Would it be better if.....

[SimonMorriss]

Dear allPlease don't be alarmed by the title. I suffer with hearing loss and now have aids to help. The problem is I hear everything now and I get so frustrated.

The dogs nails on the wooden floor or him kawing a bone, conversation in the room and TV. All these make a soup of noise that means I don't hear a thing.

I have aid that can link Bluetooth to stuff like be phone, but this stops the aids and again I don't hear what is going on around.

If I were able to link them to the TV I would then feel excluded from the family.

Also as gathering I can't join in as I can't hear the detail.

I'm certainly not depressed but I just don't know what to do.

Any suggestions will be amazing.

Thanks

Simon

[MarkS]

Hi Simon,

I found that I heard a lot more sounds with my hearing aids, such as the car indicator. I was quite alarmed when I first heard it. But I soon got used to that. How long have you had the aids for? They may need adjustment.

I link my aids to my mobile. I then get crystal clear sound when I'm on a call though I can still hear what's going on around me, such as the doorbell.

On my phone, I've got various settings such as speech in noise and music which I find useful. Speech in a noisy environment is always going to be tricky. I need to be looking directly at the person talking. I recently went to quite a noisy dinner and was still able to hold conversations, but I really had to concentrate.

Cheers,

Mark

[Dodie117]

This constant noise is very common when you start wearing aids but it does die down a bit as you get used to them. These are sounds we probably all heard when our hearing was normal but brain filters it. Your brain now needs to learn to do thst again and it takes time.

As for hearing in groups, I think a lot of us are like you. Try to meet friends in smaller groups. Sit with back to wall and check if there is directional setting on your aids that filters out some surrounding noise.

Good luck.

[PABLR]

If you haven't had your hearing aids very long, you are probably still in a period of adjustment. While it never gets perfect it does get better. I paid a fee when I got my aids so that I could go to the audiologist for tweaks as often as I needed. It was worth it for me as I had fluctuating hearing loss at that time. You may need to be 'tweaked'. It takes a while to find the perfect balance. Some things will never be perfect - restaurants continued to be difficult. I now have a CI on one side and that improved things. Could you all watch television with closed captions? That won't really affect your family but will really help you. The phone should only stop the aids when you are actually on the phone and it does make a huge difference. The other option if your calls aren't generally important but more social, is to let calls go to voicemail and then have a call back session later. And sometimes I just tell people, please hold on while I switch my phone so I can hear through my hearing aids. And if necessary call them right back, because if you're like me some of the time you drop the call while you're doing that!

[alpacagirl]

Hi Simon, yes I think we all find conversations in crowded environments difficult. I find it easier if the person speaking is facing me, I sometimes turn my aids up a notch - even though this amplifies everything, I think over time that my brain has got better at picking out a voice from the cacophony! That feeling of being overwhelmed by noise will diminish as you get used to your aids. I think there will always be a bit of frustration at not always being able to follow a group conversation fully, but it’s important not to stop trying. Perhaps try to speak one to one with someone who is sitting or standing close to you rather than try to follow the conversation among a noisy larger group.

I have NHS aids which only have Bluetooth via a streamer - but I can always hear the environmental sound at the same time - important when using them as wireless headphones for running. I have given up with a landline (I couldn’t hear it well enough) and only use my mobile as it also connects via Bluetooth. I also have a TV adapter, other people can still hear the TV, but I get an extra boost by hearing it in my aids - but I can still hear my family talking etc as it doesn’t cut out the other sounds in the room. If you prefer Bluetooth to also let you hear environmental sounds perhaps ask your hearing aid provider if there are different settings so that you don’t feel so cut off.

Subtitles on TV are brilliant, I always have them on - in fact it’s apparently quite normal these days for young people without hearing loss to have them turned on so they don’t miss anything !

[SimonMorriss]

Thank you for your comments.

I have had aids for a few years now but recently upgraded via the NHS. Since then the high frequency has been unbearable.

I'm going to try and get back to see them but the NHS is under pressure so may take a while.

Thanks