My hearing aid broke

shel90

shel90

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About a month ago, my hearing aid fell in the water and wouldnt work. I have been so busy during the day at work leaving me no time to call the hearing aid center to get it repaired.

Anyways, this is not the first time I have gone for a long period of time without my hearing aids and it never really bothered me before except for missing "hearing" environmental sounds.

Well, this one is different. I am having severe ringing and diziness in my ears. it is getting to the point where I am getting headaches daily. Is that titannus? If so, why now when I never had it before especially during the period where I went without hearing aids for 4 years. It is driving me nuts. I know it should make me determined to call the center but when I am at work, I get so busy so I dont think about it until I get home and relax. The hearing aid centers around here close at 5. UGH!

Anyone experienced that before and what did u do about it?
 
Hmm since you are experiencing dizziness as well, I would definitely take time off work to get it checked out. When I experienced dizziness, I had lost some hearing and developed severe tinnitus. the dizziness eventually stopped but the tinnitus remained. I would see an audie rather than a HA dispenser though. Is there not an audie at work who can give you a quick hearing test if it's too hard to take time off work?

Also your regular audie will sometimes loan you a hearing aid while yours is away being fixed. Do you have a regular audie?
 
I am 100% not kidding or lying...I'm going through the exact same thing right now. Luckily next week is spring break so I made an appointment....the ringing in my ears had been so bad that I put headphones on and turned the volume to my daughter's princess Cd player all the way up try to mask it. It didn't work :/.

Tinnitus is usually a result of fluid in the inner ear (I think...trying really hard to remembery Audiology 101). My good friend who is an audiologist told me that sometimes adults who have been using hearing aids consistently on a regular basis will develop sort of a dependancy on them to the point that if they do not wear them they will experience ringing in the ears and balance problems.

Now I'm worried about paying for the new hearing aid :/. When is your spring break? That might be a good time to schedule one, maybe?
 
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Oh! Another thing she said...taking aspirin has been known to cause tinnitus...that is a possibility.
 
Perhaps rather than have the volume set at maximum, set the volume at a level where you can "just" hear the music. The type of music you listen to will also affect the outcome. I find classical music, such as Mozart to be most effective in masking tinntius.
 
deafbajagal said:
I am 100% not kidding or lying...I'm going through the exact same thing right now. Luckily next week is spring break so I made an appointment....the ringing in my ears had been so bad that I put headphones on and turned the volume to my daughter's princess Cd player all the way up try to mask it. It didn't work :/.

Tinnitus is usually a result of fluid in the inner ear (I think...trying really hard to remembery Audiology 101). My good friend who is an audiologist told me that sometimes adults who have been using hearing aids consistently on a regular basis will develop sort of a dependancy on them to the point that if they do not wear them they will experience ringing in the ears and balance problems.

Now I'm worried about paying for the new hearing aid :/. When is your spring break? That might be a good time to schedule one, maybe?
Click to expand...

My spring break is in two weeks but we are flying to Arizona. I will schedule one and miss work. I have plenty of sick leave.

I will ask the audi at my work about it and then go from there.

Thanks!
 
omegaman said:
Perhaps rather than have the volume set at maximum, set the volume at a level where you can "just" hear the music. The type of music you listen to will also affect the outcome. I find classical music, such as Mozart to be most effective in masking tinntius.
Click to expand...

My hearing aid is broken ..doesnt work at all. So I have been living in complete silence since then and the ringing in my ears or ear..( I cant tell cuz that's how bad it is) seems like it is getting louder and louder daily.
 
R2D2 said:
Hmm since you are experiencing dizziness as well, I would definitely take time off work to get it checked out. When I experienced dizziness, I had lost some hearing and developed severe tinnitus. the dizziness eventually stopped but the tinnitus remained. I would see an audie rather than a HA dispenser though. Is there not an audie at work who can give you a quick hearing test if it's too hard to take time off work?

Also your regular audie will sometimes loan you a hearing aid while yours is away being fixed. Do you have a regular audie?
Click to expand...

No, I dont have a regular audie. I should get one though...I will go see my primary doctor and get referred to one and stick to that one if that audi is nice.

I hope I am not losing what little hearing I have left cuz that means I would have to make that decision on whether to get a CI or not just to hear environmental sounds. That's all I want..hear environmental sounds and music. LOL!

Thanks
 
Have you tried using a blow dryer to dry the aid out?
I dropped my aid in a small pool of water once and used a blow dryer to fix it.
Lucky for me it worked!

If that doesnt work a local audiologist can possibly put it in the dehumidifier and see if they can get the water out and working again.
:cool:
 
Sceptre71 said:
Have you tried using a blow dryer to dry the aid out?
I dropped my aid in a small pool of water once and used a blow dryer to fix it.
Lucky for me it worked!

