Are you happy with your hearing aids?

[Hear Again]

Evidently, s/he has no thoughts about it.

for the clarification.

I couldn't find shel's reply in one of the posts she was responding to, so I thought the same thing may have happened to Shi-Ku as well.

 

[deafdude1]

I wanted to thank everyone again for voting. Without asking "why aren't your gains maxed" I will just ask why some people voted "No, my hearing loss is very profound, I don't get much benefit" I am curious. Have those people gotten 2nd and 3rd opinions from other audiologists? How bad is their unaided hearing?

 

[Hear Again]

Have those people gotten 2nd and 3rd opinions from other audiologists? How bad is their unaided hearing?

The audis I've seen for the past 20+ years (3) have always told me that maximum gain wouldn't result in better hearing for me.

 

[overthepond]

overthepond,

If you still had a chance before you got CI, would you have tried my HA or equivalent from another brand? What if your audiologist told you that you could get 20db to 30db aided with your HA and hear so much better? I am just curious why you were never given a trial with the best HAs.

I was given Seimens, oticion, phonak top of range powerful digital HA's to try out but my aided scores were still poorer than my widex. So I did try out every possiblities before I got CI

I am impressed if your audie can spot the cheaters. I do believe you when you said you scored 0%(your aided scores aren't much good above 250Hz)
I did notice you hear worse with CI at 250Hz and below, will it ever be possible to at least match your HA in the low frequencies?

How can it be worse than my HA's... my hearing is sooo much better than it was ever!! I am able to hear alot more than i ever did! AND I NEVER had been tested at lower than 250hz so would never know the result and i am not going to bother my audi with that, I am very happy with what i have got, although i would never be a musician i love what i hear through my Ipod, Previously i weren't able to enjoy music as they sound too soft and mumbling with HA, now i just about to be able to tell what intruments they are playing, I can tell which music i don't like, it's always same one so since then i have removed the ones i don't like

FYI I told you already in previous posts that i am hearing at 30/35db not 40 that was my first month hearing. Since i was born deaf my brain had very little stimulation with the HA's for 30 years, the Audi doesn't want to fry my brain with too much stimulation also i had difficulty at first month where i experinced non auditory stimulation. Once at first month post Activication the Audi did a sweep beeps and we were able to pin point where i was having problems and since they were switched off (I think I have #10 #11 #12 #13 electrodes turned off, Since then I was able to hear better and asked for more stimulation since i wasn't experincing any non auditory stimulation.

I was racing all weekend albeit late to reply to this post, It was my 2nd and 3rd race of the season and for the first time i was able to follow skipper's/captian's intructions without lipreading, I was flabbersgated that I just picked it up, ALSO it was VERY windy, I was surprised i could pick words over background noises!!!



I will keep searching Google for evidence. Actually, there's evidence that CI wearers usually hear music worse than HA wearers. Overthepond is evidence she hears worse with her CIs at 250Hz and below.(she might have heard worse even at 500Hz and 1000Hz if she had gotten the chance to try my HAs, my audiologist would have tried to aid her to 20-30db) But of course no HA would ever aid her at 2000Hz and above since she had no residual high frequency hearing.

 

[Frisky Feline]

i don't know what to vote. since i can't afford to buy a HAs out of my pocket that my insurance doesn't cover it. I still rather use HAs to find one to fit my hearing level. My insurance can cover 80 percents of C.I. so i am out of luck. yes it is unfair for me. I am wearing my old HAs that i have no idea what it is. I rather the new ones.

 

[overthepond]

The audis I've seen for the past 20+ years (3) have always told me that maximum gain wouldn't result in better hearing for me.

Same for me.

Also i had no choice of Audi so I couldn't ask for 2nd/3rd opinion.

 

[Hear Again]

Same for me.

I found out that all of my audis were correct after my last hearing aid audi programmed my hearing aids to maximum gain. Long story short, I heard considerably worse than I did when gain was set to a lower level.

 

[Hear Again]

Charlotte,

By "non auditory stimulation," do you mean that you felt the beeps rather than heard them? The reason I ask is because this is what happened to me in the high frequencies when my first CI was activated.

 

[deafdude1]

The audis I've seen for the past 20+ years (3) have always told me that maximum gain wouldn't result in better hearing for me.

Then I guess they were right. It was worth trying, however. I am doing exactly this by trying for max gains. If they work then great! If not, he can program the most gains that will still work and give the best hearing. A person never knows till the audiologist tries it. There is nothing to lose, if it doesn't work then reduce the gains back, but if it works you hear better!


overthepond said:

I was given Seimens, oticion, phonak top of range powerful digital HA's to try out but my aided scores were still poorer than my widex. So I did try out every possiblities before I got CI

My condolences that the best HAs did not work out as expected. Were you ever offered an explanation why? At least you did the right thing by trying every HA, something too many people fail to do.

How can it be worse than my HA's... my hearing is sooo much better than it was ever!! I am able to hear alot more than i ever did! AND I NEVER had been tested at lower than 250hz so would never know the result and i am not going to bother my audi with that, I am very happy with what i have got, although i would never be a musician i love what i hear through my Ipod, Previously i weren't able to enjoy music as they sound too soft and mumbling with HA, now i just about to be able to tell what intruments they are playing, I can tell which music i don't like, it's always same one so since then i have removed the ones i don't like

I was comparing the 40db CI vs. 30db HA at 250Hz. So it was worse in one of the frequencies but still better in the others. I do believe you when you say it's so much better overall.

