Age related hearing loss

[Ferretfancy]

re #86 from Ferretfancy; there should be a volume control somewhere, a knurled knob, which with my Siemens aids, if you roll it "up" (i.e. towards the front of the head as normally worn) it increases the volume and vice versa. If the audiologist has set the range and level of the machine too high then at switch on and with no adjustment from you, the treble boost is more than you need. Step one is to turn the volume down to minimum (usually indicated by bleeping). If it is still too loud in the treble then you need to go back to the clinic and ask for a second setting with a lower median amplification and smaller range (we're talking dBs here). I requested that this second setting should start from no amplification at all and at maximum should be the median setting of their first OTT setting. Then when it is switched on I automatically get the median/centre point of the amplification. The problem seems to lie in the fact that they audio test you with single tones but when you are listening to normal sounds with a mélange of tones and harmonics their correction for the assessment of your loss seems excessive. I hope your aids are sufficiently similar in operation for this to be helpful.

Thanks for that, Clive. Yes, my aid does have a volume setting, and I use it in the low position. I have a future appointment with my audiologist in four weeks time, and I'm going to ask for an aid for my other ear. I think that having a device in one ear only makes for an awkward imbalance. A couple of times recently, at the Proms, I've momentarily forgotten to switch it off, and this produced a super hi-fi effect in the Albert Hall which was very unnatural!

[salymap]

Just had a third visit frm my NHS local provider [sp. and they certainly seem a tad better, with new earpieces.

Still hate the background noises, in spite of new earpieces they will take a lot of getting used to.

On we go, what fun [not].


bestio

PS Not much hope for hearing music. Sad but I'm not alone in that.

[Petrushka]

Just had a third visit frm my NHS local provider [sp. and they certainly seem a tad better, with new earpieces.

Still hate the background noises, in spite of new earpieces they will take a lot of getting used to.

On we go, what fun [not].


bestio

PS Not much hope for hearing music. Sad but I'm not alone in that.

Salymap. What you have to remember is that those background noises are those that you may not have heard for many years. This is why the wearing of hearing aids takes a lot of getting used to. Your provider should have first set them according to your level of loss but will then gradually increase the level over about three or four visits until you feel entirely comfortable with them. By then the background noise (such as cutlery on plates and traffic noise) will become as normal as it used to be. There is considerable after-care involved with modern digital aids but the perseverance will pay off.

Many modern aids will have a programme for music. If you haven't already done so tell your provider that you want to listen to classical and they will help you. Pop music with its basic level of volume is much easier to find a setting for but classical music with its many different timbres can take much longer to sort out.

Once again, it requires a lot of patience and perseverance but it will pay off in the end. Not ideal maybe but as good as you can hope for.

[alycidon]

If I may be allowed to add my three-ha'penceworth, I also find that using my NHS hearing aid after (presumably) many years of deteriorating hearing, a trial.

I find that wearing it all the time is very intrusive, and especially when driving, because the sudden aural awareness of everything around me causes me to take actions that could be a danger to me or other road users.

So, I basically use my aid for watching TV, although I use the sub-titles also, and in church, but usually not to listen to music.

Does anyone know if hearing-aids affect one's singing voice? Last Sunday I was precenting a psalm to a very well- known tune (Salzburg), and I completely messed it up, not hitting my pitch until the third stanza. I'm a bit pitch-deaf in any case, but this was utterly spine-chilling!

Hope some of this helps, salymap.

[clive heath]

It may be that you would be happier if you lowered the amplification level using the volume control. Start at the lowest possible level which you may think is doing no good at all, increase until you can just tell that it is doing some good and try that level for a while. With luck this level will be less disturbing than the one you describe. As I don't know how long you have had your aid, I might be talking rubbish but if you are fairly new to it or to using it more regularly some experimentation might be in order. I find that the new flat screen TVs ( yes, shamed into the purchase partly by the fact that both my mother and my son have one) are much less intelligible than a decent sized CRT.

[alycidon]

Thank you for that, Clive. I've had the aid for six or seven years, and tend to use it with the volume right down as you correctly suggest. I suppose my main problems are caused by tinnitus/hyperacusis, as I do not think that my hearing, per se, is that bad, fortunately.

I think that I hear OK, but I am unable to decipher what I am hearing, and the flat-screen TV does not help. It is interesting that you made that point.

Compared with many other people, I have reached 71 with an acceptable level of hearing, and I am truly thankful for that.

[Frances_iom]

I find that the new flat screen TVs ( yes, shamed into the purchase partly by the fact that both my mother and my son have one) are much less intelligible than a decent sized CRT.

most flat screen TVs use very small + often downward pointing speakers - thus the bass frequencies which are increasing important for the older listener are severely attenuated - try buying a small set of speakers + amplifier and feeding sound from the generally provided earphone socket into this (or connect to your hifi if in same room)

[salymap]

most flat screen TVs use very small + often downward pointing speakers - thus the bass frequencies which are increasing important for the older listener are severely attenuated - try buying a small set of speakers + amplifier and feeding sound from the generally provided earphone socket into this (or connect to your hifi if in same room)

Thanks for some replies. I suppose at 84 I must expect problems but have only had
aids for justoveer a year, some of the time spent in hospital after serious falls.