If that doesnt work a local audiologist can possibly put it in the dehumidifier and see if they can get the water out and working again.
:cool:
Click to expand...

Really??? opooohh I gotta try that! OK..if it works I will :bowdown: to you! :giggle:
 
Make sure you take the battery out and leave the battery door opened...it might take a few times of drying,dont burn your hands with the hot air!

Also,if the hearing aid has an open hole on the top,use your mouth as a straw and try to suck the water out.Sounds nasty but hey it works sometimes.

If that doesnt work,try the audiologist for dehumidifying.Most audios have the machine there and it will pull the moisture out if its not too wet inside there.
:cool:
 
Perhaps, you're becoming too dependent on your hearing aid?
 
I had to let my aids dry out for a couple of days. I got them wet when I had wash my hair and forgot to take them out. Shel, good luck getting your aid fix.
 
VamPyrox: How can you become dependent on your hearing aids?

The hair dryer trick also worked for me. The hearing aid now has a life of its own with good cooperative days and some not so.

Jaden
 
shel90 said:
My hearing aid is broken ..doesnt work at all. So I have been living in complete silence since then and the ringing in my ears or ear..( I cant tell cuz that's how bad it is) seems like it is getting louder and louder daily.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was referring to using a CD player to mask the tinntius. But, if you can't hear much, then it would be hard to play music at a low volume.

I notice that my tinnitus gets very bad when I am tired and/or stressed. So, I have some form of control. The only thing I can think of that *may* control tinnitus is a Chinese herbal product called "long dan xie gan wan", which I use to control acne. www.cgcmall.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HR00LD1

Coffee and alcohol may also increase tinnitus.

If you tried to use the HA after it was dropped in water, then the electronics might be short-circuited. Or, the electronics may be corroded. But, who knows... I hope you can get it working again.
 
shel90 said:
No, I dont have a regular audie. I should get one though...I will go see my primary doctor and get referred to one and stick to that one if that audi is nice.

I hope I am not losing what little hearing I have left cuz that means I would have to make that decision on whether to get a CI or not just to hear environmental sounds. That's all I want..hear environmental sounds and music. LOL!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Good luck. I only mentioned possible hearing loss as something to consider but it doesn't mean that it has happened with you. I don't want to freak you out or anything. That's why seeing a doctor is a good idea especially if the dizziness and headaches is being caused by something else.

Also, even if it has happened, it may be still possible for you to wear hearing aids to hear the environmental noises. It's only when you get recruitment that it makes it very uncomfortable and not everyone gets recruitment.

Hope everything is okay.
 
Shel, I hope the quick fixes will work with your HA. It does sound like you need to see your audie to test your hearing again.

From what you've said, I don't think you have recruitment. I had bad tinnitus only when I wore my HA over my left ear. Traffic noises and the sound of clinking dishes in the sink were enough to make it ring. I didn't wear my HA for a year and half for this reason. This only happens if you're not wearing a HA?

Like R2D2, I hope all is okay. Keep us updated.
 
shel90 said:
Really??? opooohh I gotta try that! OK..if it works I will :bowdown: to you! :giggle:
Click to expand...

Shel just a FYI if you have something electronic like your HA get soaked don't try to turn it back on until you've dryed it out completely. But anyway I believe the reason for not turning it right back on is if it hasn't already fried from the intial dunking the electrical jolt that restarts when it is wet could cause it to short out for good. (hope that makes sense)

This is one reason I have had a dry and store for about 6 or 7 yrs. (before CI) I've gotten my aides wet and dryed them out and not had problems. Ever jet ski with an aide in one ear and someone trying to soak you? LOL
 
paperclip said:
VamPyrox: How can you become dependent on your hearing aids?

The hair dryer trick also worked for me. The hearing aid now has a life of its own with good cooperative days and some not so.

Jaden
Click to expand...
I knew a couple students at NTID who grew up wearing hearing aids, even when they were asleep. (Yeah, I know... it's not recommended to wear hearing aids when you're sleeping.)

They never used a vibrating alarm clock or lights to help them wake up.

When they first came to NTID, they freaked out whenever they felt their roommates' vibrating alarm clocks going off or the doorbell strobe light flashing.

When they were at home, they always had their hearing aids replaced quickly. (Yeah, they were spoiled.) At NTID, they were away from home without parents to depend on.

One day, their hearing aids stopped working. They freaked out. Thought they were hearing things and would think that someone was playing games with them. One of them even kept asking me, "Did you hear that? No? Okay." *moments later* "Did you hear that? No? Never mind." *moments later* "Wait, you heard that... right? No? Sorry."

Oh, BTW... yes, the hair dryer trick works for me too. No wonder why one of my hearing aids lasted from 1993 to 2006! (It went through the swimming pool, shower, sweat, mud, and rain. It was left in a parking lot overnight and chewed by my sister's dog once. It still worked.) ;)
 
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