Hearing Aid questions

SkullChick

SkullChick

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my fiance jason last time he had hearing tested it was back in may 2007 it was on fmoderate range (50's) and its flat loss and he told me that his hearing is getting worse in hoh ear and his hearing ear (it was on 20-25 in may) is getting worse which it never progressed before is starting recently so we're researching about hearing aid for hoh ear. Do you have any good and affordable hearing aid (less than 1,600) with fitting range for moderate to severe hearing loss?
or know any organization other than lion's club, starkeley foundation and VR for assistance?

I noticed the signs like tv's louder, having to yell his name to get attention instead of 1 1/2 years ago I only needed to use normal voice, etc so I mentioned it to him while ago he sort of brush it off and last weekend he realized hes frustrated and isnt hearing that much anymore and start letting people know hes hoh and need speak to his left ear or speak louder its good because its helpful but I dont like see him feeling frustrated or struggle to understand people in noisy evironment and not hearing people calling for his attention or stranger randomly strike up a convo he didnt know until I told him to look someone's talking to you and jason told me he know I hear more than he does now (my ci is in 15-30 db zone) its weird!
Thank you in advance!
 
My una is for a mild-moderate loss the Una and it was b/w 1400-1600 or so (canadian dollars)
 
SkullChick said:
my fiance jason last time he had hearing tested it was back in may 2007 it was on fmoderate range (50's) and its flat loss and he told me that his hearing is getting worse in hoh ear and his hearing ear (it was on 20-25 in may) is getting worse which it never progressed before is starting recently so we're researching about hearing aid for hoh ear. Do you have any good and affordable hearing aid (less than 1,600) with fitting range for moderate to severe hearing loss?
or know any organization other than lion's club, starkeley foundation and VR for assistance?

I noticed the signs like tv's louder, having to yell his name to get attention instead of 1 1/2 years ago I only needed to use normal voice, etc so I mentioned it to him while ago he sort of brush it off and last weekend he realized hes frustrated and isnt hearing that much anymore and start letting people know hes hoh and need speak to his left ear or speak louder its good because its helpful but I dont like see him feeling frustrated or struggle to understand people in noisy evironment and not hearing people calling for his attention or stranger randomly strike up a convo he didnt know until I told him to look someone's talking to you and jason told me he know I hear more than he does now (my ci is in 15-30 db zone) its weird!
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

Mention to him to have his audiologist show him various hearing aids and state the dollar amount he can afford to pay for them. If he has insurance, check and see if they're covered. If he doesn't, does he qualify for MA? If so, check and see if he can get ha's through MA. Can he qualify for Rehab Services (Vocational Rehab)? They paid for my hearing aids.
 
He took hearing test today and it dropped a lot so his audiogram result is below

Right Ear
Hz Db
250 75
500 70
1000 80
2000 70
4000 90
8000 100


So its in severe-profound zone now
 
faire_jour said:
Yikes, that's almost CI range now!
Click to expand...

Some CI centers will implant those who have severe-profound hearing loss. Of course, CI candidacy would also be dependent upon speech discrimmination scores/percentages (40% or below), CT scan, etc.
 
Good luck, I would try the Vocational Rehab route. Has he ever worn a hearing aid before?
 
Maybe go and see a really good audi (eg hospital based or deaf school based) and see what they say?
 
I know (about almost in CI zone)
I'm wondering if you know anyone got CI in deaf ear even if other ear have mild loss? Hmmmm.... they should if they don't.

Jason never tried ha before so he's trialing one right now with unitron moda or moxi? Don't remember which one for severe to profound loss he said its sound ok but it sound echoey sometime and he keep hearing soft beep after each sound and its slightly delayed and the telecoil is weak it can't pick up his cell phone signal (automatic programs, no switch or manual volume control) he doesn't like the automatic option he want manual switch for programs and volume and he keep saying its soooo weird and he can't believe that his hearing's in severe profound zone now and he tried taking ha off and say wow it went silent no sound, damn so I really am deaf in that ear. Its interesting seeing his reaction. And he say it feel loud and he got headache on first day with ha let see how he does on 2nd day and day after that and so on.
Its 2,880 so he's skeptical about getting this because he can't afford it the office only accept 12 month plan so its 250 a month (no way) and maybe give it back and shop around for cheaper good digital power bte with manual switch and feedback cancellation and fast processing (less delayed sound) he got copy of his audiogram so if he can show it when meeting with different audiologist or talk to VR counselor and see if he qualify or not, but he's worried if he visit different one they'd charge him just to talk to them like 250 to sign in system, 500 for the meeting with audio, etc cuz he can't afford it and his insurance don't cover any of audiology service only hearing aid up to 1,000 and if it cost more than 1,000 he pay out of pocket and like 90% ha out here cost more than 1,500.
We will see what happen in 2 weeks....
 
Skullchick,
If his insurance covers an ha up to 1000 they will likely deduct that from the price if its OVER 1000 for ex. 2880-2000= Jason pays 1880 out of pocket which would mean he is only paying $156.67 which is much more manageable than 250 a month. That's how your insurance SHOULD work. Mine is like that they will pay up to 500 for a set of ha's mine were 1200 or something like that so my insurance only paid 3 something since i only needed one (jerks) lol and i paid the rest.
If he doesn't like the aid just ask the audi to try something else, it's his preferance you shouldn't have to switch audi's again. My telecoil kinda sucks too..has he tried turning up the volume on the ha while in tcoil mode..that might help.

As for a CI for for the bad ear while the right ear is ok, i am in the same boat. I have a moderate progressive loss in my right and a mild loss in my left. There is a study right now going on (it' spose to take 5 years or so) on people who get implanted when only one side has hearing $3 million project will study one-sided hearing and cochlear implants

Hopefully they will start to implant those with single sided deafness. I don't see why not. They push people to wear to ha's usually because you have to be balanced. So, I do not see why someone who is deaf on one side couldn't get a CI.
 
