The audiologist said:

[Mobuck]

I have 'profound' hearing loss in the upper 20-25% of the sound range. 60-75% loss through the middle and the only 'normal' hearing is in the lowest 10-20% of frequencies (rumbling/thumping}.
She was really good and spent two hours discussing and adjusting my hearing aids with maybe a slight improvement.
Sucks to get old.

 

[eveled]

I’m sorry you have to deal with hearing loss. People take their hearing for granted.

I was born with a hearing deficit. I mostly cope by reading lips and ignoring people.

I firmly believe deaf is better than blind.

My new audiologist gave me the biggest compliment ever.

She said she has never met anyone with my level of hearing loss, that spoke so well. She went on to say she can usually tell by someone’s speech how bad their hearing was, and I fooled her.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Huh? What?

 

[Johnnu2]

I always considered my hearing loss a blessing
p.s. did she look anything like Turd's nurse?

J.

 

[Fox Mike]

My left ear is practically totally deaf on the high freq end. I have worn aids for many many years. Men's voices are no problem but hearing women still gives be trouble due to their higher freq.

 

[gunzo]

The audiologist said what? Renewed DL yesterday & got real ID for emergencies only as I don't intend to fly. Ky. has a BS way to renew now in that you have to go regional offices. I chose a rural one, same town I filed for SSI a decade ago. The folks there & I just relate better than going to the city.

The point of this is I struggled a bit with the eye test, but the big hurdle was hearing instructions. I told the young lady that my hearing was my biggest problem, not so much my eyesight, & apologized for needing the repetitive questions, & we joked a bit. She said, uh, I'm gonna pass you. Yey! no glasses restriction on the licence for 8 years.

The hearing thing, guess I could be like a couple of my so called friends & just sit there & remain silent when I ask them a question. One has 2 pair of aids but won't wear them, the other is younger & maybe vain enough he may not get them until force to for some reason.

 

[gjgalligan]

Sucks to get old

Only lucky people get old!

 

[Mobuck]

Like most other afflictions, it could be worse. It seems this audiologist feels it's a challenge that she can't pass up. When she asked if I would be interested in some increasingly technical trial and error, I told her as long as it didn't cost me much or require constant twiddling, I'd give it a try. I also found that she has access through several avenues to safety devices like strobe light smoke detectors and other hearing impaired assistive devices.

 

[eveled]

My new one are re chargeable and work similar to i pods. So phone and music come through.

Only minor gripes is the case is just a charger, not a reserve battery like the ipod case. Also they don’t turn off automatically when you dock them.

 

[Johnnu2]

My new one are re chargeable and work similar to i pods. So phone and music come through.

Only minor gripes is the case is just a charger, not a reserve battery like the ipod case. Also they don’t turn off automatically when you dock them.

Get a set at COSTCO.......... does ALL that tricky stuff and costs 1/4 the price (at least around here) $1400. I like mine.... and they can lower the volume whenever I want to )

J.

 

[wproct]

I'm 80 and haven't had my hearing tested since about 40 years ago at work. I know my hearing is not the best. I'm bothered mostly by tinnitus, have trouble hearing conversations in a crowded room, a bar or restaurant, and watching movies on TV. On the TV I can hear the conversation just fine, but it's garbled and can't understand what is being said. My wife bugs me to go get hearing aids mainly because I ask her to repeat herself. Honestly on the last issue it has to do with I'm always doing something and I'm not expecting her to say something and when she does it takes my mind a while for me to start focusing on what she is saying. Almost all of my friends that have hearing aids are always complaining about them either not working or squealing all the time.

 

[ArizonaTea123]

My military service pretty much screwed my hearing. In a crowded restaurant I can't discern peaple speaking in front of me. Background noise drowns out human speech.

 

[p345Fan]

My son lost 50% of his hearing in Afghanistan in an explosion. Now he wears hearing aids.

 

[p345Fan]

I'm 80 and haven't had my hearing tested since about 40 years ago at work. I know my hearing is not the best. I'm bothered mostly by tinnitus, have trouble hearing conversations in a crowded room, a bar or restaurant, and watching movies on TV. On the TV I can hear the conversation just fine, but it's garbled and can't understand what is being said. My wife bugs me to go get hearing aids mainly because I ask her to repeat herself. Honestly on the last issue it has to do with I'm always doing something and I'm not expecting her to say something and when she does it takes my mind a while for me to start focusing on what she is saying. Almost all of my friends that have hearing aids are always complaining about them either not working or squealing all the time.

It’s really annoying to have to repeat things all the time for people who choose not to wear their hearing aids. I go through this with my mother, especially on the phone.

Sometimes I will say, I have to go, there is someone at the door. Talk to you later. Bye. Just because it gets so damn irritating.

When I go to visit her, I tell her to put her hearing aids in, as half the time she doesn’t wear them. It’s just infuriating to have to repeat the same things over and over again.

 

[eveled]

Get a set at COSTCO.......... does ALL that tricky stuff and costs 1/4 the price (at least around here) $1400. I like mine.... and they can lower the volume whenever I want to )

J.

The real blessing I forgot to mention is all the hearing aid controls are on my phone.

I get mine free.

 

[Johnnu2]

The real blessing I forgot to mention is all the hearing aid controls are on my phone.

I get mine free.

YUP, the Costco ones do that too....... I just don't have a phone to use it on.
FREE beats $1400 (I think the VA gives them FREE but don't like government-run stuff, so I pay the bill).

J.

 

[eveled]

My sister has to pay for hers and it has been a burden for sure. I will mention cost co to her.

