Hearing Aids

Do you use a noiser?

 

You probably already know this, but in the U.S. (I see you are in Portland) Costco has decent hearing aids at a comparatively low price. I'm using Kirkland Signature 9's right now, and while the $1499 they cost for the pair is still out of the reach of many folks, it's dramatically less than top-of-the-line brands like the most expensive Phonak Audeo M's. What you lose for that lower price are a seat of features I won't go into right now, like Tinnitus-treatment/masking sounds, but if someone is "just" looking for a quality hearing aid that probably would be top-shelf a few years ago, Costco is a good option. (You also typically get hearing aid fitters with less training than most full-fledged audiologists, but that's a crapshoot anyway).

 

Thanks, that's really helpful info. As for me, definitely interesting in the T masking and other features so looking at Widex Evoke. I know there's a lot of other options but these are the ones my audiologist is familiar working with.

 

@Tinniger Yes, This model has a masker (noiser) I was able to choose from a list, the sound, tone & frequency. I choose a lower tone pink noise. But I have the option of using blue-tooth & I do listen to natural sounds like rain, waves & birds.

 

@Chriscom I was fortunate in that my health insurance has a hearing aid benefit, so my final cost was not much more than Costco.

 

Wonderful! I'm very blessed with good insurance too. I'm not sure what I'll do going forward, but to be honest I was unnerved by the idea of walking around with super-expensive technology on my head.

The thing is, I've come to agree with something preached by Dr. Cliff (a great resource for hearing aid content on YouTube)--the quality of the audiologist is at least as important as the quality of the hearing aid, really more important after a certain baseline of hearing-aid capability. Sounds like you're in the sweet spot with good tech and a capable audi.

Anyway great to hear of a coping-strategy success story

 

@Chriscom
Me too, I had prior aides that actually cost more $. I wore for almost 5 years and only lost once. In the house under the couch thankfully. That was in the beginning when the inner rubber ear piece got a bit loose & caught in my hair. These hold on even tighter & I assume because they are custom fitted for me.

Most important; so far they really are helping with the T. I’ve had T for 10years & 8 months. It’s only been a few days, but the T has retreated and is almost unnoticeable. The biggest issue I have is when I take them off for the night to go to sleep. I place them in their rechargeable battery/heater home & pray I can fall asleep before the T comes back full strength. I’m mostly successful; but still have to take something to keep it at bay & sleep a good nights sleep. Some things never really change. But so far, I’m getting a better day out of it & that’s priceless.

 

Is it an idea to use some kind of sound therapy (with small speakers) during the night? E.g. pink noise, or a sound from Youtube?

 

@Jan64 Yes, you’re right. I’ve been experimenting, but have obstacles. My husband is a very sensitive sleeper, so can’t have any external noise on. He’s offered to sleep in the spare room, but I get highly anxious without him next to me which makes the T worse. I bought a Bluetooth sleeping mask with speakers, but it doesn’t fit or even work properly. I tried headphones & Cant sleep with them on. I don’t want to wear anything inside my ears because I wear hearing aids all day every day & want my ears to clear themselves of wax. I could use some advise. Thank you.

 

That is *wonderful* to hear that it helps so much during the day. Hopefully in time your brain allows you to fall asleep more easily.

Regarding your sleeping setup, would it be possible for your husband to sleep with earplugs while you play something soothing? I don't know if that raises any health issues on his part.

 

@Chriscom Im chuckling to myself because although he’s the dearest man, supports, helps me & stands by me with this enormous life-sucking condition, he can’t even wear ear muffs in the winter. One thing I most love about him is his sensitive soul; but unfortunately he is sensitive to many physical things as well such as ear plugs & any ear devices. He’s 6’2” & is a bear of a man with the soul of a Teddy Bear. Also it’s interesting since I developed this condition, he’s worried he’ll get it & more or less won’t be able provide for us. I personally think he’s just terrified & I need to continue to improve to be the best I can. Tonight, we agreed for him to sleep in our guest room. Let’s see. I’m the past, I’ve waken up to panic attacks & went running in there. Silly; I know. I’m sure this has ruined many a relationship. It takes a truly good person to stay.

