Hearing Loss

[indyblue]

Went to the audiologist for my moderate-severe hearing loss and got a dose of sticker shock.

Considering some of the nicer OTC hearing aids. Does anyone have experience with Jabra Select aids, and their customer service?

My GF has hearing aids. Remember, most of that sticker shock (at least for her) is not the cost the the aids themselves but the price includes all exams, parts/service/adjustments, updates, etc. And the medically approved ones seem to be much more reliable than anything COTS. It has many modes like restaurant mode where it attenuates noise directionally behind and around her.

Just food for thought. The low price may not reflect the total cost of a hearing solution.

 

[Ziggidy]

My GF has hearing aids. Remember, most of that sticker shock (at least for her) is not the cost the the aids themselves but the price includes all exams, parts/service/adjustments, updates, etc. And the medically approved ones seem to be much more reliable than anything COTS. It has many modes like restaurant mode where it attenuates noise directionally behind and around her.

Just food for thought. The low price may not reflect the total cost of a hearing solution.

There is no better deal that Costco. 3 year replacement warranty, best around. They will clean your hearing aids as long as you own them, even beyond 3 years. Free domes, check ups, cleanings, service and so on. I have been wearing hearing aids for 14 years and have never seen a better deal.

 

[Ziggidy]

Went to the audiologist for my moderate-severe hearing loss and got a dose of sticker shock.

Considering some of the nicer OTC hearing aids. Does anyone have experience with Jabra Select aids, and their customer service?

Go to Costco. Best service and great pricing; hands down.

 

[BugI02]

Can any hearing aids help cancel out the ringing of tinnitus? I Googled it and found contradicting answers.
I don't want to spend thousands on hearing aids that just make the ringing louder but I sure would like something to help.
If you have any suggestion type your response in ALL CAPS.

The hearing aids will not make the tinnitus louder, it is a phantom sound - like the phantom limb pain amputees sometimes have. It results from the nerves that would normally 'hear' those frequencies not receiving any input from the hair cells that actually turn pressure waves (sound) into electrical signals that those nerves would route to the brain. The nerves generate a signal even when not triggered by sound, there is no actual noise for the hearing aids to amplify

There are some types of experimental therapy using sounds played through headphones, which are not at the frequency of your phantom sounds but related to them in some way, and are supposed to suppress the aberrant signaling. Haven't seen any information that it works well but it is a fairly new technique

One other thing I came across in my research, for some people if you have 50/50 nitrous as part of a dental procedure it can make existing tinnitus worse

 

[BigRed]

I'm subbing at my kid's school today. They're having hearing tests and I'm helping out the speech pathologists.

After the kids were done, I was offered a hearing test. I've not had one since my mom retired years ago, so figured it couldn't hurt.

I listen to lots of loud music and used to shoot .22 without hearing protection.

My left ear is "very normal," whatever that means, and my right ear is -45dB at 4kHz. Thinking about it, I think I did that just a few months ago shooting a nuisance chipmunk with a .45 and no ear plugs. I used my Jeep's hood for a rest. The sound bounced off the windshield and made me deaf in my right ear for a couple days.

Anyone else?

Could you retype this in all caps?

 

[24Carat]

My left ear from a test a couple month ago. Right ear is about the same.
View attachment 309225
I tried to get the guy to label that lowest point as “wife’s voice” but I didn’t have any cash with me that day.

While I was still on active duty, I got some hearing aids. The didn’t really help in normal conversations but I could hear the refrigerator real well, so I stopped wearing them. When I retired the VA gave me a 10% disability rating for the tinnitus. I’ve had tinnitus for years, long before I knew what it was. I didn’t realize I had it until I read a readers digest article about tinnitus probably 30 years ago. It doesn’t bother me much, although it’s quite loud if I think about it, but I learned to ignore a long time ago I guess.

Recently, I had a bout of BPPV (vertigo) and my doctor sent me to see an ENT. Cured the BPPV with physical therapy, and she did a hearing test as part of the eval, which resulted in the graph above. She’s retired military from Brooke Army Medical Center here in San Antonio, Told me I should try the hearing aids again. They’re a lot better than they were 20 years ago and they’re free at the VA.

So I called up the VA for the first time since I did my retirement physical nearly 20 years ago, and it actually was very well done process, it just took a little while to get appointments.

Now I have a bright, shiny pair of hearing aids, and they do seem to help with conversations this time around. And I can hear the both the refrigerator and the cat fart from the other end of the house. What more could you ask for?

One of the best features is that they connect with my iphone via Bluetooth and act like earbuds when I get a call. That is a very useful feature.

They also recharge via USB charger, so I don’t have to screw with batteries. That’s also nice.

They amplify the spectrum that I’m deficient in, which is clearly the higher frequencies, but they don’t bring through the bass so well. Everything has a bit of tinny hard edge to it. If I really want to hear music, I pull out the hearing aids and put on some headphones.

Let me guess, Phonak Marvels right ??

 

[24Carat]

Uncle Sam introduced me to working around General Electric J79-10 turbofans as a Crew Chief on F-4 Phantom II's . I was diligent with hearing protection and yet, I am now blessed with 25% loss L&R and my range is dead at 5000 hertz because of my "escaping steam" Tinnitus little friend . VA provided an amazing set of top tier hearing aids, they are sooooo cool !

 

[cobber]

Those of you who wear hearing aids, do you remove them when shooting? While using hearing protection of course.

 

[MindfulMan]

Those of you who wear hearing aids, do you remove them when shooting? While using hearing protection of course.

Yes !

 

[Wstar425]

You married? Does your wife typically sit to your right? A lot of guys develop a notch filter where the center frequency is about the same as their wife’s voice.

When I can’t hear my wife it’s because I’m deaf. When she can’t hear me it’s because I mumble…….she still does the talking to me two rooms away and then it’s did you hear what I said? I didn’t even know you were talking to me!! Slow learner, one of us.

I have to take hearing tests for DOT physical. One place had a sound booth where you did a 15 minute test with headphones. Every where else stands 6 feet behind you and whispers numbers for you to repeat.

I’m halfway to needing a hearing aid in my right ear (wife side) and good in my left. For all the previously mentioned reasons.

 

[Alamo]

Let me guess, Phonak Marvels right ??

The hearing aids the VA gave me are made by Signia. They worked pretty good, but I have since moved on to ones that I’m paying for called Earlens. I just got them about a month ago and I’m still in the evaluation stage but so far they are definitely superior to what I had before when I decide if they’re keepers I’ll do a write up on them.

 

[loudgroove]

My ex-wife once said to me. For a sound guy you really can't hear, can you?
My reply. Your voice isn't musical.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Those of you who wear hearing aids, do you remove them when shooting? While using hearing protection of course.

My dad was one of those guys who didn't have a lot of tolerance for loud children (among other things too many to list here). One holiday when he was older, the grandkids were running around chasing and yelling as he just sat smiling in his chair. He saw me looking him and he pointed to the side table, where his hearing aides lay.