Update on my Hoh Issue, and question

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Schwagoo

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I posted whats up with my hearing previously when I first joined. I thought I would give an update and see if maybe anyone else here has been in my shoes.

February of this year I suddenly lost hearing in my left ear. This happened over a 24 hour period. Things started getting quieter until I was completely deaf in that ear. Right ear was totally normal.

Went to family doc first, and was sent to ENT the next day.
MIR = normal, Blood work = normal ,etc. Hearing test said I had Zero hearing with no explanation. This is called SSHL Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

I had a Steroid perfusion surgery. They put in a tube and injected steroids right into my inner ear...gave me a Sh*tload of IV and oral steroids. They said it likely won't do much good but sometimes this process can restore some hearing so it was worth a shot.

Fast forward 4 months. I had a hearing test and I have 40% of the hearing in my left ear. A HUGE improvement on paper, but I still can't hear anything. I have the constant ringing/white noise in my L ear. I can hear a little sound but it sounds like a badly blown speaker; almost no word recognition.

So the doctor put a tester hearing aid on my and told me that I have enough restored hearing that I can benefit from a HA. They cranked it up and sure i could hear sound through it and it would help with directional stuff so see where sounds are coming from.. but it was VERY loud and distorted sounding. They said they buy the Hearing aids right from the manufacturer and they don't mark them up much at all. It will cost about $1600, and my insurance doesn't cover any of it.
I hear normally out of my right ear, and I just have a hard time conversing in noisy places. But I am very blessed to have the hearing that I do.

At this point I don't think the HA is worth it unless a little more hearing is restored.

So this post is much longer that I intended. I just thought I would put all that info out there in case someone else has been in a similar circumstance and can offer some advise.

Thanks,

Brian
 
Hi, Brian. I am HOH, been that way since 5 or 6 yo. If I were you I would not buy a HA just yet, especially for that kind of money. If you want to know more about the money - - we need to know the make (like starky, seimens, oticon, etc) and style (Behind The Ear, Completely In ear Canal) The are other styles.

I think you need to be w/ a better dispenser. Take your time, don't let anyone talk you into anything. It's almost like buying a car except you should try out as many kinds of ha's as you can. You need a really really really good programer for your HA. My programer has no hearing loss but wears the HA's all day to empasize w/ his clients. Your programmer should educate you as well.

There are these tiny weightless BTE looking aids. I don't know what they are called but maybe you could have that? It's so small and the tube is hardly noticeable. CIC would be my first choice and if your loss is too great for a CIC, then go w/ that wght less one I mentioned. I say take your time because your loss is soooo recent that if someone just plugged your audiogram into the computer to program your aid, you will be so unhappy w/ the sound quality, let alone volume. There should be time for tweaking. you should start low volume and adjust your way up. Get used to wearing one first before taking advantage of the volume capability. You used to hear so you know how things really sound! You need to absolutely love the HA you buy. DO NOT SETTLE!!!
 
Got it. Thanks for the info.

I forget the brand/model they showed me. He gave me a brochure and its at home.

He said that I could go with a behind the ear or In-the-ear model and it will work fine for me.

Mostly I have trouble hearing in noisy environments. I am going to ask if I can 'borrow' that tester model over a weekend. That will be a good test I think, even though it won't be fully programmed for me it will give me a better idea than just sitting in the Dr. office trying it.

$1600 wouldn't break the bank too bad. But thats a good size chunk of scratch to toss around. I agree, it makes sense to try a few models and get the RIGHT one for me.

Thanks-

NEWIDME said:
Hi, Brian. I am HOH, been that way since 5 or 6 yo. If I were you I would not buy a HA just yet, especially for that kind of money. If you want to know more about the money - - we need to know the make (like starky, seimens, oticon, etc) and style (Behind The Ear, Completely In ear Canal) The are other styles.

I think you need to be w/ a better dispenser. Take your time, don't let anyone talk you into anything. It's almost like buying a car except you should try out as many kinds of ha's as you can. You need a really really really good programer for your HA. My programer has no hearing loss but wears the HA's all day to empasize w/ his clients. Your programmer should educate you as well.

There are these tiny weightless BTE looking aids. I don't know what they are called but maybe you could have that? It's so small and the tube is hardly noticeable. CIC would be my first choice and if your loss is too great for a CIC, then go w/ that wght less one I mentioned. I say take your time because your loss is soooo recent that if someone just plugged your audiogram into the computer to program your aid, you will be so unhappy w/ the sound quality, let alone volume. There should be time for tweaking. you should start low volume and adjust your way up. Get used to wearing one first before taking advantage of the volume capability. You used to hear so you know how things really sound! You need to absolutely love the HA you buy. DO NOT SETTLE!!!
Click to expand...
 
I recommend the CIC for you because the BTE's are heavy and they make my ears sore. Whereing a baseball cap is kinda awkward feeling. Test them out. See what you think. When it is a noisy environ. the HA has to function where the person talking in front of you is given priority over the noise, thus the HA "down-sizes' the noise you hear so that you can understand the speaker. You'd be amazed at what these can do. The BTEs are really good for directional microphones. One BTE can have up to 4 mic's It's soooo freaking cool. Those are Oticons. Anyway, ask about directional mic's. I think the CIC may have 2 mic's but I am not sure.
 
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