEar working well. It's a keeper - you just need to be very, very comfortable with your audiologist and make sure s/he is patient - because there are likely going to need to be some adjustments at first. I kept being told I was expecting too much, and other such comments in the beginning. NO I WAS NOT! - because what I've got with the TransEar now is far, far better than "as good as it's going to get" from my audiologist.
Best wishes,
Chris
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Thank you everybody who responded. I guess I don't know any audiologists, so I will take TransEar's suggestion as to who they are comfortable working with. Apparently, an audiologist's attitude, and maybe experience, can make a difference between hearing through Transear and not.
Eve
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Way to go, Chris B. Your post is very informative and helpful. I enjoy comparing my own experiences with other TransEar users. That is what this board discussion is about...being supportive, getting and giving good information.
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I want to say thank you to everyone here, too. I've been going back and forth about whether or not to try out a TransEar, but your testimonials have convinced me to pick up the phone and call the Hearing Aid Clinic.
Katie
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What I found most helpful through my Transear journey was getting a copy of the Transear fitting guide (from TransEar) which included impression taking, what to expect, what not to expect, steps the audiologist should be doing during the intial fitting and beyond. Many audiogist are new to the device and some quite hesitant (in my case >:() so armed with some knowledge going in gave me a better understanding. At first I did not tell my audiologist that I had read the guide and I was saddend to see that she barely followed any of the steps.
Cheryl
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I'm on my second shell using TransEar. With my first one, I simply did not get enough performance to satisfy me that it was wortk $3K. After about a week, my audiologist tried increasing the gain which resulted in little improvement. After gain was increased I had to reduce the volume to eliminate feedback and the net was no better than I started with. After I reported continued disappointment, my audiologist got on the phone with TransEar to discuss. I'd also reported that I could feel the vibration. Whenthat was reported to TransEar they'd indicated that shouldn't happen and shipped out a slightly larger shell. This one is performing much better but I still feel the vibration. Can anyone give me some feedback on how much vibration you feel and maybe how snug it fits. I noticed that the first one came out of my ear much easier than this one but I wonder if this new one is still too small.
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I think if you feel the vibration to the point that it hurts or annoys you then some point needs adjusting. Mine is tight and slow to slide in. Initially I felt a vibration and got a sore spot from it. After some soft sanding the vibration was eliminated, and the fit became and remains perfect. I didn't need a bigger shell. I needed sanding. It is good news that your contact is better. Maybe try a slight sanding by your audio.