Help for Hearing Impairment

Unity

Errata wrote: »

As has been pointed out before, the main difficulty and stumbling block is the Postcode Lottery. My hospital trust devotes the absolute minimum of funding to audiology which results in the best suitable aid is not available and good staff not wishing to work in a badly funded service - who can blame them.
I guess a solution to this problem, which people may not be aware exists, is to ask which is the best aid for their hearing loss and if their trusrt doesn't provide it to ask their GP to refer them to the nearest Trust which will provide it/them.
Information is a right, not a privilege, and patients can choose which Trust they prefer to use.

Thanks for this excellent point :T! I will have to try this, or risk becoming totally socially isolated . I went to my local knitting group on Thursday and spent the whole time having to ask people to repeat themselves because I just cannot hear with the Oticon Spirit 3 no matter which programme I use. The other members are all really friendly, but if it irritates me, I can only imagine how it irritates them!

I got my second aid in August last year and I've been told it will be at least October before I can even get a fine tune. Unfortunately the old 'Black Dog' of depression is never far from my heels - and this feeling of isolation makes it ten times worse.

I appreciate that they can't do anything to fix my spine, pelvis and legs and over thirty odd years I've learned how to cope with constant pain - however it would be wonderful if they could do something about my hearing, as by the sound of it could be much improved, judging by posts on here.

I'll ask my GP at my next visit if he can refer me to another Trust.

stardust09

My Siemen's reflex DPs whistle like mad, no matter what alterations are made to them or my earmoulds. They seem ultra sensitive to any 'obstruction', even a bit of hair touching them or putting the hood up on my coat sets them off. Let alone trying to hug someone (people usually let go of me really quickly as they seem to think they're hurting me or something when they hear a whistle! Not conducive to close relationships). Of course, when I go to audiology, they barely issue a peep then I look an idiot for trying to say I've got a big problem with them. Grr!

I sometimes think my aids are recording a whole music album a lot of the time. I just hope they let me use the profits to purchase better aids privately...

Hear-Hear

Hello stardust09,

The Siemens Reflex DP is a very high-powered aid for severe-to-profound hearing loss, and is supplied only through the NHS. The closed commercial equivalent is the Siemens Artis 2 DP (you can generally find more info on the internet on the 'private' aids than on the 'NHS' aids). It has a really good feedback manager, but only as good as the setting applied by your audiologist.

Suggestions:

1. Wax in the ear provides a 'wall' to reflect sound waves back out of the ear. Ask your Nurse to check for obstruction

2. If the ears are clear, ask your audio to check the Feedback Cancellation setting for you on their computer and also to run the Critical Gain Measurement, to identify which frequencies are causing feedback. They can then be reduced accordingly.

3. Also ask the audiologist to check your earmoulds for damage, wear & tear, and blockages.

4. Is there a vent present (a separate hole right next to the sound outlet) ? If so, it probably needs to be blocked for such high-powered aids. If the earmould is more than 2 years old, it may well need to be replaced.

5. With such severe loss, you have probably had aids for some time, but it can be worth having the audiologist watch your insertion technique a few times. Bad habits can creep in over the years, and if the earmould is not inserted correctly, then sound waves will escape and be picked up by the microphones again.

6. Ask for a tube of lubricant/sealant such as Siemens Lubricaid or Puretone Auragel to provide a better seal in your ears.

Hopefully, one or more of these will help.

stardust09

Hi Hear-Hear,

I think I must have had most of those things done! Haven't tried the lubricant/sealant though.

The vent thing is an issue. I need vents because I am prone to getting nasty ear infections. As a result, I have my ears microsuctioned every 3-4 months, can't get them wet (even in the shower) and need a vent for air circulation. Also, I find it impossible to wear non-vented aids. I feel like I've got water trapped in my ears, I feel all bunged up, don't feel I can hear properly. It is the worst feeling ever. I have persevered but having worn aids for 12 years now, I just know I need that little vent, even if it means having to put up with the risk of whistling. I didn't have such bad whistling problems with my old Danalogics but I accept I'm now on a stronger aid, simply because a couple of my higher frequencies are borderline between the Prisma and the Reflex. When I wore the Prismas for a couple of years, they whistled a lot too though (and that was with a different set of earmoulds).

I just had a new earmould done and it's definitely tighter in my ear. The problem is that it is so tight that it feels like I'm trying to stuff a golf ball into my ear canal. When I take it out, I feel like I'm trying to extract a tooth as it's that difficult. I've worn it for a couple of weeks but it makes my ear feel so sore that I've switched back to my old one this weekend for a break. I've never had that problem with any ear mould before and I've definitely got through quite a few of them!

The frequencies causing the feedback can't be reduced any more without affecting the quality of my hearing so that's a dead end too.

Oh the joys of wearing hearing aids, and I'm only 32. I could already write a book on it...

Savvy_Sue

While we wait for Hear-Hear, what are your moulds made of? I don't get the ear infections, but I never had a comfortable mould until I went onto Open Fit, which sadly probably won't suit you.

