Help for Hearing Impairment

Hear-Hear

Hello Errata,

The Siemens Impact hearing aids are an NHS-branded product that were released in August 2010 to replace the older-technology Siemens Reflex aids. The big bonus with Impact is that it bluetooth enabled ! There are good number of other enhancements too, that make the Impact a really good hearing aid. It has to be set up properly though !

You say that the "tekkie took quite a long time to set them up, he said he was having problems with the computer". I have to say that my interpretation of that is "the tekkie hasn't been trained to use the new software properly". Siemens did rush out the new Impact models and associated software rather too quickly in my view, when the new NHS Catalogue was launched in the Summer.

Make sure you make an appointment to see the Senior Audiologist when you call. Also explain to them that you would prefer an all-soft earmould, or even hard acrylic with soft meatal tip. The latter is my preference for use with 'power' BTE's.

Errata

Many thanks. I've tried my old soft moulds with them as I truly can't cope with the hard ones, although they did nothing to improve the hearing experience. Just been over to my neighbour's for coffee wearing the Siemens and we had a very 'eh' 'what' 'say that again' conversation, so I know they're definitely not right as I've never had that problem with him before. grrrr
Re the training, I suspect you may be right. I'm back in my old hearers now and will start to sort things out on Monday.
As always - very many thanks for your help.

stardust09

Errata, I really empathised with your post. Lots of your problems resonated with me. I'm glad you kept a firm hold of your old aids. I made sure that I did too. When you rely on them for every aspect of your life, you can't risk trialling a new pair of aids without back-up.

I've had my Impact M's for a month now but I keep swapping back to my Siemen's Reflex aids regularly as I find the sound quality of my new aids isn't right. I can't quite explain it but some sounds aren't sharp enough. For example, I can't hear my dictaphone files clearly, voices sound a bit muffled (loud enough but not clear), sometimes a bit echoey too, and I struggle to distinguish voices in group conversations. I mentioned this to my audiologist (who's the chief audiologist) and she said there was no way of altering this.

I was given a good range on my volume wheel and the standard setting was already set higher than the automatic one that the software suggests but within 24 hours, I had put my aids up to full volume so I could hear more. That's where they've stayed.

Also, whoever invented those silly little high pitched fluttering noises to signify programme changes. I like the good solid beeps! I can't hear them half the time and apparently they can't be altered.

Hear hear - I agree that the Bluetooth technology sounds a great advantage but not when my Trust wants me to pay £100+ pounds for a gadget that is essential for the bluetooth function.

Why does it seem to be so hard to achieve a good hearing experience?????

Hear-Hear

Utter tosh !!! Sounds like pure laziness on the part of your audiologist. It makes me quite cross, as it tarnishes the rest of us.

From what you say, it sounds like a simple case of too much bass.
I suspect she is either inexperienced or (if she really is Chief Audiologist) very lazy. Tell your audiologist to connect your hearing aids to the HI-PRO and go into the Siemens software via CONNEX. Instruct her to go into ACOUSTIC PARAMETERS and reduce your EXPERIENCE level by one level. If that makes no difference, advise her to look under FITTING ASSISTANT for your issues with voices sounding muffled. She will see a drop-down list of common issues and can select yours to improve it automatically by clicking the APPLY button.

You should also ask her to ensure that Programme 2 is set to SPEECH IN NOISE (or something similar) and to ensure that she ACTIVATES DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONES in that programme.

The sound of programme change tones can easily be altered in volume and in tone. Tell her to look for the button on her screen that is marked PROGRAM TONES (or similar) and ask her to adjust the sounds to your liking - she can do this in real time, with the aids actually in your ears using DEMONSTRATE BEEPS (or similar).

If she really is experienced, then she really should know better.

Bluetooth is great with the Impact aids, certainly with regard to audio listening, but I'm not yet convinced that it is good enough for audio-visual use. The Siemens version is called TEK, but it is an 'accessory', so fully understandable why you should be asked to pay for it if you want it.

CurrentWorker

I wonder what the latest hearing aids you can get from the NHS atm? I got Reflex OP I think as I can hardly read the writing... I got the hearing aids last year but I like to be kept up to date.

Hear-Hear

If your PCT supplies Siemens hearing aids, then the current aids supplied are the wireless and bluetooth-enabled 12-channel IMPACT models. These were launched in August 2010, and come in various models depending on the severity of the hearing loss.

The previous range was the wireless non-bluetooth REFLEX range, again coming in various models such as L, M, DP, etc. The REFLEX range ran from April 2008 to July 2010.

Prior to April 2008, it was the primitive (by today's standards) range of PRISMA hearing aids, which were non-wireless, non-bluetooth, and only 4-channel aids.

You should also be aware that, from August 2010, the number of different manufacturers and types of heaing aids that the NHS could supply was increased enormously. Prior to August 2010, it was always possible to supply an aid that wasn't in the "NHS Catalogue", but it was a hard slog. Now, the "Catalogue" from August 2010 is huge, and it's hard to find a production BTE that's not in the Catalogue !!

