Notes on Days 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9!
Okay, so now it's day 9 and today was my first full day of wearing TransEar since the audiologist asked me not to wear it for 2 days. Here's what happened:
On Day 3 the audiologist asked me not to wear again for 2 days, so didn't wear it since 10am or so.
Day 4- Per docs orders, didn't wear
Day 5- Per docs order, didn't wear
Day 6 (Sun)- Went to swimming pool for half a day, so I only wore it in the evening. It felt loose in the ear and uncomfortable because I noticed that it still is touching some sensitive area in my ear. Decided to call audiologist on Mon to look in my ear and to get it refitted.
Day 7- Called audiologist in morning, but next avail appt was on next day Tues at 8pm! Didn't wear it since it still bothered me when I put it in.
Day 8- Saw audiologist at 8pm. Didn't wear it all day. I told her that I feel that it goes too far into my canal and I asked her to round off the end of the part that goes into the ear canal. She did and what a difference! I was actually able to put it in all the way without the pain. She looked in my ear and thinks that the sensitive area is a scar tissue which was swolen last time she looked in. All I cared about is that I was able to put the unit in all the way and it, for the first time, it felt comfortable. It's still a bit lose on the part which she trimmed last time, but I'm not worried about it too much. In about a week or so, we are scheduled for a meeting to see if the device is working out for me. If it is, she is going to order another piece that she trimmed and will ask them to create a new mold based on our new findings (that everything was fine on the original mold, but it was just a bit too long). I hope I'm making some sense to you, though I know that I'm not being very clear. So I left her office with my Transear in my ear and wore it for whatever was left of the evening. I was able to pick up music sounds from my car radio when I closed my good ear.
Day 9- Wore it all day, nice and comfy. I feel that I can hear better with it. At least I feel that I can understand my wife better when she talks to me. It's definitely not a big difference, but it's something. If you want to know what I am able to hear and how loud, do the following:
Get a hold of an Ipod or other music player with headphones. Play a song, any song, without putting the headphones in your ears. Turn up the volume to 80%. Close your good ear with your finger or ear plug. Take one of the headphones and place it so that it touches the bone behind your bad ear. You should be able to hear the music through the vibration of the headphone. It worked for me (before i got the transear). I used the Ipod earphones and pressed hard against the bone.
If this worked for you, you were able to slightly hear the music. You can't sense that it's coming from the bad ear or good ear because the way you can hear it is like it's coming from inside your head, not really the outside world. Anyway, that's kind of what I'm experiencing the transear to be doing. I'm able to hear the sound, but it comes in very faintly and it doesn't feel like it's coming from an outside source.
Hopefully you are still awake after reading my nonsence.... It's after midnight now, so I'm a bit tired. Hopefully this makes some sense to you, if not, just reply and I'll try to explain better. I'm hoping that the device will begin to work better for me with time... I'm still not 100% convinced if it's worth the investment.
and finally... Thank you all for the positive responses. I'm glad someone is reading this : )