SkullChick said:
I know (about almost in CI zone)
I'm wondering if you know anyone got CI in deaf ear even if other ear have mild loss? Hmmmm.... they should if they don't.

There's a specific reason (which I can no longer remember) why CI surgeons won't implant those with SSD (single-sided deafness). I once read an article on the Internet in a medical journal which explained these reasons. If I can find the article, I will post it here.

Jason never tried ha before so he's trialing one right now with unitron moda or moxi? Don't remember which one for severe to profound loss he said its sound ok but it sound echoey sometime and he keep hearing soft beep after each sound and its slightly delayed and the telecoil is weak it can't pick up his cell phone signal (automatic programs, no switch or manual volume control) he doesn't like the automatic option he want manual switch for programs and volume and he keep saying its soooo weird and he can't believe that his hearing's in severe profound zone now and he tried taking ha off and say wow it went silent no sound, damn so I really am deaf in that ear. Its interesting seeing his reaction. And he say it feel loud and he got headache on first day with ha let see how he does on 2nd day and day after that and so on.

The next time Jason visits the audi, he will want to ask him/her to adjust the strength of the T-coil. Some hearing aid brands have better T-coils than others, so if he plans on using the T-coil, that might be something he wants to consider. Also, if he doesn't like the fact that his aids have automatic control instead of a manual control, he might wish to switch to a different hearing aid brand. Finally, it's normal to get headaches after wearing hearing aids for the first time. When I started wearing aids, I used to get headaches too. However, the longer I wore my aids, the less headaches were a problem for me. Jason might want to begin wearing his aids gradually from one day to the next so that it becomes easier to make the adjustment between no amplification and amplification. Eventually he will reach the point where he can wear his aids for 16-18 hours/day.

Its 2,880 so he's skeptical about getting this because he can't afford it the office only accept 12 month plan so its 250 a month (no way) and maybe give it back and shop around for cheaper good digital power bte with manual switch and feedback cancellation and fast processing (less delayed sound) he got copy of his audiogram so if he can show it when meeting with different audiologist or talk to VR counselor and see if he qualify or not, but he's worried if he visit different one they'd charge him just to talk to them like 250 to sign in system, 500 for the meeting with audio, etc cuz he can't afford it and his insurance don't cover any of audiology service only hearing aid up to 1,000 and if it cost more than 1,000 he pay out of pocket and like 90% ha out here cost more than 1,500.
We will see what happen in 2 weeks....

Does Jason have Medicaid? In some states, Medicaid pays for hearing aids. Contacting VR is another good idea.
Click to expand...
i
 
SkullChick said:
I know (about almost in CI zone)
I'm wondering if you know anyone got CI in deaf ear even if other ear have mild loss? Hmmmm.... they should if they don't.

Jason never tried ha before so he's trialing one right now with unitron moda or moxi? Don't remember which one for severe to profound loss he said its sound ok but it sound echoey sometime and he keep hearing soft beep after each sound and its slightly delayed and the telecoil is weak it can't pick up his cell phone signal (automatic programs, no switch or manual volume control) he doesn't like the automatic option he want manual switch for programs and volume and he keep saying its soooo weird and he can't believe that his hearing's in severe profound zone now and he tried taking ha off and say wow it went silent no sound, damn so I really am deaf in that ear. Its interesting seeing his reaction. And he say it feel loud and he got headache on first day with ha let see how he does on 2nd day and day after that and so on.
Its 2,880 so he's skeptical about getting this because he can't afford it the office only accept 12 month plan so its 250 a month (no way) and maybe give it back and shop around for cheaper good digital power bte with manual switch and feedback cancellation and fast processing (less delayed sound) he got copy of his audiogram so if he can show it when meeting with different audiologist or talk to VR counselor and see if he qualify or not, but he's worried if he visit different one they'd charge him just to talk to them like 250 to sign in system, 500 for the meeting with audio, etc cuz he can't afford it and his insurance don't cover any of audiology service only hearing aid up to 1,000 and if it cost more than 1,000 he pay out of pocket and like 90% ha out here cost more than 1,500.
We will see what happen in 2 weeks....
Click to expand...


There are cheaper aids out there than what he has. Most audiologists won't charge him more than $80 to sit down for an hour and talk about his options (I don't charge anything). He needs to bring a copy of his audiogram though. If all else fails and he can't find something to suit his needs (price wise) and he truly is struggling and wants to do something, send me a message and I might be able to pull some strings with some of the manufacturing reps I know.
 
I am wondering why the huge drop in hearing? I would first check that out first before getting aids. I remember when I had a huge drop in my hearing, the audie wanted testing to make sure it was hearing and not something else.

As for aids, I think it is the most difficult adjustment as an adult to make. I found hearing aids painful to wear. They were easier when I had a lower degree of loss. Once I went to severe the high frequencies hurt so bad. I can imagine what Jason is going through. I hope HA work out fantastic for him.
 
Update!

He is trying out manual one right now and the price is 880 cheaper and he like it a lot better and said it sound natural now and telecoil's better too just need to turn phone volume up cuz its quiet. And he's adjusting to ha better less headache and only thing bother him is if he wear it for so long in the day in noisy evironment his ear drum feel little sore. I told him "do what I do, take it off if it bother you" lol he don't like not wearing it now lol.
 
SkullChick,

I'm glad your fiancee is adjusting well to his hearing aids. :) It's a good sign that he wants to keep them on and shows that he is receiving benefit from them.

Experiencing exhaustion when in noisy environments is common. When I wore hearing aids, that used to happen to me as well.

Again, I'm happy he's doing so well with his aids.
 
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