Today I am picking up hearing aids.

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
Location
Nashville TN
My hearing isn’t horrible, but over the last 5 years it’s gotten increasingly worse. My grandkids’ voices are often garbled, I need to use captions for the tv for everything but the news (no background noise, music, sound effects to drown out the newscaster voices) and I choose restaurants more and more for their lack of noise rather than their food…..in other words my quality of life is being affected.

Testing revealed age related hearing loss in both ears, enough to impact my quality of life. I knew it!

My devices are completely different from Ron’s. He’s had hearing aids for many years. As well as age related hearing loss he also has damage like scarred eardrums from previous perforations so he must have in-ear devices. Mine by comparison are behind the ear devices.

They are Bluetooth which is a huge plus! Most days I have an AirPod in my ear so I can be hands free on the phone when I drive, can talk to clients/family etc while I’m working, can talk-to-text when my phone is across the room, and also to listen to podcasts, audio books etc while I work. Apparently I can also get a device that will make our smart TV Bluetooth compatible…that would be cool for both of us because Rons aids are Bluetooth enabled too.

I’m looking forward to the benefit they will be, to no longer having to curtail, limit or curate my activities, to increased hearing clarity in general, and not having to ask for things to be repeated three times before I understand! 🤦🏼‍♀️

I’m not looking forward to the learning curve and getting used to the damn things 😖 Wish me luck!!
 

I wore hearing aids for years. They can help with hearing many things but you will need to take breaks from the noise of everyday things. Eventually I resorted to just one hearing aid (mostly). Eventually I lost almost all my hearing and now wear Cochlear Implants (CI's). An amazing change in itself but I still need to watch how much noise input I receive. Good luck with your hearing aids.
 
IrisSenior said:
I wore hearing aids for years. They can help with hearing many things but you will need to take breaks from the noise of everyday things. Eventually I resorted to just one hearing aid (mostly). Eventually I lost almost all my hearing and now wear Cochlear Implants (CI's). An amazing change in itself but I still need to watch how much noise input I receive. Good luck with your hearing aids.
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My dr mentioned hearing fatigue so apparently you’re not the only one!

I hardly ever wear more than one AirPod so that’s what I’m used to and comfortable with. Something Id planned to go over with the doctor. Thanks!
 

Ronni said:
Today I am picking up hearing aids.
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Let us know how you like them. I have been in the hearing aid contemplation mode for the last 20 years or so, but have still not taken the leap.
Ronni said:
My hearing isn’t horrible
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Mine probably is, or my wife would say it is. It was substandard the first time I got tested, maybe 60 years ago. And has gotten worse since. After a hearing test about 30 years ago the technician asked if I had been an army artillery officer! No, no real excuse just can't hear well.
 
Good luck with your hearing aids @Ronni . I am very satisfied with mine except for the price. I intend to shop around the next time I need them. They generally last about 4 to 5 years.
The first thing I noticed right after getting them was a clicking sound when I was in the car. I finally realized it was the directional signal clicking. I never knew it made a noise before.
I also didn't know we had so many chirping birds in the yard.
All these little sounds make having them worthwhile and an extra perk is to take them out when there is an irritating noise going on.
 
Ron worked on the railroad for years before there was much of any regulation, so both his ears and his lungs have been compromised. We’re still not sure where the perforated eardrums happened. He also had lots of wax. None of that is helping his hearing.
 
I’ll be following your success with the new hearing aids. Like @Alligatorob, I’m in avoidance. It’s not bad, just not good. I’ll nod to whatever my husband says but he’s now catching me on that.
 
Jules said:
I’ll be following your success with the new hearing aids. Like @Alligatorob, I’m in avoidance. It’s not bad, just not good. I’ll nod to whatever my husband says but he’s now catching me on that.
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I was reading these various responses to Ron. When I got to this last sentence he said “Huh, you should start doing that instead of disagreeing with me ” and then ducked really quickly to avoid me smacking him! 😂👋
 
Picked them up late yesterday afternoon. So far so good!

I haven't yet been in the situations/environments where I struggle the most.....communication with the youngest grandkids, trying to have a conversation where there is lots of ambient background noise like a restaurant, watching a movie with all the sound effects, music etc that tends to drown out the dialogue.

But man!! The increased clarity of the normal everyday sounds I DON'T have trouble hearing was very unexpected! Everything just sounds so crisp and clean, like someone used a very sharp knife on the fuzzy edges.

It's bluetooth, so all my phone calls and audio stuff I had been doing with my AirPods are now done through the hearing aids, and so far it's been perfect. I was concerned that my voice might be a bit fuzzy to others on the phone, but I've checked with everyone I've called, and I sound normal.

Minor, but most startling of all and something I'm still trying to get used to, is hearing myself in my head. The sibilance of the "s" sounds are so clear and crisp it almost sounds like I'm overdoing it. I'm not, of course, but the doc said that because my hearing had become dulled to those sounds over the years as my hearing degenerated, now I was hearing clearly and all those words with that kind of sibilance were gonna sound like a hissing snake in my head till I got used to them. He's not wrong! 🤣

They sit behind my ear and I can't feel them. They're much smaller than I thought they'd be. The piece that goes IN my ear goes way deeper than I expected, but other than my ear getting itchy a time or two, I can't feel that either. Doc said the itching is normal and will go away after a couple days as the ear canal adjusts. They're rechargeable so I don't have to worry about batteries. And they're waterproof so no concerns if they get rained on or I forget they're in when I get in the shower!

