Saw a terrific audiologist and he says go with normal hearing aid!! Thoughts?

[amymeri]

Hi everyone

I would really appreciate insight and feedback.

I am SSD on the right.  I find that most of the time it doesn't bother me but in restaurants, while driving and trying to talk to a passenger, while going on walks, etc, the jockying around is what bugs me.  It's not a daily problem...more like a semi-weekly adjustment.

Went to see a terrific audiologist and tried the BAHA demonstrator and loved it.  I couldn't really tell a difference in normal conversation in a quiet office (because I have perfect hearing in the good ear) but plugging my good ear really showed how well it works.

BUT he also had me try a single, normal, in ear (not Transear) amplifier hearing aid and it worked too!  It wasn't quite as good, but still pretty good and good enough to hear speech clearly.

He said that he thought that a surgical implant and the lifetime care of the BAHA might be a lot to do for what I want the hearing aid for and the transear can cause a lot of discomfort and need a lot of fitting.  He said he thinks the specialized bone conduction craze is overblown and that for my situation a regular aid would work fine to create bone conduction without a special aide or surgery.

And it DID work.

He was totally supportive and informative on all the different options, so I didn't feel pushed at all.  

Has anyone tried this?  I am really tempted to try it (especially since I can try it free for six weeks) and avoid surgery and having a screw in my head.  Also it is in ear, so I can wear my riding helmet, hats etc, without a problem.

Thoughts??

[jerseygirl]

Which one is it and how much does it cost?

           Eve

[ppearl214]

I think (moderator) Steve has a normal hearing aid...........  He should be able to add his $0.02 in.

Phyl

[amymeri]

Almost any kind would work.  It doesn't have to be a bells and whistles type just loud.  He said final cost about $1200 including all the audiology bills.  The actual aid is about $800.  Baha would be free, except surgical and office copays.

I think is was an Oticon brand...this one, I believe...the oticon Hit


http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/pf_article_detail.asp?article_id=1629
An interesting discussion of the traditional CROS, the transcranial CROS (What I am considering) and the true bone conduction.

[leapyrtwins]

Amy -

interesting that the hearing aid is by Octicon.  Did your audiologist tell you that Octicon is entering the market with their first BAHA device (the Ponto) next month?

Although I'm admittedly pro-BAHA, the fact that Octicon has developed a BAHA device gives me the impression that they feel it's a step above their conventional hearing aids.  But I could be wrong.

As I always say, the BAHA is not for everyone.  I have one and I love it - I'm anxiously awaiting an upgrade from the Cochlear Divino to the BP100 in the next few months - but in all fairness I've never worn a conventional aid so I really can't compare it to the BAHA.

I didn't mind the surgery (easy, fast, outpatient procedure), I don't mind the hole in my head (no issues with pain or anything else) and I love the fact that I don't wear a hearing aid in my ear.  No one knows I wear a BAHA unless I care to tell them.  This is a big thing for me, but it's not a big thing for others and as you say, with a hearing aid in your ear you can wear a bike helmet.

The new BP100 (and the Octicon Ponto) have big improvements over the older BAHA devices.  They are more programmable and work better in large rooms and noisy environments - in addition to amplifying sound in quiet settings.  I've also found that the longer I've worn my BAHA the more directionality and localization of sound I've developed.

IMO hearing aids are like AN treatment decisions - you have to do what is best and most comfortable for you.

On a financial note - most docs include post op appts from the BAHA surgery (usually 2) in the cost of the surgery; so you'd typically have no office copays.

Just my two cents.

Jan

[sgerrard]

As Phyl noted, I do use a normal hearing aid, but I use it in the conventional manner. I did read up on the idea of using one on a deaf ear; it is meant to transmit across to the good ear through your head. Apparently it works pretty well in some people, depending on how hard headed you are or something.

If it makes sense in your case, I would give it a try. You really do get to return a regular hearing aid after the first month if you don't want it, I think it is a law now.

