Hearing aids are useless

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Ilovetocrochet

Guest
I wear two hearing aids for Severe Sensorineural Hearing Loss (Siemens Reflex DP) and I really cannot hear at all with them in. I cannot follow a conversation if there are background noises, such as the TV or radio and when I am at work - buzzers go off and emergency ones which is very important, I missed so many of them and have been brought up by my manager because of it. I have not told her I am hard of hearing so it is my fault, and I have told her I am getting my hearing tested but I have been HoH for 11 years, and even before that (because I was diagnosed at 10 years of age). Hearing aids are not helping with amplification of sounds and conversations are so hard to follow, I feel depressed with wearing them than I do without, and my audiologist is not very helpful either :( Is this normal for others - how 'good' is your hearing with hearing aids?
 
I have severe to profound hearing loss & I wear Phonak Naidas. I also have a great audiologist, which is as important as the hearing aids. My hearing isn't perfect, of course, but it's pretty good. I'm lucky that I have really good speech discrimination scores, so that helps.
Maybe you need to try a different HA. Are you still in the trial period with the ones you have? And maybe consider changing audiologist if you don't feel yours is doing his/her best to help you (and not his/her wallet).


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LoveBlue said:
I have severe to profound hearing loss & I wear Phonak Naidas. I also have a great audiologist, which is as important as the hearing aids. My hearing isn't perfect, of course, but it's pretty good. I'm lucky that I have really good speech discrimination scores, so that helps.
Maybe you need to try a different HA. Are you still in the trial period with the ones you have? And maybe consider changing audiologist if you don't feel yours is doing his/her best to help you (and not his/her wallet).


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Hi there. I am from the UK and currently using NHS hearing aids which are free, and I am so grateful for that but they are nowhere near as good as private hearing aids. I went to a private hearing aid dispenser and I tried the Phonak hearing aids - my goodness they was absolutely fantastic! But at £3,000, it's not the sort of money I have got :( I just need to go to my audiologist again and try and get something done about it. They only provide Siemens brand hearing aids.
 
Butterfly92xo said:
Hi there. I am from the UK and currently using NHS hearing aids which are free, and I am so grateful for that but they are nowhere near as good as private hearing aids. I went to a private hearing aid dispenser and I tried the Phonak hearing aids - my goodness they was absolutely fantastic! But at £3,000, it's not the sort of money I have got :( I just need to go to my audiologist again and try and get something done about it. They only provide Siemens brand hearing aids.
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I'm in the UK and is friends with someone else who wore Siemens Reflex DP and transferred to another hospital to get Phonak Nathos SP which is the NHS name for Phonak Nadia SP.

She does a blog so I'll find the links and maybe you can ask her about how to transfer and what she likes about the Phonaks compared to the Siemens etc.

(I also know someone else who wore Siemens Reflex DSP and has now got the Phonak Naida Q70 UP and she's now realised how rubbish her Simenes were)
 
Butterfly92xo said:
Hi there. I am from the UK and currently using NHS hearing aids which are free, and I am so grateful for that but they are nowhere near as good as private hearing aids. I went to a private hearing aid dispenser and I tried the Phonak hearing aids - my goodness they was absolutely fantastic! But at £3,000, it's not the sort of money I have got :( I just need to go to my audiologist again and try and get something done about it. They only provide Siemens brand hearing aids.
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Liz's deaf blog: My Phonak Nathos SP W

Liz's deaf blog: Being fitted and Hearing Experiences - Day 1

Liz's deaf blog: My Siemens Impact DP

Liz's deaf blog: My story I shared with The Ear Foundation to say how they have helped me

The last link is, who recommended (Ear Foundation) that the Phonak Nathos SP would be a better hearing aid for her.

It may take a while to find a hospital who provides Phonak hearing aids but when you do, the travelling is worth it. She has to travel for over an hour to go to Ropewalk but she says its worth it.

http://www.phonaknhs.co.uk/products/nathos/
 
I am currently wearing a pair of Naida Q50 UPs and I hate them. If I wanted for everyone to sound like a robot, I would watch a science fiction movie.
 
WHAT!?!?!? said:
I am currently wearing a pair of Naida Q50 UPs and I hate them. If I wanted for everyone to sound like a robot, I would watch a science fiction movie.
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My Phonak Naida S IX UPs don't sound robot. They sound great! After reading older threads, people say Sound Recover makes them sound more robot altho I never thought my Naidas sounded robot ever!
 
Butterfly92xo said:
I wear two hearing aids for Severe Sensorineural Hearing Loss (Siemens Reflex DP) and I really cannot hear at all with them in. I cannot follow a conversation if there are background noises, such as the TV or radio and when I am at work - buzzers go off and emergency ones which is very important, I missed so many of them and have been brought up by my manager because of it. I have not told her I am hard of hearing so it is my fault, and I have told her I am getting my hearing tested but I have been HoH for 11 years, and even before that (because I was diagnosed at 10 years of age). Hearing aids are not helping with amplification of sounds and conversations are so hard to follow, I feel depressed with wearing them than I do without, and my audiologist is not very helpful either :( Is this normal for others - how 'good' is your hearing with hearing aids?
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I felt the same when I bought my Starkey digitals but they were entry level and couldn't adapt for the severe/profound loss that I have. Switching to a high end Widex model made the difference for me. I'd recommend trying a different audi with more experience in several brands to guide you better. Hearing aids aren't a one size fits all deal and a different brand may make a world of difference in what you're hearing.

Laura
 
It's obvious that the Siemens HA's or the audi you are seeing aren't working for you and you need to go to another hospital as Naida suggested and try something and someone else.
 
