Hearing aid experiences.

[woodman72]

Hi, I have an appointment with specsavers to see what sort of HA would be best for me. My T is due to noise trauma 10 years ago, and now I have some hearing loss, so my ENT guy recommended I get some. I would be interested to hear other peoples experiences with 'in ear' HA and other types and also with and without T masking. Did they help to reduce your T ? My current level of hearing loss is not too much of a problem, so unless they will help with the T, I might put off making the investment for a while. Thanks.

[Happyrosie]

hearing aids help with tinnitus in that the real world becomes more real and the unreal world fades a bit. As to which brands help, that’s up to the audiologist in my opinion.

I don’t use masking as such, but when the tinnitus is masked (such as during a coach trip when the noise is as loud as the tinnitus) then when it’s quiet the tinnitus comes back with a vengeance saying “oh, you thought you’d got me licked did you? Hahaha”. And it takes a few days to fade back into the background, I.e. habituation.

[woodman72 in reply to Happyrosie]

Thanks, I like your real/unreal world explanation, that makes a lot of sense. Road noise when driving always masks my T, so that's a nice break, and it doesn't take revenge after! Any improvement with HA will be welcome, and that should help with habituation. I think a lot of people must appreciate your replies which are always very grounded and sensible. The same goes for rabbits, doglover and darren too. Big thanks to the regular contributors !😍👏👏👏

[rabbits65]

I don’t see any point buying hearing aids if your hearing is alright. My hearing is alright and nobody ever suggested getting the HA just for the tinnitus. You can learn to habituate quite well without it. I just have my radio and TV , I prefer to keep the sound quite low , but excellent for taking your mind off the T ,

[woodman72 in reply to rabbits65]

I know I have some hearing loss and the ENT doc had no advice about the T, but gave me a prescription for HA. After 10 years of T with no habituation, I still have bouts of depression, and if HA can help then I will give them a try. There are a few video's on YouTube by people who have found them to be a great help. Thanks.

[rabbits65 in reply to woodman72]

All the best and good luck

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to woodman72]

Good luck they do work for some people . Specsavers ones didnt work for me . They were okay for a few hours at a time . The day I had them in for 12 hours, the T was so much louder when I took them out . 3 days to calm the T down.

[doglover1973]

Hello WM. I've tried RIC with a private audiologist and BTE with the NHS. Both had a positive effect on my T but I can't wear either long term due to sore ears. Most people can wear HAs no problem so it's just a question of which ones you prefer . All the best.

[woodman72 in reply to doglover1973]

Thanks, BTE aids seem to be very popular. Did the improvement last after you stopped wearing the HA ? Cheers😀

[doglover1973 in reply to woodman72]

Sadly no. I'd love to wear my HAs and I'd recommend you do - if you can. It's good to stimulate the brain as much as possible and divert attention away from the T . You'll be able to try all the options at Specsavers. Let us know how you go.

[woodman72 in reply to doglover1973]

Seems with HA there are a lot to choose from now ,so hope I get some good advice. I will post about how I get on. Thanks.

[doglover1973 in reply to woodman72]

Yes. It's confusing . There's a good book - Living with Hearing Loss (Sheldon Press) . It covers everything - including all the types of HAs. It's very informative.

[doglover1973 in reply to woodman72]

Author Don McFerran.

[Darren6]

i have hearing loss in my eight ear above 5.5khz which means speech is not affected but high pitched sounds are non existent in that ear. This caused hyperacusis and high pitched tinnitus.Hearing aids were the main contributor to my habituation in the fact that they didnt help with hearing high pitch sounds but were configurable to use as sound therapy. I guess i could have had the same result in an inner ear sound generator but at the time the HAs were recommended and worked for me.

They are so expensive but do know that there is a good secondary market and i resold mine 2 years later for about 2/3 if the cost

[woodman72 in reply to Darren6]

Thanks Darren, great to hear that HA helped you to habituate, I hope they work for me. What type of HA did you have? Behind the ear ?

[Darren6 in reply to woodman72]

I used the Oticon More 1 hearing aids, over and in the ear would highly recommend

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to Darren6]

my Specsavers ones had a Tinnitus program . I couldnt hear it, the audiologist said apparently my T overpowered it. A bit odd as I know my T ear is not great but my right ear is only slightly down.

