Stay with audiologist/aid or move?

[kangaroojohn]

I am aged 81, with "moderate" sensoneurinal hearing loss and tinnitus. The tinnitus does not bother me too much but it seems to reduce my hearing further.

I have (privately) a pair of GN Resound AN R 5 XQ R aids. I go to an audiologist in a major firm and she seems skilled and is most attentive-and I can visit whenever I want.

However, for normal conversation even sometimes at home,and reducing traffic noise in the street, and in other noisy environments, the aids seem very disappointing. This particular aid is supposed to magnify conversation at the same time as cutting down the environmental noise and this is not happening at all.

Some say that the attention of the audiologist counts for more that the spec of the aid, but I wonder if I should persevere with mycurrent aid and audiologist or move elsewhere.

Any comments please?

[PABLR]

I suspect it doesn't have much to do with the brand of hearing aid, but the fact that hearing aids work much better in some situations than others. As we get older we are all likely to have greater problems with hearing in certain situations, particularly ones with a lot of background noise. I had top of the line Widex HAs and had the same issues. Eventually my hearing got so bad I qualified for a Cochlear implant in the left ear (I'm British/American living in the USA and have Ménière's disease, for background) which I got last year. That has made the greater difference as I've adapted extremely well, although noisy situations are a challenge. I changed the HA to a Resound because it's compatible with the CI for streaming situations, but it made absolutely no difference to the background problems. One thing that might help you, and you might talk about it with your audiologist is a mini mic to use in background noise situations. You can put it on the table or whatever and people's voices will stream directly into your HAs from the mic. I used one with the Widex and I also used it for situations like guided walking tours or house/stately home tours where I would give it to the docent or guide, and it can be used with self-guided radio tours. I don't use it so much now because my hearing is so much better. In fact I really need to do some work to figure the new one out better! And a final comment - an audiologist you really like and who can fit you in whenever is like winning the lottery. I loved my Widex Audiologist, who I now see once a year as I kept one Widex aid as a spare, and have another excellent one for the CI and Resound aid. Once you've asked a few more questions - ask her whether she thinks this is brand specific or more general, and about a mini-mic, you should be able to decide if you think she's good. Good luck.

[MarkS]

I have top of the range Oticon aids, and also have problems in noisy settings. At a large and very noisy dinner recently, I was actually able to hear the people opposite me with the "speech in noise" setting as long as I faced them directly. But otherwise, noisy settings do make it impossible for me to hear speech clearly. I end up guessing a lot of what is said and then make inappropriate comments when I get it wrong!

[kangaroojohn in reply to MarkS]

Thanks PABLR and MarksS for these interesting and helpful replies. My audiologist does not sell accessories and I have so far been unable to engage her on this topic- perhaps these are "not her thing" or perhaps she wants to save me money? There is a product here called Bluetooth Quattro 4 (cost c.£150) which could possibly be like the micro mic you describe and I will research into that and discuss it with her.

As regards MarkS' "speech in noise" setting- I pesume this is on your phone app- I have used my app for talks, but not socially yet!

Thanks for your good wishes.

[alpacagirl]

it’s interesting to hear about all your experiences with top of the range private aids in noisy situations. I have NHS Oticon aids - I also use a streamer, TV adapter and have been considering buying the ConnectLine microphone which goes with the streamer. I too have difficulty in noisy situations and probably lip read to an extent, to compensate. Perhaps the advantage of having top private aids is not as great as I imagined!