Hearing aids not helping

[bizzy55]

I have had NHS hearing aids for a couple of years now. My problem has been understanding people talking unless very close. At group meetings and conversations I just feel like a fool. The hearing aids do improve higher fequencies but make little practical difference. Any advice on how to rejoin the world?

[beatitude]

Hi, bizzy. I have NHS aids too, we're the same age and have the same problem, so I can commiserate! I haven't found a solution either, but can only suggest concentrating on whoever's nearest to you; ask them to relay what others say. It's socially awkward as it looks like favouritism, but we have to be open about it. There is a speech to text on a mobile phone but I haven't tried this myself. There's also a "listener" which is headphones with a mic to either clip on to whoever's speaking or hold near to that person, low-tech, easy to use and voices sound much more natural than through aids. Any device works via mic so it needs to be close to the source of the sound you want to hear. The trouble with aids is they're on the sides of our heads instead, so we get all the distortion that comes from distance!

You probably, like me, have age-related hearing loss which is where certain frequencies just disappear. Aids can only boost the frequencies we have left, so we get this imbalance of sound that makes everything sound so awful. All I hear is "quack, quack, drone, drone" when people are more than arm's length away. I've had aids for 8 years and won't tell you to "persevere" as some people might - I'm done with that! I can't tolerate the unintelligible cacophony of noise for too long. There are thousands of frequencies at which sound operates but we only get tested on 8. I had trials going private and got my money back as these were no better. I now have aids from my NHS hospital and asked them to test me on some "in-between" frequencies but the audiogram came up much the same as before. Even if some missing frequencies are found, there's nothing anyone can do about them. I was told aids can "only amplify". They can't clarify. It's like being asked to make do with glasses where things still look blurred but dazzlingly bright. Sorry to be a bit negative but I think people are led to have unrealistic expectations, leaving us to explain that aids don't restore our hearing to anything like normal. Please don't feel a fool - you're not one! We have to try not to let this destroy our confidence; to tell people it's a physical disability that can't be "cured" by hearing aids. I do find the hospital aids slightly better than the ones I got elsewhere so it's worth asking your GP to refer you to hospital if you haven't done so.

[bikebabe in reply to beatitude]

I’ve had hearing aids since my 20s back in days of analogue and am now in my 60s. I’m grateful to you for explaining so clearly why it’s so hard to hear - that it only amplifies what I have got rather than replacing what I haven’t got. Doh. How did I not know that. Whilst working and running training workshops I used to use a Roger pen which I’d discretely point at people or place near people furthest away which helped a bit.

[beatitude in reply to bikebabe]

We only know what we're told! People tend to think that loudness is the be-all-and-end-all, so it's easy to believe that, only to find out it doesn't fit. I'm no expert but I've read that we have cells in our ears like hairs, which can die off and can't replace themselves. A bit like teeth, really, so I've just thought of a funny analogy - a dentist takes a tooth out and says, "Never mind - I can make your remaining teeth longer!" Will look up the Roger pen now, thanks for the tip.

[alpacagirl in reply to beatitude]

Very true Beatitude! I hate how that familiar songs now sound different and wrong to me now. I have been wearing NHS aids for some 20 years (I have an inherited adult onset hearing loss) and was missing a lot even before that. I try to speak to a person close to me in groups, as I find general conversation so hard to follow. When I was working, others in my team who were aware of my hearing loss used to help me out a bit. It’s not easy and I have provided lots of laughs for my family when I’ve totally misunderstood what has been said (yes you do feel a fool at times).

[bizzy55]

The thing is that I can hear people talking but I seem to be missing the frequencies that we rely on to make it intelligible.

[alpacagirl]

Exactly! I saw an audio vestibular consultant as I have vestibular loss alongside my hearing loss - he explained my hearing test curve - there is a big drop in the middle and he said that is where most of the speech sounds are - hence not being able to make sense of speech that I hear. I think I lipread more than I realise (so long as people are facing me).

[bizzy55 in reply to alpacagirl]

That's very interesting. It confirms my sense of hearing speech but not being able to interpret it.

[alpacagirl in reply to bizzy55]

That is my sense too - I can hear someone talking but often struggle to understand what they are saying!

[bizzy55 in reply to alpacagirl]

Surely hearing aid technology should be able to boost the crucial frequencies.

[alpacagirl in reply to bizzy55]

You’d have thought so!

[bizzy55 in reply to alpacagirl]

Just to add something else to the mix, APD is also a thing.

my.clevelandclinic.org/heal...

[alpacagirl in reply to bizzy55]

interesting!