Last Friday, I got hearing aids. I’ve been almost completely deaf in my right ear since I was about 3 (that’s when it was first noticed). I’ve been gradually losing the hearing in my left ear and it’s gotten to the point where I had ask SWMBO to repeat herself one too many times. I got fed up and bit the bullet for 4000 clams.
But it is worth it. I think. I’m hearing things that I have not heard in so long it might as well have been forever. I’m also hearing stuff that I realize I was much better off with in blissful ignorance, like traffic noise. There’s still some adjusting to do to get a good fit and make sure that my default levels are set correctly, but all in all, it was a good move to make.
Of course, the big advantage is that if I’m being bugged by someone who is really irritating me, I can just turn the volume down on the aids and they’ll act like earplugs!
How did you lose your hearing at first? Was it from an ear infection or were you born with hearing problems?
I lost the hearing in my left ear when I was 20, due to an inner ear infection. I went to a “specialist” (I use the term loosely, I think he was a quack) and he said that nothing could be done about it, but I suspect, or at least hope, otherwise.
My bad ear rings slightly all the time, but if I’m in a loud room, like a bar or a concert, it rings very loudly. The good thing about it is that I sleep on my good ear, so I sleep more deeply. But everyone who knows me, knows they must walk on my right side so I can hear them. If you’re directly to my left, you can be talking right into my ear and I won’t hear it.
I’m glad you were able to get the hearing aids. I didn’t realize they were so expensive, though!
I’ve had hearing aids since I was 5 years old… I had to live with analog aids until I was about 12 or 13, when I was finally able to get digital. Oh, man, the difference! It was amazing.
Congratulations on getting your aids. I know for me, they’ve been much more of a blessing than a curse. I just hate not being able to hear in a pool–they should make waterproof aids, darnit!
Did your audiologist (or the person you got them from) let you know about keeping them dry? When mine get too much moisture built up inside the workings (from just daily wear, in Arizona!), they start to cut out on me. I have a li’l dehumidifier for just that purpose and I keep them in another room during showers rather than in the bathroom with me. I don’t know if yours will have a problem with moisture, but I’d guess most aids do.
We don’t know what caused the loss. As I mentioned, it was first noticed when I was about 3 or so, so it’s quite possible that I was born with it. I can pick up very high and very low tones, but I have no midrange on the right side at all. The right ear hearing simply boosts what it can. The left side loss, I’m sure, is just a byproduct of age. I ain’t a spring chicken any more.
I could have gotten cheaper aids, but they would not have had the horsepower to boost my hearing up to normal levels. They would have helped, but nowhere near as much, so I decided to grit my teeth and pay for the ones that will do the job best. They are mode adjustable, in that I can switch between omni-directional and focused-directional. In the second mode, sound waves that originate basically in my line of sight are amplified, while background sound is not. This helps greatly in crowded resteraunts, etc., where I can switch to mode 2 and cut down the background chatter and focus on the folks at my table.
I’d get a second or third opinion on your hearing. I was always told that there was nothing that could be done for my right ear, but the hearing aid technology has improved by orders of magnitude over the years.
I have the Unison 6 aids. They ride behind the ear and have a connecting tube down to a fitted earmold. And they haven’t taken that long to get used to.
Yes. He was quite adamant that a hairdryer is NOT a viable accessory for the aids.
Mine are digital. They have so much electronics crammed into them that he has to connect them to a computer to program them, and the computer sees them as an external device, just like a printer or CD drive. Being a computer weenie, I was amazed by this and spent more time than I should have playing with the computer and the interface.
Thanks. It was 1990 when it happened (has it really been 15 years?!), so you’re probably right about the technology improving. I think I’ll make an appointment. Since it’s just the one ear, I’m not super-concerned since it’s so much a part of me that I’m pretty used to it now. But it does make me nervous when I have an infection in the good ear.