Update: These aides are working for my condition which I believe was caused by a live virus injection. They don’t give this anymore & Merck is being sued big time. The attorneys should make a ton of money. The people who are suffering; probably not so much.

 

Lol on the earmuffs. Everyone is different and people who accept that get along better in this world.

One of the few good things about Tinnitus is that it's not contagious, which obviously he knows, but after a certain point there's no talking people out of their fears. Regardless of all that it's great you have each other, God love and keep you both.

 

Are hearing aids effective? It appears so, but as with most things Tinnitus, it's never very clear.
What we need is a randomized double-blind placebo controlled study in the use of hearing aids.
That is, people should be randomized into two groups, one group should get a functioning hearing aid tuned to compensate for the frequency of hearing loss, and the other should get an apparently functioning hearing aid which actually does nothing.
Neither the person providing the hearing aid nor the patient receiving it should know which one they are getting (However, if the hearing impairment is significant enough, the patient may know; personally when I tried hearing aids, with my level of hearing loss I could not tell the difference). Preferably the study should be conducted by an independent body (i.e. not the manufacturer).

Are there any such studies? I couldn't find any. Maybe because the patient may know if they are getting the placebo,

The closest I found was this:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31295199

This study compares various types of hearing aids, and found excellent results in all of them. But no placebo control.

If anyone is aware of any such study, I would be quite interested!

 

@Chriscom , I know the earMUFFS thing was silly, but I really meant ear warmers. LOL. His job brings him outdoors sometimes at the airports in very high windy areas. I bought him ear warmers to help protect his ears because I’m concerned that he’ll get a head cold, etc. Anyway, he won’t wear them because he can’t stand anything on or in his ears. When I said he’s afraid to get Tinnitus, I think living with me crying, moaning & groaning about it has scared him a bit. Ha!

UPDATE: The T is still staying quietly in the background. These Swiss Aides are doing a great job. Last night my hubby didn’t have to go to the guest room, because when I took the aides off, the T was relatively quiet. I took my pill, went to sleep & had a good nights rest. Coincidence? Not sure. I’ll see tonight.

 

@PeterPan, I can only report my personal experience wearing hearing aids for tinnitus.
I have had hearing loss with tinnitus for years. I wore very expensive tinnitus hearing aides by NuEar for almost 5 years and they didn’t help reduce the tinnitus one bit.

My new ENT informed me that there is now newer much better technology. The ones I wear now cross over the hearing from my “bad ear” (which has distorted and low word recognition hearing loss and severe tinnitus) over to my good ear. All my hearing now comes from my good ear. The bad ear is taken out of the equation. This cross over causes the T from my bad ear to recede in the background. These type of aides are quite expensive and the main reason I tried, was I was given a 60 day trial period. But so far, they are working very well and I’m happy. I’m in the US & went through a referral company called Hearing Aid Solutions. They gave me a $450 discount, checked my insurance (I didn’t even know I had a hearing aid benefit as this policy was new.) and gave me the information of the audiology center that took my insurance. Very easy. I highly recommend them.

 

Hi,

I don’t really understand? So you are favoring one ear? How does the hearing aid cross over?
I am a candidate for hearing aids but am a little scared because I have had hyperacusis, which is stable now, but I am definitely careful and sensitive sounds ordinary people are not.

Have you ever experienced hyperacusis? Lots of questions, sorry.

