Comfort levels (for HA and CI users)

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dreama

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I've been reading a lot lately on what decible range modern hearing aids will go up to verses what decible range CI's go up to.

It both sounds rather painful to me. I was ok using Low powered HA. It was only when I lost my sight and started using higher powered HA that I started getting sound phobic.

So what I'm wondering from both HA users and CI users is what decible level are you comfortable at?

I'm also wondering if someone wore a CI in one ear and a HA in the other and had them both set to the same decible level, would it help with sound direction?
 
With my CI in my left ear here are the decibels I can hear things comfortably all the way down to:

Hz: 250 - 500 - 1000 - 2000 - 3000 - 4000
dB: 25 ---25 ----25 ---25 -----20 -----35

Average dB across the board: 24

I can hear most things all the way down to those decibels.

I do not wear a HA in my right ear as I have no hearing left and no HA in the world can help my right ear as it is a 120+ dB loss now.

I will have to ask my audiologist about my T and C levels at my next mapping session as these will give you a more accurate idea of what you are looking for from CIers.

Oh, and I believe my map was set at 900 hz, if that matters too.
 
Miss Kat is hearing down to 15 db, and she has never expressed that any sound she has encountered is painfully loud. She will stop and note, and tell us that something is loud, but has never taken her CI off or cried or said it hurt her ears. So....there you go.
 
faire_jour said:
Miss Kat is hearing down to 15 db, and she has never expressed that any sound she has encountered is painfully loud. She will stop and note, and tell us that something is loud, but has never taken her CI off or cried or said it hurt her ears. So....there you go.
Click to expand...

The thing I do notice with my CI is that when I first put it on for the day, it sounds a bit louder than it normally should be, but it only lasts for maybe about 5 seconds, and then it goes back to its normal level. What I do is I turn the volume all the way down first before putting the CI on, and as the hour goes on the volume is turned up every in 10 minute increments until I get to my satisfied usual level of sound that I use for the entire day. That way everything does not sound louder when I first put it on, and it makes it so much more comfortable. It works for me and I'm happy, so really not that big of a deal. Maybe turning the volume down from where it is normally at when you put the CI on Miss Kat, and then after about 10 minutes start turning the volume up and do that every 5-10 mins until you are at the volume that she normally uses for the entire day. I think it's only because when we are sleeping we sleep in 100% silence, and then when we put our CI on in the mornings it kind of gives the auditory nerve a "rude awakening". That could be what is happening with Miss Kat when she stops and notes and says something is loud. I've noticed this with other CIers too as well. Not painfully loud, just a bit louder than what we like but it only lasts for 5 seconds or so and then it goes back to its normal level.
 
I do not have a recruitment problem so ive yet to experience any discomfort with my HAs. As long as the SPL isn't set too high, no problem there. Below is the thresholds I hear with HAs. No it's not too loud either as it doesn't exceed my comfort levels or ever gets to UCLs.

125Hz=25db
250Hz=12.5db
500Hz=27.5db
750Hz=35db
1000Hz=45db
1250Hz=55db
1500Hz=NR at 90db

I will find out what im hearing and how much improvement I get when my HAs are reprogrammed sometime next week. The above test was done at home with both HAs in. I had an official test and the results are very close. I was surprised at the 250Hz result but I do know I heard 250Hz at 30db with my old HAs in 1998 and the new HAs are so much better.
 
Mine's 30/35 across the board, I have never ever experinced painful loud sounds. I do take my magnet off when someone coughs loud and harsh in Small rooms, We as hearing collegues and I have issues with small rooms like portakabin due to huge echo sounds, the hearing collegues covered their ears at same time as i did.
I do experince "surges" when putting my CI on in the mornings that only lasts few seconds. Recently I had tune up, I noticed that I had surges when they put my CI on, I told this to my Audi, actually I am one of very few people to experince this while tuning.
 
I do get these 'surges' too when I'm placing my CI..even with new map...so I always have fast beating of my heart when I first put it..when I put it when I'm outside in traffic does it help..lol after 15 mins it's down to normal...
 
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