Not hearing properly

[jojomac23]

I have high pitched tinnitus in my left ear and moderate hearing loss in both ears When I wear my hearing aid I get another sound like wind blowing in my left ear . When I am not wearing my hearing aids I don't get this extra sound

Also my hearing test says I have similar hearing loss in both ears but I cannot hear phonecalls properly if I put the phone to my left ear. I can hear sound but cannot distinguish what the person is saying

Ent are not helpful with this problem

Any advice would be welcome

Thanks

[Happyrosie]

Well jojomac i have a similar problem in that phone calls are hard - I rely on emails etc etc myself - and the ability to hear is worse on one side than the other when wearing the aids.As far as the noise caused by the aids is concerned, if I understand you correctly, this might be something to do with your ears being a little blocked with wax????? Maybe. Are you able to return to the people who prescribed the aids, and tell them the issues you’re having?

[jojomac23 in reply to Happyrosie]

Hi

I don't have any wax. I have told hearing aid clinic about distorted hearing . They not surprisingly have no answers

[doglover1973]

Hi jojo. I have uneven hearing loss and - as a result - uneven tinnitus. Like you - I can hear the phone with one ear but not the other (without my hearing aids) . The high pitched tinnitus in your left ear suggests a greater hearing loss in your left ear. When was your last hearing test? How about another one? Just to check. Hearing can drop unexpectedly.

[jojomac23 in reply to doglover1973]

I have had this problem of distorted hearing in the ear with tinnitus for a long time. The hearing clinic have no solutions . Hearing has not droppedThanks

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Leeds NHS' Hearing and Balance Centre provides a guide for their service users about hearing aid troubleshooting which may be worth taking a look at - there is a section on distorted hearing issues included: leedsth.nhs.uk/a-z-of-servi...

[jojomac23 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thankyou for that but I have the distorted hearing with or without the hearing aids

[Patricia_123]

Ask your audiologist to carry out a speech discrimination test.

[jojomac23 in reply to Patricia_123]

Hi PatriciaThankyou for that. What does it involve

[Patricia_123]

They'll play a series of words to you and you repeat them, and are scored on % you get right. They can then can tell whether your speech discrimination matches your hearing loss pattern obtained from pure tone testing (normal beep testing). If it doesn't match in that it's worse than would be expected from your hearing loss pattern, they can investigate further. Might help to put your mind at rest. Good luck.

[jojomac23 in reply to Patricia_123]

Thankyou Patricia. That is really helpful. I have a hearing aid clinic appointment next week. Would they do that there or does it have to be ent clinic

[Patricia_123]

The audiologist will do it, he or she will have the software on their computer. it only takes 5 mins. Tell them its making you really anxious and it would put your mind at rest if it was tested.

[jojomac23 in reply to Patricia_123]

ThankyouI will ask them

[Patricia_123]

At the very least they can reprogram the hearing aid/s to try and make up for any loss.

[jojomac23 in reply to Patricia_123]

Hi Patricia

I asked at the appointment and they said it is only done for someone who has cognitive deficiencies like someone with alzheimers

[Patricia_123]

It's not, it's designed to test for retrocochlear problems, so problems with the nerve-brain connection failing to interpret the sound correctly. I don't know what else to suggest if you want to pursue it, find another audiologist maybe?

[jojomac23 in reply to Patricia_123]

Will doWhat is the solution if there is a connection problem

[jojomac23 in reply to Patricia_123]

Hi again

I had an mri to check hearing nerves . I wonder if retrocochlear issues would show up. It actually came back clear

[Patricia_123]

Ah right, the MRI would have picked up an acoustic neuroma which is the main concern with the nerve. Sorry, out of suggestions now, these symptoms are so annoying aren't they and I know how frustrating it is to go without answers.