Daniel

 

@Daniel Lion, I am a Leo, so I appreciate your name. How does this work you ask? I’m not a techie, so cannot give you a scientific answer. But first let me say that it’s been 8 days and I’m tinnitus quiet for the first time in 10 1/2 years. That’s really something! I do say that in my specific situation; it works. I have tinnitus caused by a condition called Cochlear Endolymphatic Hydrops.
So far, wearing these expensive (so very sorry) hearing aids have reduced my tinnitus to a background whisper, removed my ear fullness and eliminated my occasional dizziness. How? Not positive. Google it. Phonak Audeo M hearing aids.

But, if you insist, here’s my totally layperson's explanation:
The bad stuff from my affected ear is nullified and amplified as good stuff to my good ear. In doing so, the bad ear is made quiet (please) and I get to ignore it.

Seriously, I really don’t know the science behind it. But I do know that for me; it’s working.

By the way, I would have paid a ransom to get the results I’ve had so far. It’s been pure bliss. This F....ing tinnitus has been a demon in my life for so long. I know it’s expensive people, but most reputable audiologists will give you a deal to pay it off in 12-18 months AND give you a free 30-60 day free trial period.
Ask for it. Try it. I’ll keep in touch.

 

Would anyone bother with something like this on Amazon? $220 for the pair.

TKING Digital Hearing Amplifier for Adults,Added Tinnitus Masker Function,Superior Noise Reduction & Feedback Cancelling,Aid and Assist Hearing (Tinnitus Masker-Left)

 

Thanks for getting back to me.

I liked your explanation, it made sense.

I am very pleased for you... this is a success story, if the results continue, you may consider posting up your story.

Your information is really helpful and your story really is inspiring.

I wish you continued success, quiet, and happy days.

 

@Quiet please, glad you are doing well with the Phonak Audio M Model.

Do you still wake up to loud noise?

If you do does placing in the Phonak hearing aids quiet you right down?

I have Audicus hearing aids. Maybe Phonak’s M Audio M model are more sophisticated?

I have bad static today.

 

The Widex Evoke and the Phonak are over the ear models... are there any good that are more discreet?

I never have gone this route before, but my “new” old tinnitus is louder than it ever has been in 15 years.

 

@Daniel Lion, Thank you. I do consider it as a potential success story. It’s been 3 weeks & I'm still doing great. I had my first post purchase hearing aids adjustment & they were able to lower the default volume & masker. Yay.

 

@MRItechssuck, As a woman, I can say mine are small, are very discreet & my hair hides them completely. They come in many different shades & can match hair or skin. The pic makes them seem bigger than they are.

 

@just1morething, Yes, I still do wake up to loud tinnitus; BUT it’s softer in pitch, seems farther away and goes away rather quickly as soon as I put both hearing aids in. The default is the cross-over function, so it starts to work quickly. Where it used to take 1-2 hours for it to go down to where I could tolerate it, it now takes about 5-10 minutes.

But please remember, my condition is specific to one ear being affected with the other being rather normal. I have Hydrops in the bad ear with static, fullness, hearing loss and of course tinnitus. This is a perfect storm for this type of hearing aid to work.

 

I suppose they take 312 batteries?

 

@just1morething, these hearing aids come in six models. Three are battery powered, which I believe take #13 & three are rechargeable. I have the rechargeable model myself.

 

Hi @Quiet please,

I've been reading your heartwarming posts. Such great news that you're enjoying this positive outcome with the new hearing aids. We need stories like yours. All the best from the UK!

 

@UKBloke, thank you so much. It’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than before. For 10 1/2 years I couldn’t find relief. My days aren’t pitch black anymore. Very grateful.

 

May I ask you how have you been diagnosed with cochlear hydrops? What tests did you take? Thanks in advance.

 

@Chinmoku, my new ENT works at a teaching hospital in NY. She examined me in a more extensive manner and ordered a nuclear MRI with & without contrast, a 2 hr series of balance tests (failed 2 of 5) & audiogram. I went to physical therapy for 6 weeks for the balance issues.

After my diagnosis, I of course extensively researched Cochlear Endolymphatic Hydrops & definitely hit all the marks.