Got my New Hearing Aids

[Nigel H-J]

When working I had to buy a pair of digital hearing aids as the NHS were still only providing anologue ones which were no good for my job however, after five years and my high frequency hearing becoming even worse it was necessary to have new ones as I was struggling but now being retired to purchase digital hearing aids privately is an expensive option which I could not afford to do.

Went to the hospital in April for the tests and on Saturday went back to receive my new hearing aids (one for each ear but set at differently due to hearing imbalance), I had been told that I was between one type of aid and another which was more powerful but they decided on giving me the first option to see how I manage with it. I was also told that I would be surprised on how these aids have improved over the passed five years and to be honest I am not disapointed, in fact I am amazed at the improvement it has made to my hearing compared to my previous one. My lower frequency hearing is OK just the high frequencies that I struggle with and what these do is compress all the high frequency sounds and send them to my ear in a lower frequency so that a ping becomes a pong and a clink becomes a clonk. That is the only way that I can describe how the higher frequencies now sound.

Yesterday whilst out in the garden was the first time I have ever heard a Magpie, it was sat in a tree some fifty yards away bobbing it's head up and down as it shouted out what can only be described as a demented and hysterical call. Had it been human then it would certainly been well on it's way to being sectioned!! I am still awaiting to see if I will be able to hear a sparrow!!

I did ask the audiometric whether or not it had a SH switch fitted to which she replied without even asking what I mean't, that all men have this syndrome!! (For those who might be wondering.....Selective Hearing )

Anyway, just so nice to be able to hear things that even the older one could not pick up.

Regards
Nigel.

[cstorey]

As a matter of interest, Nigel , have you tried it with music, and if so with what results ?

[Filonian]

Glad you are sorted Nigel.


Graham

[Nigel H-J]

As a matter of interest, Nigel , have you tried it with music, and if so with what results ?

Hi Chris, bit of a hard question really as the hearing aids help with my high frequency loss but having said that listening to the television is much easier as I can make out all the words even when the sound level is down to nearly off, listening to music in the car is just the same, no noticeable change in the way the song comes out of the speakers, just the same sound but louder.

Hope that helps and am sure that if Dave pops by he will also give his experience of how music sounds to him.

Glad you are sorted Nigel.

Many thanks Graham.

Best regards
Nigel

[Tomliner]

having said that listening to the television is much easier as I can make out all the words even when the sound level is down to nearly off,

That's a bit of b****r then Nigel! .Seriously I'm pleased for you.Have you noticed any difference with engine sounds when you're using FS? EricT

[Airspeed]

Very pleased to hear that they are working well, Nigel.
Do keep us posted.
It must be pretty distressing to lose portions of the pitch range.
Sometimes, callers on the radio sound like they're talking a different language.
I often wonder whether their mobile phones are lopping off the highs and lows, so that only part of their speech is transmitted.
I realise that my hearing's not 100%, but I can hear sparrows and the like.

[cstorey]

Nigel : thanks for the reply . You encourage me to have a go, which I have been putting off because I listen to a lot of music without distortion - it is speech , particularly on TV or radio, which gives me a lot of trouble

[DaveB]

I had my first one April 1st (ahem!!) and this one failed less than 3 months on. I'd just started work too and it was suddenly like wearing only one shoe!

My poor hearing was due to having a perforated ear drum repaired (I still have one similarly buggered). The repair was good (the surgeon who performed the op says it doesn't look like the ear has ever been operated on) but as with anything like this.. my hearing after the op was degraded. Think of splitting a drum and repairing it with tape. The drum will still make a noise when you hit it with a drum stick but the tone will never be the same.

