total hearing loss vs. crummy hearing?

[Twindy]

Hello,
When drs. quote hearing preservation chances, are they talking about "serviceable hearing?"  When they say 75% chance of hearing loss, do they mean total hearing loss?  And is there any practical difference between no hearing in that ear and really crummy non-serviceable hearing in that ear?  THANKS!

[opp2]

My understanding is when they say useful hearing the mean that you will be able to detect sounds and tone, but your speech discrimination will be minimal.

That is you may be able to hear enough to detect where sounds are coming from, or that someone may be speaking, but you wouldn't be able to make out what they were saying.

[lrobie]

Hi Twindy,

I'm curious about this too.  When my neurosurgeon found out that I no longer use my AN ear for phone calls, he said that was a sign that I didn't have serviceable hearing.  However, after the audiogram, the percentages came back higher and still within serviceable hearing.  I just don't like the sound I hear from that ear and cannot understand every word.  Thus, stopped using the phone.  I think I read somewhere that when they say hearing preservation, it means keeping you within the serviceable hearing.  You can experience some loss of hearing, but they can report that you had hearing preservation as long as it stays within the serviceable hearing range.  I hope that makes sense.

Lisa

[Syl]

... is there any practical difference between no hearing in that ear and really crummy non-serviceable hearing in that ear?  THANKS!

Yes, there is a difference. I'd say that my hearing is pretty crummy non-serviceable hearing in my AN ear.

Before my surgery, my Drs were already referring to my hearing as non-serviceable--it was 60% word recognition. It was pretty useless with conversations even then. We tried to save what hearing I did have anyway. With the surgery it got worse--it went down to 20% word recognition.

I can hear lots of sounds & noises, but don't have very good directionality. I went ahead & got a hearing aid realizing that it would be useless for conversations. It helps a great deal when I'm out & about. It helps me with directionality. I can tell where cars are coming from, whether they're around the corner or behind me. I can also tell where the barking dog is. If I need to run, I know which direction to go. To me, that is a significant difference.

Syl

[mk]

During my AN journey I have experienced all levels of hearing loss: From perfect, down to none, coming back with steroids, then declining, etc. I would say that I prefer SSD from the crammy distorted hearing that I experienced at times, which I found very distracting.
On the other hand the advantage of retaining some hearing, even if it is not serviceable (i.e. no word recognition), is that you still retain the sense of directionality, which is otherwise completely lost when you are SSD.

Marianna

[CHD63]

Hi Twindy .....

It's my understanding that hearing loss is gauged from two aspects:  decibel hearing levels at all frequencies and speech discrimination percentage score.  Hearing loss is apparently very unique to each individual with many variations among the areas being measured.

Prior to my first AN surgery, I had 80% of normal hearing level (apparently evenly distributed across all frequencies) for my age (in my AN ear); considerably above normal hearing in my non-AN ear.  I had 100% speech discrimination in both ears.  After my first AN surgery I retained 20% of normal hearing level (again across all frequencies) and still with 100% speech discrimination.  Therefore, I had good success with a Widex hearing aid in that ear.  I still did not use that ear for the telephone, however ..... mainly because it was so much more comfortable and much less strain to use my good ear.

Just prior to my second AN surgery (after my AN had regrown to 1.3 cm), they did an audiogram at HEI that showed my speech discrimination had dropped to about 75%, hearing level still at 20%, in my AN ear ..... good ear was still way above normal, thank goodness.  I knew (and all of the doctors told me this) I would go completely deaf in the AN ear anyway so it was a "no-brainer" that the translab was the way to go on this second surgery.

Hope that helps.

Clarice

[Twindy]

Are some hearing devices(baha, trans ear, etc.) only good for total hearing loss?  Does anything work for crummy but not total loss?

[Syl]

I inquired about the BAHA. I have too much hearing for it, but not enough for a Behind The Ear hearing aid. I went ahead and got a Behind The Ear hearing aid anyway.

My hearing aid has 2 settings, indoor & outdoor. I always set mine to the outdoor setting. It helps with directionality. The indoor setting is for conversations. Since my hearing is at 20% word recognition, the hearing aid is pretty useless for conversations. Besides, there is too much distracting background noise in this setting.

I'm so used to wearing my hearing aid, that I'm not comfortable without it anymore. There is so much noise in my AN ear that is very distracting. Not only do I have loud tinnitus, but many sounds are distorted, such as the sound of newspaper being handled (I work at a newspaper). My hearing aid serves as a sort of ear plug when I have it set to the outdoor setting, even indoors. It helps mask all those distracting noises--the tinnitus & distorted sounds--but allows it to amplify other sounds enough to help with directionality. 

I hope this is useful info.

Syl