Hearing Aid for any in the Watch and Wait with partial hearing?

[mac84]

In my 4th year of the W/W and go next month back to Vanderbilt for a check on things. Tinnitus has seemed to increase but not sure if the hearing is any worse in that ear. I'm currently at about 50% there. High tones are gone.

Normally I can ignore the Tinnitus but in those times I can't it really saps me. Wondering if any of you have tried a hearing aid for that ear. Would the amplification help the tinnitus any or has the masking helped anyone or is it a nuisance as well?  Just thinking I may ask about it when I get my hearing test there next month. Thanks!

[Joan Mingo]

I only have about 25% hearing in AN ear and only 12% word recognition. I have been trying hearing aids for the last couple months. I first tried two hearing aids as have very slight age related loss in non AN ear and tech thought aid would help overall hearing. It did help some but not really in AN ear. I am now trying  Cros Phonak hearing aid. So, have a receiver in AN ear and hearing aid in other. This enables me to "hear" sound on left AN ear but actual sound is transferred to other ear so I can hear it. This doesnt help figuring out direction of sound but definitely helps me hear my husband when he is driving us and in conversations in rooms.

Both of these hearing aids have options for add ons to help tinnitus as well. Also, there are all kinds of other things these aids have to help with other hearing requirements such as TV, etc. I haven't tried any of those as 1st priority is the ability to hear. The tech also thinks the aids may also help bit with balance issues. Hoping for that too as physio doesn't seem to be helping at all yet.

Both of the types of hearing aids have tried are by Phonak and apparently are the best right now in the world. Check them out.

Hope this helped.

[ritapotenza]

 Hi

 I have no hearing at all on my AN side and have been using the Phonak  hearing aid as well. I find that it doesn't really help with the tinnitus  but does help with the hearing in certain situations. I find that it works really well when you were in a more quiet setting with little background noise, like in the car or in meetings. When there is a lot of background noise like in a restaurant or shopping centre, I find myself turning the hearing aid off. Good luck 

[mac84]

Thanks all!  I'll check out the Phonak and the Widex as well.....