Adjusting to bilateral hearing

[highlands]

Well,I have severe/profound hearing loss in my both ears. In the past I had worn anolog hearing aids only for my right ear nearly for 17.5 years. My left ear remained unaided such a long time (17.5 years) ... Four months ago,I got my new digital aids.. I was so glad since I was able to hear bilateraly and my audiologist programmed my new hearing aids..

The problem is that I still cannot completely get accustomed to bilateral hearing.. I think my brain needs a long time !! According to my audiogram , my left ear hears a little better than my right ear but since I only used my right ear such long time I can understand speech better with my right ear, my left ear is still worse for speech perception.

I have a question to those who switched to bilateral from 'singe side' hearing.

How long did it take you to adjust to bilateral hearing ? Any experience or suggestions ?

 

[Hear Again]

Highlands,

I've always had bilateral hearing, so getting used to hearing out of two ears wasn't difficult.

However, when I received my second CI a year after I received my first, it did take some getting used to. In the beginning, I found that my second CI sounded weaker than my first CI. I also couldn't understand speech as well with my second CI as well as I could with my first.

In my experience, it took approximately 6 months before both CIs started to blend with each other and I could finally get a true sense of bilateral hearing.

Since you've had unilateral hearing for 17.5 years, it will undoubtedly take you some time to adjust. I don't have any suggestions except that you practice listening to the TV or radio so your brain can get used to the way bilateral hearing sounds and integrate/make sense of the signals it hears.

 

[highlands]

Thanks. I may think of listening to radio . Good advice

 

[sr171soars]

...
Since you've had unilateral hearing for 17.5 years, it will undoubtedly take you some time to adjust. ...

Ha! I knew there was a good reason for me to forget bothering with bilateral CIs.

I've unilateral hearing for 49 years and counting. It would take me the rest of my life to get "used" to it.

 

[Hear Again]

Ha! I knew there was a good reason for me to forget bothering with bilateral CIs.

I've unilateral hearing for 49 years and counting. It would take me the rest of my life to get "used" to it.

If I were in your shoes sr171soars, I'd feel the same way about bilaterals.

 

[SteveESP52]

Similar situation

Next Monday, I'm having my CI turned on in my Left ear which has not heard for 15 years. Periodically, I'd hear something from my Left over the years but nothing that would provide any benefit. My Right ear was good up until 6-8 months ago where I quickly lost most of the remaining hearing and it still continues to slip today. I still struggle with a HA but can get by most of the time.

I've been told by both the Dr. and Audiologist that once the CI is turned on, I need to turn off my HA to make my brain gets use to the signals from the Left Ear and CI so I can adapt as quickly as possible. This may be something you need to do to help speed the process along. By no means am I a Dr. but it makes sense. If you break your arm, once it is healed and out of the cast, you need to use it a lot to build the strength back up so it can help you as much as it can. My take is because the brain will do what is easiest, using the better ear will be favored so you may need to give your weaker ear more work like I'm going to do by turning off my HA.

I guess, we will see how it goes and I might change my mind. Most importantly, I'm looking for things I can actively do to help stimulate my ear so I can get as much improvement as feasably possible even if it requires me to take a temporary step back.

Steve

 

[R2D2]

Ha! I knew there was a good reason for me to forget bothering with bilateral CIs.

I've unilateral hearing for 49 years and counting. It would take me the rest of my life to get "used" to it.

Yes I can see where you come from in your situation. However many of us are used to having two aided ears and just relying on one ear just makes us feel unbalanced and incomplete somehow.

As for me I am currently trialling hearing aids for my unimplanted ear and then if no luck there then I will probably go bilateral CI later this year. My CI ear dominates the unimplanted ear greatly now and to date hearing aids seem weak in comparison.

 

[R2D2]

Next Monday, I'm having my CI turned on in my Left ear which has not heard for 15 years. Periodically, I'd hear something from my Left over the years but nothing that would provide any benefit. My Right ear was good up until 6-8 months ago where I quickly lost most of the remaining hearing and it still continues to slip today. I still struggle with a HA but can get by most of the time.
Steve

It's interesting that it was decided to implant your worst ear. Is that because they are being conservative?

