Help for Hearing Impairment

Indie_Kid

Is there really anything that can be done in regards to Hyperacusis? I've noticed it's got worse again and I don't know if I'm wasting my time going to my GP and asking for help.

littlemoney

I have moderate to severve hearing loss. I wear 2 Spitit Zest hearing aids. I am going to the Audiology clinic at the hospital as I am struggleing to hear. I wondered if these aids are fairly reasonable or if I should ask if they have anything more update. Probably not much chance but thought I would ask for opinions.

Hear-Hear

Oticon Zest is a fine hearing aid. You are unlikely to be offered a choice. If you wish to have anything more sophisticated, you will need to consult a private audiologist.

But let your audiologist at the hospital try to adjust your hearing aids first. There is enormous flexibility in the Oticon Zest fitting software as long as the audiologist has the knowledge/experience (and of course the time available).

littlemoney

I had been having trouble with my Oticon Spirit Zest hearing aids. I was told that the aids were working OK and following another hearing test I was told that no changes were required as my hearing was the same. In spite of all this I felt that there was cotton wool in my ears as things were muffled

Having expressed an interest in blue tooth aids 2 years ago on a recent follow up visit I said I wanted to change to bluetooth as I wanted to get a streamer. They changed the aids and when I got home the first thing I did was to turn the TV volume down as it was too loud.

Are Oticon Spirit Synergy aids more powerful than Spirit Zest or were the old aids not working correctly.

Hear-Hear

They are not necessarily more powerful but they are likely to be a lot clearer, which means you'll be noticing the sharper sounds (especially consonants in speech, starts and ends of words) much better. Hearing aid technology has moved on so much, even in the last 2 or 3 years, so always worth going for the routine 3-yearly upgrade.

littlemoney

Hear-Hear wrote: »

They are not necessarily more powerful but they are likely to be a lot clearer, which means you'll be noticing the sharper sounds (especially consonants in speech, starts and ends of words) much better. Hearing aid technology has moved on so much, even in the last 2 or 3 years, so always worth going for the routine 3-yearly upgrade.

Hear Hear thanks for that. When I look on the Oticon web site I can't see the Oticon Spirit Synergy. Do you know if it has it been renamed for the NHS and if so what is its equivalent in the non NHS world.

Hear-Hear

Yes, the 'Spirit' range is made by Oticon for the NHS. Technical specifications are available on the NHS intranet, but not accessible generally, as the aids are only supplied by Oticon to the NHS rather than by Oticon directly to the public. Your audiologist *may* be willing to let you have a copy of the spec if you ask.

There are many many many non-NHS hearing aids, made by Oticon and by others. There is no direct non-NHS equivalent to the Oticon Spirit Synergy, as those equivalents are now obsolete as newer technology is launched to the private sector first, and then cascaded down to the NHS as further improvements in technology are developed.

cairndog

My son-in-law has suddenly lost hearing in one ear. After 2 GP appointments and being told it's probably congestion he was getting nowhere and saw a private ENT consultant. This man told him he should have been given a short hearing test by GP and given anti-viral drugs and a course of steroids straight away. As this didn't happen he said it was worth trying this anyway so he's on them now. They've also done an MRI to check there's nothing else, results in a few days.

But he is completely depressed by all this and the tinnitus seems worse than before the steroids. Normally very placid and reasoning man, he's not coping. Trying to be the usual happy dad and hold down an increasingly stressful job. My daughter is trying to get info on the net and help as much as she can.( looked at BTA site )

Is sudden hearing loss common? Has anyone had a similar experience ? As grandparents we feel sad for them but helpless.

leslea12

Hi

Can I ask you about the access to work grants? How do you apply? Or get more information.

Thanks

Socksey

cairndog wrote: »

My son-in-law has suddenly lost hearing in one ear. After 2 GP appointments and being told it's probably congestion he was getting nowhere and saw a private ENT consultant. This man told him he should have been given a short hearing test by GP and given anti-viral drugs and a course of steroids straight away. As this didn't happen he said it was worth trying this anyway so he's on them now. They've also done an MRI to check there's nothing else, results in a few days.

But he is completely depressed by all this and the tinnitus seems worse than before the steroids. Normally very placid and reasoning man, he's not coping. Trying to be the usual happy dad and hold down an increasingly stressful job. My daughter is trying to get info on the net and help as much as she can.( looked at BTA site )

Is sudden hearing loss common? Has anyone had a similar experience ? As grandparents we feel sad for them but helpless.

I hope he's had some further investigations. I lost my hearing like this, in one ear overnight and it took a lot of time to convince my GP to investigate it properly and finally I did get an MRI, which provided a reason for the hearing loss....