[Happyrosie]

I should just mention here, still nearly on topic: I didn’t mean to imply in my earlier post that hearings aids would help against T if there is no hearing loss.

if you live in the UK you are prescribed free aids, if the audiologist determines you need them, and he or she chooses which brand is best suited.

[bantams]

My NHS Ent audiologist gave me hearing aids to help me with my T and I only have moderate hearing loss in one ear, they also have 2 masking sounds built into them which helps when I am in quiet situations. They were free, also free batteries, tubes and domes. So I would ask your ENT audiologist if you could have NHS ones and save yourself the expense of Specsavers ones. Just to tell you they do take a few weeks to get use to wearing them.

[woodman72 in reply to bantams]

I think you can get the NHS one's from specsavers, but I have been living in France for a long time so I'm probably not eligible. I just like the friendly service and people in the UK! Thanks.

[Hylda2]

I have BTE hearing aids supplied by tinnitus clinic. They certainly help a lot after one went down on holiday last week. They can play white noise etc to mask tinnitus but I find I ignore it most of the time unless like now I’m thinking about it

[woodman72 in reply to Hylda2]

Did they help your habituation?

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to Hylda2]

I think I can relate to that ,I have earphone with LBC in my T ear and I realise that sometimes I'm not listening to what they are talking about. My theory is if I can learn to ignore the talking then I might learn to ignore the T .

[woodman72 in reply to Kellythecat-74]

Why not, it might work, everyone's experience of T seems to be different.

[GEDB1 in reply to Hylda2]

How on earth did you manage to find a tinnitus clinnic? I've pushed like hell and so far i'm on track for some counseling and maybe a recommendation for a tinnitus therapy of some kind. So I went private to specsavers anyway and i have to say that hearing aids have really really worked for me in the sense that I have gotten my bloody noise to go lower. Just from the defocussing that i struggled to do alone. But pls let us know where the tinnitus clinic was for you? With thanks

[Hylda2 in reply to GEDB1]

I was referred to them 11 years ago. Everything comes under the hospital now

[Hylda2]

The aids and time

[HissingSid]

I was first diagnosed with tinnitus over 12 years ago and I opted to wear a single hearing aid in my left ear. This was an ordinary HA with no masking sounds. Around 2-3 years later I heard about HA’s being available with masking sounds so I made an appointment with an NHS audiologist. This time I chose to wear 2 HA’s with masking sounds. What a difference that made to my life. I was able to hear more clearly and my T was calmed down when I wore my HA’s. T is still present of course and as loud as before but I feel that my life is bearable now. Being with NHS does give me free hearing aid batteries and spare parts on request. That makes a difference against going private for me.

[woodman72 in reply to HissingSid]

Glad to hear that the HA's worked for you. I just had my appointment with the audiologist (at Boots) and he wasn't too impressed with HA's with masking sounds. In his experience, the making sounds don't often help, but the improved hearing provided by HA's does. He was a young chap though, so not much experience anyway! I won't be eligible for NHS help because I've lived in France now for 30 years, I just wanted to compare offers. The behind the ear HA's he proposed cost about £1600. Not cheap. As long as 'try before you buy' is possible then I will give them a go. Thanks for your help.

[HissingSid in reply to woodman72]

When I received my HA’s with masking sounds they were fairly new on the market and it’s possible experts advise on them now are not so good. I find them useful to at least calm down my T sounds. Good luck in your HA’s assisting your hearing as they do for me.

[woodman72 in reply to HissingSid]

Thanks, I can't wait to try them out now.

[HissingSid in reply to woodman72]

Good luck!

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to woodman72]

specsavers give 90 days on approval . think boots is the same

[Kellythecat-74]

I got a pair recently . Cant say they help my T very much unless I'm somewhere noisy. Mine also had a T masker program built in . But I couldn't hear it so the audiologist turned it off. The other odd thing, I usually have a walkman type radio in my pocket and an earphone in my T ear. So she programmed the HAs to connect to my phone. The strange thing was I had no problem with my T ear , but my "good "ear started getting short episodes of high pitch noises. So she changed the setting so the radio reception only works in the T ear. However I've gone back to my in ear phone , at least I know it doesnt give my good ear T noises. I think Specsavers give a 90 day trial . so you can give them back if you dont like them.