Hearing Aids

USER=20975]@Juan[/USER], I can only speak of my own personal experience. I was having a bit of static & ear fullness for several days before waking up to SSHL (sudden sensorial hearing loss). I immediately called my ENT who said to come in that day. I had an audiogram which showed a 90% hearing loss. He said the only way in his opinion to partially or fully restore hearing would be to inject a steroid cocktail directly in my eardrum every day for 3 days in a row. He gave me the option of oral steroids, but said they rarely work well. After the shots I took another audiogram in about a month & found I had regained 60%.

 

Wow... that must be really scary! And on the other hand you reacted really fast going to the doctor to attenuate the hearing loss and recover a good part of it.

I sometimes feel I hear a lot less just out of the blue, and that's why I asked, but it is not like losing so much hearing suddenly, so it must be a different thing, due to hyperacusis, tinnitus and sound exposure.

 

Fingers crossed for you

 

Your ENT was in a class all their own. Props to them. Can you tell me the name/location of this ENT? I want a doctor comfortable with doing IT injections in the holster in case FX-322/Pipe-505 come through in the next 18 months.

 

Sorry about offtopic but it seems over optimistic. Doesn't it? Most users talk about years instead of months.

Of course I hope you are right.

 

@Juan, yes; it was very scary! I also do feel it’s all connected. My “official” diagnosis is Cochlear Endolymphatic Hydrops. To put it in my own layman's terms; my auditory complex system is very messed up. It’s been going on for 11 years come this May. I’m just happy to have some relief with these new aides. Fingers crossed it continues.

 

@mrbrightside614, funny you should ask the name of the ENT. The morning it happened, I called my regular ENT (who frankly wasn’t helping one bit with my tinnitus or my worries & I was losing confidence in him with his... “just learn to live with it” speeches! So when his nurse said he was on vacation & he had a covering doctor who was a 50 minute drive from my home, I started to get hysterical. (Mostly from the shock of the SSHL I think).

In hindsight it was the best thing. His name is Timothy Siglock, ENT of the CareMount Medical Group in Jefferson Valley, NY and boy, was a godsend. Not positive my regular ENT could/would have done as well. Glad I didn’t have to find out.

 

My fitting is on Tuesday. I know it won't do anything right off the bat. What I am hoping for is having sounds that can provide relief. I can do so with sound out of my phone at times.

 

When regenerative therapy comes out, I definitely want to go to a Meniere's specialist for the IT injection. They do it so often, it's routine for them.

 

I got fitted with Oticon. Audiologist took her time, programmed some sounds that are not too harsh. I can lower the volume very well. Today was a good day so my tinnitus only measured at 25 dB. I also have the Bluetooth adapter so I can play sounds from apps.

 

Rough start. No sleep in 2 nights. I will carry on and see how it goes.

 

@Quiet please you are right about how Bluetooth and soothing music, nature sounds, can calm the tinnitus. Amazing!

 

@bobvann,

Happy you’re feeling some relief! It can help so much. Did you get the Bi-Cross type of hearing aid?

 

Not sure, the brand is Oticon. Tinnitus is back up today. Yesterday was a good day. It was at lower levels like I had yet to experience. I actually had woken to silence. The background sounds definitely help with rough patches. It's only been a few days. I agree that being able to use Bluetooth to play a wide assortment of sounds is very helpful.

 

@bobvann, I was informed it depends on the type of hearing loss one has to decide which type of hearing aids might help. In my case, the Bi-Cross feature (used in several brands, but I have the Phonak) is key for one-sided hearing loss. If the tinnitus is perceived in the “bad” ear, this Bi-Cross feature makes all the difference. But yes, the music & sound app is an important part of the overall teamwork approach.

 

That's different. I just have a few sensorineural notch drops at 2 kHz and 3 kHz. The audiologist created a white noise notched program. I do find I need to change to nature type sounds to get better relief at times. It is not yet dropping my levels overall but it is early. The reaction yesterday was phenomenal and hope is a sign of things to come.

 

Unfortunately mine will not pan out. I went to a loud restaurant after wearing my hearing aids on Saturday, and got a reaction that made me throw up. By mid-day today my tinnitus was off the charts. There is a warning in the manual to stop using them if they cause an adverse reaction. Oh well. I definitely have ruled out sound therapy as an option.

 

@bobvann, I used to have similar reactions in loud environments with my prior tinnitus hearing aids. I couldn’t go to movies, loud restaurants, music venues, large parties, etc. But now that I’m using the bi-cross hearing aids, it’s way better. I need to turn the volume down a bit, but that’s all.

Hope you can still use your current hearing aids in quieter environments with the music & nature sounds features. That’s some relief anyway I’d imagine.

 

The problem seems to be with prolonged use. I am stopping as per manufacturer's recommendation. I will discuss possible options at my appointment next week. I will bring up bi cross option since I can trial. Thx for that tip I had forgotten. They are most likely more expensive but my wife is also getting a plan at work too, therefore with mine combined I can get a grand knocked off.

 

@bobvann, I used a referral service called Hearing Aid Solutions. They discounted my hearing aids off the top, checked my benefits and hooked me up with the audiologist who took my insurance. Great service!

Phone: 1-866-344-7756. All the best!

 

I'm in Canada. I deal with Hearing Life right now. I am pretty sure I have to deal with someone local to be covered. They also discount them.

 

Does your private insurance cover part of the cost of hearing aids in Canada?

That's not so common. It must be really good health insurance.

 

I would get up to a grand between 2 plans. I have resumed trying them. Still the same... I did send an email in regards to possibly trialing Bi-Cross ones. I will discuss at my appointment next week.

I have to admit their programming custom "white noise" vs. what is on an app does feel a bit snake oily. I will ask what the difference is supposed to be? They are nice enough, I am sure I will get closest to an honest answer.

 

@Juan, my Phonak Bi-Cross hearing aids came with built in multiple colored noises & also can play music or nature sounds through apps. Many options to choose from. Depends on my tinnitus & mood that day for which one I choose.

 

I have all those options with my Oticon as well. The only thing is I have a compact dongle add-on to Bluetooth through Android but it is also a remote which is very useful. I hang it around my neck.

 

I just got a reply from my audiologist posted below.

BiCross is a technology that we use for people with un-aidable hearing loss, which means the hearing aid microphones are deactivated on the side with complete deafness. So this is essentially the same as your "Hearing aid mic off + masker on" program, meaning BiCross is not an option for you.

 

@bobvann, glad you finally heard back from your audiologist.

I’ve been using this technology for several months now & know exactly how it works. My left ear has a definite greater hearing loss than my right ear. I unfortunately experienced SSHL in my left ear, but through a series of steroid shots, regained 60%. I am certainly not deaf in that ear. After careful and complex examinations by my highly qualified audiologist team in New York, along with my Board Certified ENT, I qualified for and am benefiting from using the bi-cross system.

I want others to know that one does NOT have to be completely deaf in their “bad” ear for the bi-cross technology to work. I’m proof of this.

 

Cool but obviously the one I am working with for the time being does not think so. I do not think she is wrong since my hearing loss is moderate and not even considered as such by certain clinicians. Different situations.

 

I had to stop using hearing aids. They were being more detrimental. The instruction manual instructed to do this if one experienced adverse effects.

 

In general... what happens to a hearing aid wearer if there is a loud noise? Do hearing aids block out the noise like an earplug, or will they simply amplify to a cut-off point allowing any ambient noise unabated?