Lau2046 said:
Hearing aids aren't a one size fits all deal and a different brand may make a world of difference in what you're hearing.
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I'm inclined to agree after reading over the years the various threads about different brands of HAs. I look forward to trying something new when I'm ready to buy again, probably in the next year or so.
 
Your hearing gets to the point where HA's just don't work any more or don't work well. I tried several brands before I moved to cochlear implants and they all ended up being about the same...some had more bells and whistles that helped in certain situations but for the most part, they just could not provide enough power to get the job done. Since you can't pick your brand, either save up some money to buy some privately or consider cochlear implants. I would get tested for those soon if you are thinking along that line though..from all accounts, it's a year or more in the UK to get scheduled for an implant--and you can only get one so you will want to figure out which ear, etc.
 
Siemens Reflex are old technology. I had my Reflex DSPs from the NHS in 2008 and because my local hospital supply only Siemens and were unwilling to update them, I took the difficult decision earlier this year to go private and get Phonak Naida Q70 UPs, best money I ever spent! Certainly worth it if you can possibly afford it, and they definitely don't sound robotic!

Also, your employer needs to know about your hearing loss. They may be able to supply you with an fm system or other assistive listening equipment, through Access to Work, which will help you to hear hugely better in background noise.
 
HOH-ME said:
Your hearing gets to the point where HA's just don't work any more or don't work well. I tried several brands before I moved to cochlear implants and they all ended up being about the same...some had more bells and whistles that helped in certain situations but for the most part, they just could not provide enough power to get the job done. Since you can't pick your brand, either save up some money to buy some privately or consider cochlear implants. I would get tested for those soon if you are thinking along that line though..from all accounts, it's a year or more in the UK to get scheduled for an implant--and you can only get one so you will want to figure out which ear, etc.
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I can't agree enough.
I thought I did really well with ultra power hearing aids despite profound deafness. I mean, I finished college, had a job, went through most of graduate school.
But I was not actually hearing.
Last December I said, "to hell with this", got tested for a CI, found out that I had been a candidate for almost a decade (but no audiologist ever told me even when I asked). The surgeon's office submitted paperwork to my insurance company which surprisingly covered 100% of the surgery.

Now, it has been 5 months since I was activated and I haven't used a hearing aid in my unimplanted ear because it sounds like shit compared to my cochlear implant.

Once you are past a certain point of hearing loss (severe to profound), hearing aids just make sound loud and distorted. With the cochlear implant sounds are comfortable and clear (not robotic or strange sounding at all).
I tried my hearing aid in my left (unimplanted) ear last week to see if it would help out at all and the answer was NO! It was so ****ing loud and distorted that it made it hard to pay attention to the clear signal from the CI.
 
Oh this it totally my problem, too!

I've been using many kinds of hearing aids, none of them helped me, all are the same.

I'm somewhat adapted, I read lips, had some little speech therapy in early childhood? so I can speak.
My hearing aids don't help me at all, yes, they let me hear some background noises,which are also important for me, but I can't follow conversations which always makes me depressed.

Have no idea, how to resolve this problem...
 
I got my new Naida Q50 UPs a month ago and I love them. I myself have severe/profound Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

A few good suggestions are made here already. Try for a better hearing aids. I have tested Siemens and I hated them, they were never clear and they were never strong enough for me. I have used Phonak because they sound so clear for me.

WHAT!?!?!? said:
I am currently wearing a pair of Naida Q50 UPs and I hate them. If I wanted for everyone to sound like a robot, I would watch a science fiction movie.
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Sounds like your Audiologist needs to adjust them. When I first put on my Naida Q50 UPs they did sound robotic and echoing at first, then she cleared it up by adjusting a few settings with my hearing aids connected to her computer. After an hour of tweaking, she and I were able to get it very clear for me, without any issues.

Ri Sol,
Where is your hearing range at? I know Phonak offers different hearing aids for different ranges. I have UP which means Ultra Power, the strongest ones they got. Since my hearing lost Severe/Profound, they work extremely well for me. You might have a weaker hearing aids that's not strong enough to give you the maximum hearing it can offer.
 
RisinDragon, I think you are right and I probably need stronger hearing aids.
But currently can't afford to buy new...I put all my savings to the Oticon Agile couple years ago.
I have Medi-Cal/Medicare insurance since November 2013, and don't know if I'm eligible for new hearing aids? If yes, how to find a audiologist, that is in Medi-Cal/Medicare network? I google and googled about it a lot, but still don't understand the whole process, which doctor I should visit first.
I know, that MediCal covers only up to $1500 for both hearing aids or for one in one fiscal year.
 
I have medicaid/medicare and my audiologist was able to get both of my hearing aids for $738. My insurance covered the whole thing.

Sorry to hear that you spent so much on those Oticon.

My medicaid gave me a hard time for getting new hearing aids. I've tried 3 years ago when they were 5 years old. Eventually it took Phonak to tell medicaid that they no longer make them and refuse to fix my hearing aids. They finally were able to get me new hearing aids this year, and my old ones were 8 years old.

Best advice I can ever give, test the hearing aids for a trial period. Make sure they would work for you. Also try different types and see which one offers more clarity and power to give you what you need. If the audiologist you are going to don't have other types of hearing aids. Find one that does. A good audiologist knows every hearing aid is different and every person is different. What might work for one person, will not work for another.
 
Ri Sol said:
Oh this it totally my problem, too!

I've been using many kinds of hearing aids, none of them helped me, all are the same.

I'm somewhat adapted, I read lips, had some little speech therapy in early childhood? so I can speak.
My hearing aids don't help me at all, yes, they let me hear some background noises,which are also important for me, but I can't follow conversations which always makes me depressed.

Have no idea, how to resolve this problem...
Click to expand...

Look into Cochlear Implants....
 
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