Hope this helps.

summerof0763

Errata wrote: »

Many thanks. I've tried my old soft moulds with them as I truly can't cope with the hard ones, although they did nothing to improve the hearing experience. Just been over to my neighbour's for coffee wearing the Siemens and we had a very 'eh' 'what' 'say that again' conversation, so I know they're definitely not right as I've never had that problem with him before. grrrr
Re the training, I suspect you may be right. I'm back in my old hearers now and will start to sort things out on Monday.
As always - very many thanks for your help.

i can fully sympathise with you,its like hearing underwater.
i wish i could go back to my old ones,but unfortunately they were broken.
i keep getting a sound like rushing wind in certain shops,which makes it impossible to hear,audiologist cannot understand why this is,and am i sure am not imagining it grrrrrr!! had hearing aids best part of 45yrs
phone trying to hear anything is a nightmare its muffled not clear,am sick of going back n forward trying to get them to give me hearing aids i can hear out of.
my rant over for now lol

CurrentWorker

Hear-Hear wrote: »

If your PCT supplies Siemens hearing aids, then the current aids supplied are the wireless and bluetooth-enabled 12-channel IMPACT models. These were launched in August 2010, and come in various models depending on the severity of the hearing loss.

The previous range was the wireless non-bluetooth REFLEX range, again coming in various models such as L, M, DP, etc. The REFLEX range ran from April 2008 to July 2010.

Prior to April 2008, it was the primitive (by today's standards) range of PRISMA hearing aids, which were non-wireless, non-bluetooth, and only 4-channel aids.

You should also be aware that, from August 2010, the number of different manufacturers and types of heaing aids that the NHS could supply was increased enormously. Prior to August 2010, it was always possible to supply an aid that wasn't in the "NHS Catalogue", but it was a hard slog. Now, the "Catalogue" from August 2010 is huge, and it's hard to find a production BTE that's not in the Catalogue !!

Hope this helps.

Hi, I assume PCT is my local hospital that supplies hearing aids? I do have Siemens hearing aids but I dont think they are wireless/bluetooth models. The only reason I asked now was that I asked my local hospital if my hearing aids were up to date last week so and they said it was the latest version/model. Perhaps (Highly doubt?!) my hearing aids are wireles/bluetooth models. It would be a great thing for me to have as I can then use my mobile a lot better.

Savvy_Sue

time I updated ...

had to go back because the 'tulip' mould was just not comfy, AND still getting whistles. saw a 3rd technician, so decided to ask again about using the phone - what is the point of a hearing aid if it's no help in the 2 situations where I can't hear?

this one found a smaller tulip mould, and did some more adjustments. then she said she thought there were magnets which could be stuck to a phone with a T setting, which would automatically switch my hearing aid to the loop (always assuming I had it in my ear and switched on, of course!) she came back with a 4th and 5th technician, one a hearing aid wearer who's the dept expert and another who overheard the conversation and wanted to learn more!

so I went away happy, knowing that if we don't already have such a phone at work, they will buy me one.

only then I broke my arm rather catastrophically, and I'm off work for some time, and putting in my hearing aid is one of the few things I used to use my left hand for, so whereas I was wearing it more, I've left it off for a bit. definitely wasn't going to take it into hospital with me, I'd be bound to lose it!

oh, and I'm going to miss lipreading classes until the new year, just too tricky to get there atm!

Hear-Hear

Current worker,

The PCT is the authority that runs the NHS in each geographical area. It is currently up to each PCT to decide which hearing aids to provide to their population, whether to supply one or two aids for binaural losses, etc, etc.

You mentioned in an earlier post that you have Siemens Reflex aids. These hearing aids are indeed wireless, which Siemens calls e2e, to emphasise the point that the two hearing aids work together, as a pair. However, you have been mis-informed that Reflex is the latest version/model. It is not !!

Reflex was removed from the Catalogue in July 2010, and replaced in August by the Impact range, which is bluetooth-enabled. It may well be that your PCT has abundant stocks of old Reflex aids to get rid of, but to tell you that they are the "latest" rather than the fact they are "obsolete" seems unethical, and rather depressing to me.

The bluetooth is truly awesome for use with a mobile phone, but re-read my reservations above about using it with the streamer for TV. BTW, beware, there are a small number of bluetooth mobiles that are not compatible with the Siemens bluetooth, but only a few - if you PM me the make/model of your mobile, I can check it out for you.


Savvy_Sue,

Yes, most modern digital hearing aids now have an 'Autophone' function, so that when you bring a 'Hearing Aid Compatible' phone to your ear, the aid automatically switches to telecoil mode. Phones that aren't Hearing Aid Compatible can be made compatible by fixing the wee magnet that is supplied with the aids to the speaker part of the phone - hey presto!. What's really happening is the magnet you stick on your phone replaces the magnet that is missing from inside a Hearing Aid Compatible phone.

Sorry to hear about the broken arm, Sue, but please please try to use the Right arm to reach across and insert the Left hearing aid. Regular use of both aids in both ears is always the best advice.