Steve

[Sam Rush]

Will you be wearing the hearing aide in your dead ear or your good ear?    Doesn't make sense to me to wear it in your dead ear, and why would you want something in your good ear, unless the good ear is not so good ??

[amymeri]

I am completely deaf in my right ear and have perfect hearing in my left.  So I am totally SSD.  The way it works is both through some bone conduction and through cochlear transference or something like that.  So you wear the aid in your DEAF ear and the sound is transmitted through to your GOOD ear.  Freaky, right?  Same concept as BAHA but slightly less strong, clear and no surgery.

Okay, so here is that link  http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/pf_article_detail.asp?article_id=1629  and from that link the relevant part (and my apologies if this is again TOS, let me know if it is)

"These authors suggest placing a conventional high gain/high output air conduction hearing aid in the impaired ear to take advantage of the fact that the cochleas for each ear, which are contained within the temporal bones, are not acoustically isolated. That is, if an air conducted signal of high intensity is presented to the cochlea of an impaired ear, the signal will eventually be heard in the cochlea of the better ear because it will be intense enough to overcome the acoustic isolation (interaural attenuation [IA]) between the cochleas...
Signals picked up by the microphone of a hearing aid placed over or in the impaired ear can be amplified and eventually cross through the head and be heard by the cochlea of the normal ear via bone conduction (Miller, 1989)." (italics mine)

My thinking is... start LOW tech/LOW intervention and move up if I need it.  Because I really only need an aid sometimes.  I am thinking that I can get the custom aid done in a couple weeks, see what I think for a month and then if I don't like it, nothing lost and I can still schedule the BAHA.  But why go for surgery if the aid works fine.

It wasn't as good.  My audiologist said high pitches get dampened by the head and that it wouldn't be as quick  and as clear, but it was okay for what I want, I think.  I mean it just sounds a little quieter and a little tiny bit less sharp.

Amy

[Sam Rush]

So it works as a low tech, poorly adjusted transear.  Why not go w/ a transear??  This thread is confusing.

[amymeri]

You are confused?  I wonder why.

The transear can be difficult to adjust and the skin that is deep inside your ear is very sensitive.  The BAHA is a surgical procedure.  This might be a cheaper, easier, possibly more comfortable option to explore.

[opp2]

if you don't have the hearing apparatus in your deaf ear, will it work?

[amymeri]

The hearing aid ONLY goes in your deaf ear and then amplifies the sound into your cochlea with tranfers to your opposite, healthy ear through bone conduction.

So one regular hearing aid in your deaf ear only.  No wires, no double aids, no surgery, no fine tuning the fit.

So I think it might be worth it to try it.

[amymeri]

I had a 4cm tumor and a retrosigmoid removal with complete removal of the auditory nerve.  I have absolutely NO hearing in my right ear.  None.  It has been tested 3 times since my surgery and I have nothing and I never will. 

The aid still works on a bone conduction principle and I tried it myself and it worked. 

I was EQUALLY shocked because I had never, ever heard that this was possible.  But it worked.  Not as well as the BAHA, but well enough to hear clearly.

I was completely floored which is why I posted.  I was curious why I had never heard about it....but then I read up and saw it IS possible. 

So, I don't know.  I am going to at least TRY it.  I will keep everyone updated.  If it works, it might be another option for surgery-phobes like myself.

[nteeman]

It seem s to make sense to me. It might not work for everyone but a regular hearing aid in your deaf ear may conduct the sound through your head to your good ear. Similar to TransEar and BAHA only using loud audio instead of bone conduction vibrations.  It seems worth a try and whatever works is good.

Neal

[NancyMc]

Hey!  Just made my BAHA consult appt for Nov 4 at MEEI Boston, so this is very timely.  Do us tranlabys get to do this low tech thing?  I mean, didn't they trash our cochleas when they went in through the ear to save our beautiful faces?   
And by "eventually" do you mean that we get to hear the sound on the same day or a week later?
Keep us posted, please.
Thx
N