BAHA with hearing aid?????

[james e]

I'll give you the Readers Digest version...I had translab March 2010. The day before the surgery, I convinced my doc I wanted a BAHA, and his office got it approved that day so he could do the surgery with the translab. I was never tested for the BAHA. Following the surgery, the audiologist was really mad at the doc for not having me tested by HER...pissed about being left out of the loop. When she tested me, she said I was a poor candidate for a BAHA because my percentage of understanding in my good ear was poor enough that I would not hear enough for a BAHA to be fully functional. She said I would do better with a cross-talk type of hearing aid that would help me, by increasing my percentage of understanding. Later when she wasn't having a bad hair day, and she got over being so angry, and she tested me some more, she said I would be really happy with my BAHA.

The BAHA was covered by insurance, and the hearing aids would not be covered. After my BAHA was up and running, I was, and still am, very happy with it. I would do it again. I went with my Dad for his hearing test...he is 90...and I got to hear how bad his percentage of hearing and understanding is, and how much it improved with a really good hearing aid. Now I started to pay more attention to what I was really hearing...or not hearing. My observation is that my level of understanding is pretty good, but I still want to see a person mouth the words...did she say "goat" or "boat". I usually know what we are talking about, but I can catch myself shaking my head yes or no rather than answering the question. One day I will need a hearing aid.

Here is  my question. Do any of you wear a hearing aid with your BAHA, and does it help?

[Paul F]

James, I do not post here often because I don't feel like being negative.  I am SSD, left ear.  I was given a bi-cros aid by the Navy to help me to hear on the left side.  That was years ago and the bi-cros aids used a wire from the deaf side around to the hearing aid in the better side.  I had too many problems with that set up and ended up purchasing a regular hearing aid for my better side and just forgetting about not being able to hear from the other.    Then I heard about BAHA.  I checked with the nearest clinic that does BAHA, 135 miles from here, and they said I qualified for one.  I have moderate hearing loss on the good side.  I have had the BAHA for almost two years now and rarely ware it.  All it seems to do for me is amplify the back ground noise, blocking out what I really want to hear.  Riding in a vehicle is really bad, the road noise just blasts everything else out.  Crowds or meetings or restaurants are impossible.   I can't wear it out doors because of my cowboy hats.  What else is left?  Well, I did have to send in my other hearing for repair which took about 10 days.  I wore the BAHA quite a bit during that time and it helped me.  My feeling is  people with moderate hearing loss in their good ear that use a hearing aid will have a problem with the BAHA because they cannot be programed as a pair.  I have the Intenso which has very little adjustment that can be made to it.  I am now looking at trying the new digital programmable wireless bicros aids.  Maybe they will work for me.

By the way, after I was approved for the BAHA by my doctor, another doctor told me the he didn't think I did meet the requirements because of the amount of loss of hearing in the good ear.  I guess maybe a second opinion might have helped me out in the first place.

[leapyrtwins]

James -

what processor do you wear?

I was told prior to getting my implant that because I have perfectly normal hearing in my "good" ear that the Divino would be my best bet.  My doc also told me that if the hearing in my "good" ear ever became less than 100% (for example, as I age) that he would recommend an Intenso (it's more powerful).

So I got a Divino and then upgraded to it's replacement the BP100 (aka BP3) and I've had no issues.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that perhaps you need a stronger processor - the Intenso - unless that is what you are currently wearing.

Paul -

what processor do you wear? 

If you are wearing a Divino, the problems you mention are very common.  I've found that the BP100 - because it's more programmable and because it has 12 channels as opposed to 1 (background noise has more "places" to go) - has much more natural sound and it works much better in crowded/noisy environments.

Jan

[james e]

I have a BP100 and it is great. I take it off when I wear a hat because the BAHA is in the way. I turn it off in the car because it amplifies the road noise from the tires and wind. I take it off out side when I do yard work so I don't knock it off and run over it with the mower. There is not a problem with the BAHA. The problem is with ME. As I get older, my level of understanding will decrease, and I am just looking for someone with a BAHA/hearing aid experience.

Like I said, I don't want to come home with a goat, and my wife will say "I thought you went out to buy a boat."

[Paul F]

Jan,
I wear the Intenso.  Sorry that I excluded that info above.  The Intenso has three changeable settings.  Volume which is controlled by the user and then a Gain and a Tone control set by the audi and these are two small screw driver adjustments.  It's one of those primitive things where the audi makes an adjustment according to what the patient explains is the problem.  Try this for awhile and see how it works.  Come back and try again and again until you get it right. 

I know that the company is working on a new and improved model of the Intenso and that this problem is being addressed.  It looks like that is still a ways off tho.  I believe that what needs to be done for some of us is to be able to program both the BAHA and the hearing aid together to fix the problem.  At this point, the Intenso is not programmable at all.

I have often wondered if the BP-100 would not have worked better for me but, I guess I'll never know that.  Wish I could try one.

[leapyrtwins]

Paul -

If I ever meet you, you can try my BP100.  Your audiologist might also have one you can try, just to satisfy your curiosity.

James -

you probably don't want to change processors at this point - they are expensive - but the Intenso might help you and eliminate your need for a hearing aid as well as a BAHA.  You may want to see if your doc or audiologist has an Intenso you can demo.

Just a thought.

Jan