It seems the norm (though not exclusively) that the area around 40hz is prone to go and this area coincides nicely with speech. Turning the TV up helped but all it did was make the sound louder which was not ideal. Modern hearing aids are programmed to the individuals hearing loss.. they're not mini amplifiers as they once were which make everything louder. The advantage of this is that your specific area loss is targeted so if it's high freqs.. the hearing aid will enhance the higher frequencies. If it's lower freqs.. the hearing aid will target that area. After having a hearing test.. your specific loss is recorded and displayed 'on the system' as a graph. The nurse who fits the device will have this graph on her laptop and will plug this into a small box of tricks and from there, to the hearing aid. The hearing aid is then electronically tuned to match the area's lacking according to your individual result, with a little overlap. The end result is that you now hear to a degree you never thought possible. They're not perfect but by god.. I don't go out without mine in. They take a few hours.. a day maybe to get used to but after that, you don't really notice you have one in. All you notice is that you can hear far more than you could before.
You get a little wind noise (like an outside broadcast!!) but it's not bad. They will also click very slightly (you'll hear little clicks) if the frequency of what you're listening to exceeds what the hearing aid is tuned to but you get used to it. This is the device clipping the sound.

Mine has a volume control but you can have one without. They come in a range of colours. The nurse who fits it will give you a spare earpiece (which screws into the hearing aid).. a couple of cleaning 'thingies' (they look like fibre-optic).. you'll get 2 packs of batteries which should last around 3 months if the aid is worn daily and finally.. you'll get a little book which enables you to take your used batteries to nominated medical centres and they'll swap them for new ones. This is NHS of course

Honestly Chris.. the difference is quite astounding. I hear all of our wall clocks at home ticking now though whether that's good or bad is debatable . I used to have to watch the TV in the living room at a volume setting of 25-30 (out of 60) and it's now sufficiently loud at 13!! I still hate having to wear the darned thing as I do having to wear glasses or a denture but the benefits far outweigh not wearing it.

ATB
DaveB

[Nigel H-J]

That's a bit of b****r then Nigel! .Seriously I'm pleased for you.Have you noticed any difference with engine sounds when you're using FS?

Hi Tom, unfortunately I have not had the chance as the missus insists on me wearing headphones so that she doesn't have to listen to the racket of a Trident take-off nor of the other noises associated with FSX!!

Tried it only once and had noticed of a marked improvement before being told put your headphones on!!

Nigel : thanks for the reply . You encourage me to have a go, which I have been putting off because I listen to a lot of music without distortion - it is speech , particularly on TV or radio, which gives me a lot of trouble

Chris, I would certainly advise you to go to the doctors (if you go through the NHS route) to tell him of your problems and ask if you can have a hearing test, I had difficulty in picking up words on the TV as sometimes it became muffled. Do you have trouble in hearing people talk? If so then do please go and get a test arranged.

Having lived with this type of deafness for more years than I can remember it has had a profound effect on my health but I can now honestly say although my health will not return back to what it was I feel much better in being able to hear without the fear of harrasement and bullying I got when working through not hearing.

It must be pretty distressing to lose portions of the pitch range.
Sometimes, callers on the radio sound like they're talking a different language.

Hi Mike, It is, and having used radios it did not always come down to not understanding what has been transmitted but depends largely on environmental issues i.e. background noise, interference and more importantly the type of receiver and speakers that are used, management took no notice of my constant complaints that the radio speakers were of poor quality but without going into the technical aspect of this other operators also at times had problems.

Have to run my hearing aids for a minimum of six weeks before they will consider altering them but have already found that an increase of treble in my left hearing aid is required as sounds are a bit too basey but that will be sorted out in time.

you'll get 2 packs of batteries which should last around 3 months if the aid is worn daily

I was also given that amount Dave but told her also that I had six packets of batteries from my previous hearing aid that were on special offer £1 for a pack of six batteries (48 batteries), so in now having eight packets I think it is going to be quite some time before I need replacements!!

The NHS have been absolutely brilliant and can't thank them enough.

Regards
Nigel.

[cstorey]

Nigel : the difficulty you describe is exactly my problem . I shall follow it up. Thanks for the help