I have mentioned classical music to the experts but they don't seem interested.

Alycidon - Ihope you still have your lovely Cairn Terrier.

[Petrushka]

I have mentioned classical music to the experts but they don't seem interested.

A good audiologist should be giving the patient what they want. Today's modern digital hearing aids can cater for every type of hearing loss and it is up to the audiologist to provide the best one to fit in with the patient's lifestyle.

[alycidon]

I have mentioned classical music to the experts but they don't seem interested.

Alycidon - Ihope you still have your lovely Cairn Terrier.

I have always found that, sal - a blank look when you say you enjoy classical music, almost as if you are some sort of alien. And speaking generally, mention that as well as classical music you also enjoy railways and buses, then you really are from some alien world!

Yes, the cairn terrier is well, thank you, although yesterday she was in disgrace for not coming in from the garden when told to do so. But, as you know, cairns are very headstrong, and have to be reined in from time to time.

[amateur51]

A good audiologist should be giving the patient what they want. Today's modern digital hearing aids can cater for every type of hearing loss and it is up to the audiologist to provide the best one to fit in with the patient's lifestyle.

I Spy Privatisation of the NHS!

By giving (part of) the national digital hearing aid contract to SpecSavers, presumably the Government is paying a fee/patient to them. If the patient requires more time than the contract affords, say in the case of someone who needs a home visit, or someone with 'difficult' ears, then cost comes into the equation, sadly.

I am so fortunate to still be able to get to the Audiology Dept. at St Mary's Paddington, hidden away in the basement corridors it's true, but a haven of expert audiologists with apparently infinite patience & interest in their patients' getting a personal service..

[Ferretfancy]

I Spy Privatisation of the NHS!

By giving (part of) the national digital hearing aid contract to SpecSavers, presumably the Government is paying a fee/patient to them. If the patient requires more time than the contract affords, say in the case of someone who needs a home visit, or someone with 'difficult' ears, then cost comes into the equation, sadly.

I am so fortunate to still be able to get to the Audiology Dept. at St Mary's Paddington, hidden away in the basement corridors it's true, but a haven of expert audiologists with apparently infinite patience & interest in their patients' getting a personal service..

Ams
I've also had very helpful service so far at the Whittington, and had an aid fitted only a couple of weeks ago after a very thorough series of tests. I've been wearing it as much as possible to get used to it, only removing it for music listening both with my sound system and at the Proms.

We had a trip to Norwich yesterday, and naturally visited the cathedral. At one point the organist suddenly burst into a fortissimo demonstration which nearly blew my head off with the aid switched on!

Unfortunately I discovered only this morning that the tiny control lever for level setting has fallen off, rendering it defunct. Why does this sort of thing always happen at weekends? Ah well! Off to get it sorted on Monday!

[Richard Tarleton]

I am so fortunate to still be able to get to the Audiology Dept. at St Mary's Paddington, hidden away in the basement corridors it's true, but a haven of expert audiologists with apparently infinite patience & interest in their patients' getting a personal service..

That has been our (i.e. Mrs T's) experience with the Audiology Dept at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest (not often that gets a name check on this forum ). Both the diagnosis and the aftercare excellent. I could be entirely wrong but I can't quite imagine how you get the services of a fully-fledged audiology consultant with the battery of gizmos at his/her disposal at a high street provider.

[Petrushka]

The NHS Audiology Dept at one of our hospitals in the region is run by a private provider (not Specsavers). As Ams hints at above and I mentioned earlier, the degree of after-care needed with modern digital aids is considerable, sometimes more than half a dozen visits are needed before the settings are right and can be left alone for a few months before maintenance or adjustment becomes necessary again.

My own provider (yes, I've had an aid for many years due to problems at birth) actually understands classical music very well and is fully conversant with the 'difficulty' this presents. He is astonished at how well I can hear the music, picking up on tiny details that he wasn't aware of himself. I have an evenly balanced loss in my right ear which makes it easier to find a setting but I know exactly how I want it to sound and I've been lucky that my private provider has gone through endless trouble to ensure it gets there.

Incidentally, I'd recommend GN Resound aids http://www.gnresound.co.uk/

[Ferretfancy]

After some delay I've now been fitted with hearing aids in both ears. This rectifies a problem I was having, in that everything sounded lop sided with exaggerated background noise in my left ear.

There is no doubt in my mind that the aids are an improvement, and they have a choice of programmes, one of which reduces intrusive noises from behind. This is very useful in crowded situations.

There is one snag though. Listening to stereo on my nice surround system gives a very strident effect, with excessive high frequencies. I've been trying a few ruses to mitigate this effect by reducing the treble on my sound control unit and boosting the bass by a couple of notches. I've ended up with about 4dB down at the top, which is then compensated for by the hearing aids. This works surprisingly well, giving precise imagery. False? Well, yes I think so, and naturally others listening at the same time experience rather woolly sound, but it means that I don't need to keep removing the aids from my ears.

The audiologist has said that at my next visit he will reduce the sensitivity for me if I request it.

It would of course be asking too much to expect these tiny devices to be completely natural, but I'm pleasantly surprised by their performance. However, I think that when the novelty wears off I'll revert to my old listening habits where music is concerned.

It would be interesting to hear how others with aids organise their listening.