Shopping for a hearing aid

[Tisha]

I'd like to chime in on hearing aids also, since i wear one in my non-AN ear.  The whistling (or feedback) is caused by air circulating around the soft plastic dome that fits in your ear.  Those domes come in different sizes and you usually you can't tell that you even have them in if they are the smaller ones.  I have been happy with my soft plastic domes, even the larger one, until recently.  My audiologist told me that to get better word recognition I would have to up the power.  However, to do that I would have to have hard plastic earmold made for my ear.  Those would block all air going thru, eliminating any whistling.  However, my ear would feel "plugged", but I'd hear much better.  I haven't done that yet, but think I will have to.  Everything sounds very mumbled on that ear since I found out about my AN.  Since it's my nonAN ear, I wonder if it's a mental thing?  Anyway, Steve...does your ear feel really plugged since you use the hard plastic piece?

Mine is also digital, with the little piece that fits behind the ear.

Tisha

[jazzfunkanne]

Hi Trish i also wear a hearing aid in the non AN ear, my ear is always filling with fluid so my ent doctor wants me to consider a BAHA.

[Tisha]

JFAnne,

Do you have any hearing left in your AN ear?  What kind of hearing aid do you use, digital? 

[sgerrard]

Anyway, Steve...does your ear feel really plugged since you use the hard plastic piece?

Not in a bad way.

I have the fitted hard plastic ear piece for the same reason, to get more power (they call it a power receiver). I am just on the border of needing it, but it gives me room to grow if my hearing continues to fade. I can tell that the ear is plugged, but it is a gentle feeling, not uncomfortable. I do notice that my ear seems to produce more wax, so the ear piece gets waxy every day. It has a disposable little wax guard on the end, which I change every week or 10 days. I don't miss having the ambient sound cut off, since I can't really hear that without the aid anyway.

Steve

[jazzfunkanne]

Hi Trish i dont have any hearing in the right ear now, i have a cros aid which mean i have to wear two aids

[Tisha]

JFAnne,

I as just wondering because if I'm one of the unlucky few that loses hearing after CK in my AN Ear, I will need something at that point.  I don't know if my hearing aid ear will work well enough with a different ear mold in my ear...enough to help compensate with no hearing.  I'll have to check out to see what a cros ear is.

thanks

Tisha

[Tisha]

Thanks Steve

I have an audiologist exam tomorrow.  I think I'll talk to them about it.  It seems like a waste to be wearing this $2500 digital aid and words are mumbled.  The little soft plastics ones are so comfortable, but useless if it's not working.

Tisha

[Dawn]

Thanks to all for the info on the cost of hearing aids.  It is a shame that insurance companies don't consider hearing to be a medical necessity!!

Thanks again
Dawn

[Syl]

I, too, agree that it's a shame that hearing aids for AN patients are not covered by insurance. On the other hand, I think for me $1500 is a small monetary price to pay considering how little the rest of my AN-related bills were. My co-pay for surgery and a 5-day hospital stay: only $250.00, yes that's two hundred and fifty dollars and 00 cents. Once again, I must remember to count my blessings.

Syl

[jlamborn]