FYI I told you already in previous posts that i am hearing at 30/35db not 40 that was my first month hearing. Since i was born deaf my brain had very little stimulation with the HA's for 30 years, the Audi doesn't want to fry my brain with too much stimulation also i had difficulty at first month where i experinced non auditory stimulation. Once at first month post Activication the Audi did a sweep beeps and we were able to pin point where i was having problems and since they were switched off (I think I have #10 #11 #12 #13 electrodes turned off, Since then I was able to hear better and asked for more stimulation since i wasn't experincing any non auditory stimulation.

I must have missed that post but I am glad you have achieved further improvements. Is 30-35db the best possible or is there room for improvement in the future? I am learning that some people can't hear their best with max HA gains, could it be the same with CIs? Was it your brain that couldn't handle those 4 electrodes? Would it be possible to train the brain?

I was racing all weekend albeit late to reply to this post, It was my 2nd and 3rd race of the season and for the first time i was able to follow skipper's/captian's intructions without lipreading, I was flabbersgated that I just picked it up, ALSO it was VERY windy, I was surprised i could pick words over background noises!!!

Another CI moment for you.

 

[overthepond]

Charlotte,

By "non auditory stimulation," do you mean that you felt the beeps rather than heard them? The reason I ask is because this is what happened to me in the high frequencies when my first CI was activated.

Although i can hear sounds in the first month but it was very quiet, they tried to up the levels but i was feeling sensation on my temple as if i was feeling i was about to pass out! it was quite scary at first then the Audi thought it must be some of the electrodes. So at my first month post Activation they did sweep beep test then i told them i was feeling the sensation.. it was 4 of the middle electrodes. Since they turned them off it had been fine. And I am told that I am not loosing anything.

 

[Hear Again]

Although i can hear sounds in the first month but it was very quiet, they tried to up the levels but i was feeling sensation on my temple as if i was feeling i was about to pass out! it was quite scary at first then the Audi thought it must be some of the electrodes. So at my first month post Activation they did sweep beep test then i told them i was feeling the sensation.. it was 4 of the middle electrodes. Since they turned them off it had been fine. And I am told that I am not loosing anything.

That's exactly how I felt. When I heard the high frequency beeps, I immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded. I could also feel a vibration as if an electrical current were running through my head.

 

[Hear Again]

Was it your brain that couldn't handle those 4 electrodes? Would it be possible to train the brain?

As you know, I had 6 high frequency electrodes turned off on each CI because they were causing dizziness and nausea. In my case, it was impossible for my brain to become used to hearing them since I haven't been able to hear high frequencies since 1985. (according to what my CI audi told me)

 

[overthepond]

Deafdude,

I think there is room for improvements, When i was under GA while they were implanting me. At the end before they close my ear up they did Nerve response test (NRT) My nerve had been tested to see how much sound i could cope with. My CI audiogram is almost there so perhaps in few more months i may find that my hearing would reach the levels. I had NRT at my 6 month post activation it is abit eye watering high pitched.

Now i noticed that the highs had gone bit quieter so perhaps i could get more stimulation next time. So I think there is plenty of room for improvements. I may stay at 30db since i like it, who knows.

As for non Auditory stimulation, read above post to Hear Again ^^^^

Thanks for your smiley. I am really chuffed with myself. I couldn't understand the Skip in normal everyday discussion but to understand him shouting under windy conditions is another thing and I am in awe with it!

Ps

This is my Aided with Widex pre CI and CI results at 1 month post activation. It's now in the 30's.

from your thread "Poor aided results above 500Hz"

 

[Lissa]

sometimes when i am at my implant centre the room does spin n i feel dizzy when they go through the electrodes but i dont say anythin

 

[Hear Again]

sometimes when i am at my implant centre the room does spin n i feel dizzy when they go through the electrodes but i dont say anythin

You should mention this to your audi and surgeon. Some of your electrodes may need to be turned off or turned down. Even if several electrodes are turned off, you won't hear any worse than you do now. As you know, I have 6 electrodes turned off on each CI and I'm hearing better than I ever have before.

 

[Lissa]

Yeah but i hear fine??

 

[Hear Again]

Yeah but i hear fine??

You may hear fine, but you shouldn't experience dizziness when certain electrodes are activated. You should be able to hear just as well (if not better) when the electrodes that are causing your dizziness are turned off or turned down.

 

[ecp]

My current hearing aids (Canta 4 BTEs) only have 65db of gain and I got them 6 years ago when I only had moderate hearing loss.
Now, I have severe/profound hearing loss and I struggle alot.
I also want hearing aids with FM and DAI because in noisy situations I am completely isolated from everybody around me.

I'm going to go see an ENT/audiologist soon. If only I had enough money for Sumo DMs or Naidas.

 

[Lissa]

My hearing aid is a lot like sumo dm but it has a different name, i dont really like this aid as i cannot hear much

 

[Pinky]

No, I am not happy with my HA. CI will be my next!