I'm going to spend the next few days as I can manage, looking for opportunities to test them out further so I can see how they work in environments and situations other than home. Any questions you have, let me know! So far I'm really happy!
 
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@Ronni I'm so glad you are happy with them. I had trouble with the "s" sounds as well but only with my second pair. The audiologist was able to adjust them a bit.
Are you sure they are waterproof and not just water resistant? I wouldn't be able to leave mine in when taking a shower.
I would be very interested to know how you like the rechargeable feature.
Mine require batteries and it a nuisance, yet should an emergency arise during the night, I know I would be able to use them at anytime.
Enjoy all the new sounds you have been missing over the years it is quite an experience.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
@Ronni I'm so glad you are happy with them. I had trouble with the "s" sounds as well but only with my second pair. The audiologist was able to adjust them a bit.
Are you sure they are waterproof and not just water resistant? I wouldn't be able to leave mine in when taking a shower.
I would be very interested to know how you like the rechargeable feature.
Mine require batteries and it a nuisance, yet should an emergency arise during the night, I know I would be able to use them at anytime.
Enjoy all the new sounds you have been missing over the years it is quite an experience.
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@Ruth n Jersey yeah the sound isn't all the way up on mine yet. They adjust automatically over 30 days, increasing slightly each day so that my hearing can slowly acclimate. He had me listen briefly to the sound all the way up and I thought my head would explode! He said that's where I will eventually be, where my hearing USED to be BEFORE it started to degenerate.

He assured me they're waterproof, said they're the go-to hearing aid for underwater photographers. Nonetheless I won't be swimming with them nor showering...unless it's by accident lol. They also hold a charge for about 36 hours so there's no way they'll go dead in the middle of the day like Ron's do, unless I forget to charge them one night. We have his batteries in all the cars, in his wallet, in my purse. I am already in the routine of charging my phone, AirPods, and apple watch every night, so the hearing aids will just be added to the queue.
 
Ronni said:
@Ruth n Jersey yeah the sound isn't all the way up on mine yet. They adjust automatically over 30 days, increasing slightly each day so that my hearing can slowly acclimate. He had me listen briefly to the sound all the way up and I thought my head would explode! He said that's where I will eventually be, where my hearing USED to be BEFORE it started to degenerate.

He assured me they're waterproof, said they're the go-to hearing aid for underwater photographers. Nonetheless I won't be swimming with them nor showering...unless it's by accident lol. They also hold a charge for about 36 hours so there's no way they'll go dead in the middle of the day like Ron's do, unless I forget to charge them one night. We have his batteries in all the cars, in his wallet, in my purse. I am already in the routine of charging my phone, AirPods, and apple watch every night, so the hearing aids will just be added to the queue.
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Are you willing to share the brand and model??
 
Jules said:
@Ronni, do you wear glasses? If so, do they interfere with each other?
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@Jules I do wear glasses and worried about that. The doc assured me there would be no conflict, and damn if he wasn’t exactly right! The only thing he cautioned about was remembering to slide my glasses on and off so the arms remained straight rather than removing them in a way that the arms tilt upwards.
Ron tilts his glasses because he shaves his head so there’s no hair to get in the way. I’ve always slid my glasses on and off, keeping them straight, because that’s the best way to position them to where it doesn’t mess with my hair. So there’s no learning curve for me in that regard.

I slid them on and off yesterday several times without even thinking, and there was zero problem. The only thing that's a bit disconcerting is that the noise of my hair, the glasses and the hearing aids touching is very obvious. It really startled me the first time it happened. I looked around for what was crinkling! Then I realized it was me!:D

Here's a visual that might help.

glasses on
997D9202-AED4-4C03-9990-A287AC4A5C22.jpeg

glasses off
FB882A92-8112-4450-9191-D97A45367713.jpeg
 
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Tomorrow morning I go for an auditory test so that my present hearing aid can be replaced. The aid stopped working 2 weeks ago and since I've had it for about 10yrs., I am long overdue for a test. My right ear is completely gone, so we don't bother with one for that ear. My left ear has moderate to severe hearing loss. I use the behind the ear machine as well.
 
Interesting day so far.

I just spent the last 10 minutes tracking down the weird, rhythmic sound I was hearing. It was the ticking clock.

Hope's nails on the wood floor sound like hammer blows.

I kept looking behind me when I walked across the floor because it freaking creaks and I didn't know.

I'm still trying to figure out what the strange metallic noise is that happens randomly when I walk around.

And there is a faint beeping, coming from.....somewhere.

It's a strange new world for me folks. :ROFLMAO:
 
Thanks for all this reporting, Ronni. I had no idea. When walking today, I thought about my glasses question and if there’ll also be issues because I wear glasses and huge wrap-around sunglasses. Sometimes I stick those on my head in the store & put on my mask.
 

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