I wanted to chime in on hearing aids; I had my translab a couple of years ago which left me completely deaf in the right ear.  My left ear suffered some damage in a car accident a few years before that (which I didn't notice the diminished hearing until my right ear started to lose its' hearing.  They did some surgery on it and repaired the inner bones and I have about half the hearing back with a loss in mostly the high frequency so I got a Phonak Eleva for it, and also decided to add the Bi-Cros system.  I can tell you the Bi-Cros system adds a "depth (which is the only way I can describe the increase in sound and tone).  Unfortunately for me, in Bi-Cros mode, you also pick up extra RF noises (buzzes as you go through those security bars at stores, which wasn't that big of a deal, but I'm an IT person that works with computers all day and you wouldn't believe all the extra sounds those suckers put out.  So I started looking into the BAHA and found on Aetna's website that they describe the BAHA as a prosthetic and necessary device if your hearing loss was due to a illness or tumor which in the case of the translab, the inner ear was removed to gain the best access to the tumor and to help preserve the facial nerve.  I went through the pre-certification asking all along to make sure the processor was covered too.  I bugged them to death, but they came back with fully covered, no out of pociket expenses other than the $250 deductible that I paid at the hospital at the time of the day surgery to put in the titanium abutment.  It's now 3 months later and I just got my BAHA processor a couple of days ago and am thrilled!  I had donated my Bi-cros system in December for a tax write-off, so I've been just with the hearing aid for several weeks and really missed the extra that the bi-cros added.  The BAHA gives me the added plus of when I'm in t-coil mode on my hearing aid (which turns off the microphones so that my TV pipes right into my hearing aid so I don't have to have the TV way up and bother everyone-I looped my living room and hooked it into the TV so that I can hear the TV anywhere I move within the room- I never could hear anyone trying to talk to me; we had the "raise your hand so I know you want to talk to me and I'll put myself back in regular mode procedure, which was irritating.  With the BAHA, I can hear the TV plus anyone else talking because it's independent of the hearing aid.  I heard you mention that you only had a couple of programs turned on, be sure to ask them if it has a t-coil mode and if they can turn it on for you.  That opens up a whole new set of options to pipe sound directly into the hearing aid and not rely on the microphone.  You can get neck loops that pipe your computer or ipod directly into the t-coil mode.  I was like a kid in a candy store finding out how else I could improve my hearing.  Voices still continue to be a challenge and I guess always will be; it's amazing how they can pick up the odd sounds (I can hear my dog crunch her food at 20 feet, yet I need to be facing someone and within 4 or 5 feet of them to understand them clearly).  The website of www.tecear.com has the best explanation and choice of t-coil products.  Just wanted to share my experiences with the Bi-Cros and BAHA.

[Syl]

jlamborn:

Thanks for your input, I'll check out the site.

Syl

[Syl]

Hi all,

Went for another appt. with my audiologist so she could adjust the program in my hearing aid. I was getting lots and lots of popping/crackling (distortion), esp. when flushing the toilet or when running the tap. She adjusted that and the popping/crackling has diminished. The whistling has pretty much disappeared too. My audiologist explained that it was caused by high frequencies. so she tuned those down a bit.

It seems my brain is getting accustomed to the input from the hearing aid. I'm not as conscious of the input from it. And, my hearing certainly feels more balance. Sometimes I feel it doesn't help, sometimes I know it does. Still debating whether to keep it or not.

Getting back my directional hearing is a big plus. But do I want to keep it just for that? I did ask my audiologist if there is a cheaper hearing aid that can help just with directionality. The least expensive gadget they offer has a price tag of $1100--not that cheap if you ask me.

I still have to say "what" quite often in less than quiet environments, even with my hearing aid on. However, just the other day I went to a party at my sister's house. She had lots of people, lots of kids, lots of noise. I was chatting with one of the guests who was sitting next to me on my AN side as the noise went on all around us. My hearing aid kicked in and did it's job. The conversation went on with minimal "whats" from me. That was certainly another plus.

I think I need to get out alot more and see how it works in public environments. That's where I need the help more than anything. In quiet environments, such as the office, my healthy ear works fine on its own.

Well off I go to the oudoors and noise to test drive my hearing aid some more.

Syl

[sgerrard]

Hi Syl,

I would say that sounds pretty good. Several things you said sound familiar to me: brain accustomed to aid, not as conscious of it; more balanced; sometimes seems to help, sometimes not; still say what, but not so often. The conversation at your sister's party is a really good sign too.

I think you are getting a good trial of the hearing aid, and getting a good sense of what it would be like. Whether the improvements are worth it is up to you. Rather than feeling like I hear really well, I mainly feel that for much of the day, and most of the time, hearing is not an issue. I don't have to think about it much, which I consider to be a good result.

Enjoy your test drives in the world of sound.

Steve

[wendysig]

Hi Syl!

Sorry I'm late in coming to this thread.  It sounds like your hearing aid is helping you a lot but you should test it for the full 30 days if you're unsure.  I have to say I envy  your sense of directionality. I am completely deaf in my AN ear and one of the things I miss most is my directionality.  I finally found a way to stop misplacing my car in parking lots (I tend to forget where I park I don't know why just one of my foibles -- before I lost my hearing in my AN ear I would set off the alarm with my key fob to help me locate it)  -- they usuallly have number signs for each area of the lot and I take a picture of it in relation to my car with my cell phone, but I'm getting off the track.  I hope the hearing aid works out for you.  It's amazing what we take for granted until it's gone.

Best wishes,
Wendy

[leapyrtwins]

jlamborn -

glad to hear you like your BAHA!  Just one more satisfied customer 

Jan