Plus when I retire I will have to pay for mine. I will definitely use Costco

 

[jav]

I just got. New set it’s the most powerful ones on the market my hearing is really bad it on the edge of implants . These aren’t perfect but they do help a lot phone conversation still sucks oh well that’s the way it goes

 

[Mobuck]

Here's my main gripe: I got a new phone because the old one wouldn't 'connect' with the new hearing aids. The problem is, now the phone conversation has to compete with the amplified environmental noise and I'm no better off than w/o this connectivity. They say it's a safety hazard to cut out external sounds and just amplify the phone. The only way to hear the phone is put it on 'speaker' and hold it against the hearing aid on one side or the other-which is against MO regs while driving.
From this perspective, I was much better off with one hearing aid and a phone headset on the opposite ear.

 

[JBP]

I went to the VA this week to have one of my hearing aides serviced. That was done and when the audiologist checked my records it showed that I hadn't been seen in the 7 years since I had gotten them so she gave me a hearing test and ordered me a new pair: Rechargeable, blue-tooth and water resistant with an Android app. My current ones didn't have blue-tooth or an App. They were my backup pair since my health insurance fully paid for a pair that had what my VA ones didn't and that audiologist is onlly 20 minutes from my house verus 45 to get to the VA. I was surprised that my hearing hadn't gotten any worse in the 7 years (even though my wife swears it has; LOL).

 

[Byron Bay]

A life on the land, lots of big tree felling. I never wore hearing protection as I like to listen to a tree to tell how close it is to coming down. Hilly country with rocks. The trees are camphor Laurel which grow fast and love this climate , introduced pest like so many other things in Australia.
I am 62 now and have been wearing signia silk ix in canal for two years now.Audiologist told me I had been lip reading to cope but also told me that women speak in a higher frequency so are harder to hear... My good wife did not believe a word of it , but it is a fact.
I am thankful for the technology. We have Costco over here so I might check them out as from memory my signia brand cost around 6500.00 Aud and they were cheap compared to some of the others.

 

[jg123]

I have had hearing aids for the last 30 or so years, they have some issues but they are better than not hearing....

 

[vito]

I don't know if all hearing aids today can do what mine do, but a feature of mine makes them especially valuable. My Phonak hearing aids, issued to me by the V.A., included a small gadget that attaches to my TV and sends the audio signal directly to my hearing aids. It uses the optical audio output from the TV, so I can even turn off the speakers totally and still get the full sound to my hearing aids. I do this often when my wife wants to read or sew in the living room where I am watching a TV show that she is not interested in. Even with my hearing aids I have trouble discerning speech unless the person talking to me is facing me directly, and in places like restaurants, with lots of noise from everywhere, I think the hearing aids might actually make things worse. But if I face the person speaking I do OK, and as I said above, watching TV with that feature is perfectly comfortable and I don't seem to miss any of the dialogue.

FWIW, while my hearing loss started when I was on active duty, and may be related to when I was in Vietnam and my unit was adjacent to a 8 inch howitzer battery, I think it was/is the decades of motorcycle riding without using any hearing protection that really did me in. Riding a motorcycle makes the wind noise inescapable, and the only real solution is to wear ear plugs of one type or another. I do so now, at least most of the time, but all those years riding have taken their toll. I strongly advise anyone reading this who has decent hearing, and is a motorcyclist, to not wait until irreversible hearing loss has already occurred before starting to use earplugs. The best ones that I have found are from a company named Earpeace (much less espensive than custom earplugs, and more effective as well).

 

[MaxMan]

I have 'profound' hearing loss in the upper 20-25% of the sound range. 60-75% loss through the middle and the only 'normal' hearing is in the lowest 10-20% of frequencies (rumbling/thumping}.
She was really good and spent two hours discussing and adjusting my hearing aids with maybe a slight improvement.
Sucks to get old.

Yes it-does, then again the alternative. I heard it said don't despise getting old, some people never get the chance. ( I have to call this to mind from time to time.

What makes hearing loss hard IMO besides the actual problem, is that there are no external indications of the issue resulting in people misunderstanding not being heard to be rudeness or other types of insults.

 

[Shotgungibbs]

I too am deaf in my left ear without my hearing aids. I've worn them for 8 years, Insurance wouldn't pay anything for me, I paid $6,000 out of pocket. I'd like a pair that is blue tooth phone compatable, but can't afford to trade in & pay the difference. I cannot imagine not having them. They changed my life in a wonderful way!

 

[Yaworski]

I was surprised that my hearing hadn't gotten any worse in the 7 years (even though my wife swears it has; LOL).

When I was in my 40s my wife was whining that I was losing my hearing. I went and had my hearing tested and it was still excellent. She didn't like my answer that I just didn't bother to listen to her.

 

[ArizonaTea123]

I inherited my father's hearing aids but they are very uncomfortable, and heavy.

 

[MaxMan]

I hope you get the issue fixed

 

[Teflon97116]

Costco sells a highly rated brand (Rexton) with all the bells and whistles. Different modes include "playing music" (great for this guitarist), directional mics, noisy rooms, Bluetooth streaming, charger, etc., etc.).

They cost less than most other well-known brands and I love Costco's warranties on everything.

Costco's free hearing tests and hearing profile printouts are acceptable by VA raters to document hearing loss when submitting/increasing a claim.

Like I tell anyone who complains about being around deaf people like me:

"Hearing aids don't 'fix' anything, but they sure do help."

 

[WAYNO]

I have pretty severe tinnitis, recognized by the VA. They give me $175 per month for it.

In addition, the VA recently decided to add hearing loss to my disability. VA math is weird. 10% disability for tinnitis, and 10% for hearing loss, but that still equals a total 10% compensation. Seems hearing disorders caused by tinnitis plus hearing loss still gives you just one compensation.