And it seems to be so common for hearing aid wearers to suddenly have hearing losses at some point. That happened to me as well and lead to me getting a CI. Before it happened I never knew that my risks for this was greater than normal.

Best wishes for your switch on and please let us know how it goes.

 

[Hear Again]

I'm also someone who had their worse ear implanted. Even though the hearing loss in both ears was pretty much the same, I elected to have my worse ear implanted so that I could continue wearing a HA in the other ear. As it turned out, 6 months following the activation of my first CI, tests demonstrated that the HA was no longer providing any benefit and was negatively interferring with my speech discrimination. When I was tested using CI/HA, my speech discrimination percentages were lower than when I was tested with my CI alone.

R2D2: Good point about those of us who have become used to bilateral hearing. When the HA in my nonimplanted ear no longer provided any benefit, I felt like I was at a serious disadvantage because my ability to hear in noise dropped considerably and my sound localization was non-existent. For someone who is totally blind, both of these skills are important -- especially the latter when it comes to personal safety and being able to cross streets safely.

Steve: Good luck next Monday!!

 

[sr171soars]

Yes I can see where you come from in your situation. However many of us are used to having two aided ears and just relying on one ear just makes us feel unbalanced and incomplete somehow.

...

Your point is well taken. I'm cool with people like you and others who have experienced two ears and feel somewhat "lost" with only one ear and want to be bilateral. More power to you people. I can only imagine that it would probably drive me crazy as well only having one ear to hear if I used to hear with two.

Since I never had the other ear (my left), it has become a way of life and I know all the tricks in the book on compensating for the lack of the other ear. What one never had, one can't say they "miss" it. I really have no idea how I handle being bilateral if I went that route. One of the reasons I have no interest in attempting it is that my current CI easily provides me everything I could have ever dreamed of hearing wise.

I'm very interested in that new "laser" techology that they are now exploring as a potential way to stimulate hearing. I may seriously consider that option in the future for my other ear (nothing to lose...).

 

[SteveAUD]

Well,I have severe/profound hearing loss in my both ears. In the past I had worn anolog hearing aids only for my right ear nearly for 17.5 years. My left ear remained unaided such a long time (17.5 years) ... Four months ago,I got my new digital aids.. I was so glad since I was able to hear bilateraly and my audiologist programmed my new hearing aids..

The problem is that I still cannot completely get accustomed to bilateral hearing.. I think my brain needs a long time !! According to my audiogram , my left ear hears a little better than my right ear but since I only used my right ear such long time I can understand speech better with my right ear, my left ear is still worse for speech perception.

I have a question to those who switched to bilateral from 'singe side' hearing.

How long did it take you to adjust to bilateral hearing ? Any experience or suggestions ?

It can take 2 weeks, 2 months, some never do. Unfortunatly your 4mos along and well out of your trial period, so there is no chance to return the left aid for credit. I would try your best to wear the two and do everything you can possible do. Put yourself in as many "difficult" situations as you can (Movies, going out to eat, church, ect). At that time if your still on the fence, then it's time to compare. Take the left aid out and go do all the same things you did with two. If you truely feel you hear just as well with one as you did with two, then you may just go with the right aid and keep the left as a backup.

What is your hearing like in both ears along with your word recognition for both? There are some instances were the poorer ear starts to interfer with the better ear.

 

[highlands]

It can take 2 weeks, 2 months, some never do. Unfortunatly your 4mos along and well out of your trial period, so there is no chance to return the left aid for credit. I would try your best to wear the two and do everything you can possible do. Put yourself in as many "difficult" situations as you can (Movies, going out to eat, church, ect). At that time if your still on the fence, then it's time to compare. Take the left aid out and go do all the same things you did with two. If you truely feel you hear just as well with one as you did with two, then you may just go with the right aid and keep the left as a backup.

What is your hearing like in both ears along with your word recognition for both? There are some instances were the poorer ear starts to interfer with the better ear.

Thanks for the advice. My right ear is at 92 db with a speech recognition nearly thirty or forty percent (my guess) and my left(unaided for years) ear is at 88 dbl with a speech recognition around twenty or less percent.. I'm not sure about my real recognition rates I just write my guesses...