However, prior to that I had a hole drilled in the mould to reduce the feeling of pressure, and then a mould made of silicone, which was marginally better except that no-one told me it was deformable, so I deformed it. My next request was going to be for soft silicone, which is deformable, but the Open Fit came along first.

stardust09

I've got hard moulds and usually they are fine after a little fine tweaking. I tried the soft squidgy ones but they can't have vents put in them because they just collapse. My ear infections aren't a result of the ear mould material, more a combination of sweat, high earwax production and a lovely mix of heat, damp and darkness in which bacteria love to thrive. I wear my moulds from about 7am to 11pm so they're in my ears most of the time.

The microsuctioning works well though. Since they started routinely doing it for me about two years ago, I haven't had a single external ear infection, just a slightly itchy ear from time to time which is a massive improvement.

I'd love an open fit mould but my hearing loss in the high frequencies is too bad. :-( . Apparently I have quite a difficult hearing loss to fit as my low frequencies are pretty good then my high ones are severe. One audiologist said it would be easier to fit me if I could manage to cause some damage to my low frequencies so that I balanced my loss out a bit more!

summerof0763

Hear-Hear wrote: »

Hi summerof0763

Well, you have the upper hand now, . The vast majority of Social Services Sensory Impairment Dept people I deal with are really good and just want to make life better for you. I'm sure that you'll find they will go the extra mile for you, as they recognise that you have been let down. So, with the upper hand, ask for:-

1. A Lisa Vibrating Multi Alert System. I am in no way connected to this firm; it's simply the one I am most familiar with. Google it to see what it can do. Just one central unit, plus however many paired receivers you need for things like the doorbell, the smoke alarm, the phone ringer, and baby's room, etc, etc.

2. A textphone (I have no preferred brand; the one I am most familiar with is the Textel, but it's pretty old-fashioned - like me really :cool:) so that you can use TypeTalk / TextRelay.

Just these two things will make such a world of difference.

your a wealth of knowledge lol.where do you get all your info from?
i have sent my letter of complaint,so await to see what happens,now waiting on one of daughters to phone audiology,had enough of this hearing aids like hearing underwater,and g/kids keep telling me am shouting at them,poor wee mites,i feel bad!!
my h/aids that am wearing are starkey radius 12p bte,anyone got info on what "better" ones i can ask for,had these since dec,tweaked,tweaked and more than tweaked,but i have to admit "i cant hear" argh!! constantly asking people to repeat themselves and a total danger outside,tia

summerof0763

anyone know of better h/aids i can ask about? seeing audiology in morning and want to sound like i know what am talking about lol,only worn aids for best part of 40yrs

Hear-Hear

summerof0763 asked "where do you get all your info from?"

The info comes from my job and from experience. There's a lot more to audiology than just fitting hearing aids, so I tend to look at the whole picture about people's reluctance to accept the need to actually do something about their hearing, the medium and long term rehabilitation needed to use their appliances successfully, attitudes to further deterioration in hearing acuity, and - importantly - all the other bits that can make life easier for people who don't hear as well as they should: other communication aids (like the 'Lisa', textphones, loop systems, etc), family approaches to communication (speaking TO the person, not shouting, tolerance, etc), the list goes on and on. There's no right or wrong btw, all I can ever put on here is my opinion!

By now, you have probably had your re-assessment? Most PCT's currently use G N Resound, Oticon, or Siemens. The Starkey brand is a fine name, but relatively few PCT's use them at present. The 'Radius' is probably a specific NHS product, but not in the current NHS catalogue. How old is it ? If more than 4 or 5 years old, the aids will be due for replacement anyway. The 'p' after the figure '12' in your current model number means it is likely to be quite a high-powered aid for severe hearing loss. By all means post on here what you have been offered.

summerof0763

Hear-Hear wrote: »

summerof0763 asked "where do you get all your info from?"

The info comes from my job and from experience. There's a lot more to audiology than just fitting hearing aids, so I tend to look at the whole picture about people's reluctance to accept the need to actually do something about their hearing, the medium and long term rehabilitation needed to use their appliances successfully, attitudes to further deterioration in hearing acuity, and - importantly - all the other bits that can make life easier for people who don't hear as well as they should: other communication aids (like the 'Lisa', textphones, loop systems, etc), family approaches to communication (speaking TO the person, not shouting, tolerance, etc), the list goes on and on. There's no right or wrong btw, all I can ever put on here is my opinion!

By now, you have probably had your re-assessment? Most PCT's currently use G N Resound, Oticon, or Siemens. The Starkey brand is a fine name, but relatively few PCT's use them at present. The 'Radius' is probably a specific NHS product, but not in the current NHS catalogue. How old is it ? If more than 4 or 5 years old, the aids will be due for replacement anyway. The 'p' after the figure '12' in your current model number means it is likely to be quite a high-powered aid for severe hearing loss. By all means post on here what you have been offered.

ah are you an audiologist lol,your certainly a handy person to .know,still waiting to see what happens re my complaint of ot.
was at audiology dept this morning as they were determind my aids needed retubed,even though i do that myself,so told them about problems i have been having with this ones,basically like hearing underwater is the best i can come up with,so they are going to make an app for audioaulogist to see me,only got these ones dec 09 oops,and they seem to think this is the highest they can offer me.do all nhs audiologist have acess to the G N RESOUND,SIEMENS,OTICON,or will it be dependant on where you live? should i ask for one of these named ones?
me i soak up as much info on hearing problems as i can,never know when it comes in handy