Yes I did put myself difficult situations and bilateral hearing helped me a little for now.. the difference is little,though since my brain isn't used to 'interpret' speech sounds coming from my lef( and better yet unaided for years) ear... and you may be right about for the fact that worse ear may interfere with the better.I guess I need several months for a genuine comparison but we'll see what the result will be when my brain accepts to 'blend' sounds from two ears .

Additionally, I like listening to music bilaterally I discovered some extra sounds coming from left channel when I had started 'stereo mode'

 

[Hear Again]

Highlands,

I'm glad you're enjoying listening to music in "stereo!" Like you, I also found that I could hear more of the subtleties of music with two CIs compared to one. Music and speech sound fuller and richer with two CIs and "tinny" with one.

With continued practice, I'm sure your brain will learn how to blend sounds together binaurally. From what I understand, this can take approximately 6 months.

Keep us posted on how you are doing with your bilateral HAs!

 

[SteveAUD]

Thanks for the advice. My right ear is at 92 db with a speech recognition nearly thirty or forty percent (my guess) and my left(unaided for years) ear is at 88 dbl with a speech recognition around twenty or less percent.. I'm not sure about my real recognition rates I just write my guesses...

Yes I did put myself difficult situations and bilateral hearing helped me a little for now.. the difference is little,though since my brain isn't used to 'interpret' speech sounds coming from my lef( and better yet unaided for years) ear... and you may be right about for the fact that worse ear may interfere with the better.I guess I need several months for a genuine comparison but we'll see what the result will be when my brain accepts to 'blend' sounds from two ears .

Additionally, I like listening to music bilaterally I discovered some extra sounds coming from left channel when I had started 'stereo mode'

The ears arn't to different in terms of hearing sensitivity, so one masking the other isn't an issue. The only way I could forsee the two interfering with one an other is if you stated you think you hear worse with two. Then I'd encourage you to go back to your audiologist and have her do some soundfield testing (word recognition) 1 vs 2. It may take some longer than others, so yor doing the right thing by sticking with it. What aids did you get?

 

[highlands]

The ears arn't to different in terms of hearing sensitivity, so one masking the other isn't an issue. The only way I could forsee the two interfering with one an other is if you stated you think you hear worse with two. Then I'd encourage you to go back to your audiologist and have her do some soundfield testing (word recognition) 1 vs 2. It may take some longer than others, so yor doing the right thing by sticking with it. What aids did you get?

My aids are Bernafon Win 112 Btes

 

[SteveAUD]

My aids are Bernafon Win 112 Btes

Ok, those are an entry level digital hearing aid. The only other issue I can see you having (other than hearing bilaterally now) is with the directional microphones. For a previous user that has never worn them before, they create a different perception of hearing. Your previous aids likely had only one mic. So you were used to getting sound 360* around. With the D-mics, the hearing aid will drop the noise from the back and the side. Occasionally I get the patient that comes back with, "They're too quiet in noise", because they are used to getting everything (Noise/speech) with their previous aids. Just an FYI.

 

[highlands]

Ok, those are an entry level digital hearing aid. The only other issue I can see you having (other than hearing bilaterally now) is with the directional microphones. For a previous user that has never worn them before, they create a different perception of hearing. Your previous aids likely had only one mic. So you were used to getting sound 360* around. With the D-mics, the hearing aid will drop the noise from the back and the side. Occasionally I get the patient that comes back with, "They're too quiet in noise", because they are used to getting everything (Noise/speech) with their previous aids. Just an FYI.

Thanks but my hearing aids do not offer directional microphones I knew directional microphones could help me with noise better than just one microphone but the directional model (win 105) had less power than my current hearing aids (win 112) . win112 has a peak gain of 76 db while win105 has 66 dbl.. Cuz I'm highly impaired I need high power !!! so I preferred high gain over directionality.. even Oticon sumo Dm has no directionality.. In addition, I have speech understanding problems even in quiet and one to one situations at times so I don't think directioanal microphones would make a significant difference for me .. Moreover, my loss is progressive and I considered the fact that my loss could be even worse over time and the maximum gain of the directional model couldn't be enough for me.