Getting used to hearing aids

[Fritz The Cat]

Before, my world was calm and peaceful. Now it's chaotic and cluttered. I'm hearing things, lots of things, I was never able to hear before. I was expecting just an increase of volume. Not so, I'm inundated with sounds I haven't heard in decades. Like the crinkling of a Milky Way candy bar wrapper as I remove it and creaking doors that I never heard creak before. They told me it would take some time for my brain to get accustomed to hearing again, they were right. I'm suffering from information overload now but I have faith that my brain will adjust.

Wow, I had no idea. 

[Red Diamond]

After two years of owning a pair, I'm still getting used to wearing them. I tend to remember I need them only when I have a doctors appointment and don't want to miss hearing something important. The rest of the time I don't wear them because of the added hearing ability they bring to my ears, especially in crowded places like restuarants or any other places where there is a lot of talking going on. It irritates my wife that I don't wear them, since it makes her repeat statements, I leave them out so I can say huh.

[solo1]

I'm on my second pair of hearing aids. I too was flooded by too much sound information that I didn't need (I thought)

Now, I've come to really appreciate what I've been missing.  My brain has finally come to terms with this.

I personally think now that if you don't wear them all the time, your brain will never get used to them.

I do leave them off when getting a haircut or a fast trip to the grocery. Everything then is muffled.

Keep in mind that hearing aids, IMO, aren't worth a damn in noisy restaurants so don't judge them by that alone. Nothing can take the place of natural hearing but aids help in most conditions.

WEAR "EM!!!!!

[ricoman]

I often don't put them in
I like saying "huh", "excuse me", "say that again"-drives my wife nuts
I don't ever wear them while riding though.
And never in the shower

[solo1]

Yep, I forgot to mention, I don't wear them when riding either, i wear ear plugs instead but I can still hear what's necessary to keep me out of trouble.

[vanavyman]

Hearing aids appear to be like bifocals.  Can't get use to them or benefit from them without using them all the time. Like my bifocals but have not gotten hearing aids yet. Have a pretty good hearing loss from my first Navy ship. I keep telling myself I'll get them when my hearing gets real bad. Probably should get them now.

Dan

[scoobydoo]

I'm at the point that I now believe I need them.
Any thoughts on brands.
Just hate to spend the $
Keep hearing all the bad stories.

[Master Blaster]

I'm at the point that I now believe I need them.
Any thoughts on brands.
Just hate to spend the $
Keep hearing all the bad stories.

Me too, after 30+ years of turbine engines in rotor wing, Its bad, not only hearing loss, but tennitis  that comes and go's.  However being half deaf does have some advantages, as long as there is closed captioning on my fav TV.

[solo1]

It would be worthwhile to look into Costco Kirkland 5 hearing aids. Costco is selling them cheaper because they use qualified techs,( not audiologists) who do NOT get paid commission.  Also Costco buys in larges quantity lowering the prices and uses good manufacturers to buy from.  3 year warranty, no BS.  Lots of advantages that the big dollar outfits don't give. You don't pay for all the BS and believe me, there's lots of that!

Mine work fine and I'm satisfied and,no, I don't work for Costco .  Check them out!

[dragonslayer]

First,if your a veteran go to the VA.They replace them every 4 years with newer and better hearing aids.My 3 year old ones came with a remote so I can adjust them for any backround noise and  can go from off to hearing a coin drop in the next room.Some of the newer ones are even better but are really pricey.If you just looking to hear somethings there are cheapies on ebay for as low as $10 that will help you hear better but don't expect any frills,they are just simple sound amplifyers.I'm now wearing mine more often and it really is amazing what you miss without them.
Do yourself a favor and try them,you might just like the diffrence.

[michaelyoung254]

Sorry that this is a bit long, but I've been wearing hearing aids for almost 20 years, and while they can make life much better, they can also make it a PITA as well. Over the years, I've done a bit of research into hearing loss, and hearing aids.

I think it's important to understand a few facts about hearing loss. Regardless of how the hearing loss was brought on (mine was due mainly to noise exposure in a power plant), one of the biggest problems with hearing loss is not that you don't hear anything, it's the fact that you lose the comprehension of what you are hearing. In regards to hearing, your brain is a huge filter. It filters out noise, and focuses on what it interprets as credible information. This is an extremely important factor because it is said that if your brain can no longer distinguish noise from non-noise, you will go insane. It is believed that this is the reason Van Gogh cut off his ears. It is believed that he suffered from severe Tinnitus which basically drove him insane. The filtering is why someone who has hearing loss doesn't understand what is being said (especially when they are not focused or paying close attention to whoever is speaking), but when you ask the speaker to repeat themselves, often you already know what they are going to say as they say it, kind of like deja vu. The first time you heard what was being said, your brain couldn't interpret the sound you were hearing from noise because you were not focused on the speaker; therefore, it simply filtered it out.

When looking at getting hearing aids, First, make sure you find a good Audiologist, and compare prices with other Audiologists in the area. It's amazing how much of a difference in price you will find when comparing the prices of hearing aids from one Audiologist to another. Second, just understand that unlike glasses, hearing aids will NOT correct the problem. Modern hearing aids have a certain number of bands which will allow different decibel levels to be amplified more or less than others. This will help because people tend to lose the mid, and high range ranges while retaining the lower ranges. Older or cheap hearing aids don't have this ability, and therefore tend to overwhelm the user by amplifying everything instead of only what they need. Third, regardless of how great the technology of the aid, certain areas, especially any place that is noisy, the wearer will most likely be better off removing them because even though they may have multiple bands, they will still amplify much of the sounds which the wearer does not need amplified, making comprehension of what's being said almost impossible.

[Fritz The Cat]

I think you hit the nail on the head, Michael. It's as much, if not more about what the brain does with the sound it receives as what the hearing aides send it. I never realized it was this complicated.

[old2soon]

To our proud Veterans out there. When they looked at my DD-214 and found out I worked on and around aircraft in the U S Navy my entire 4 years the V A footed the price of the exams fittings the hearing aids themselves and the batteries. If you are a Veteran might be worth a look at your V A. Mine involved a couple of round trips of about 212 miles. Weather was nice enough to ride the Phatt Ghurl. NOW it's Valkyrie related!  RIDE SAFE.

[lacon]

Good to read that Michael.  Describes my condition exactly.  I'm 71 & do have good programable hearing aides, but tend to wear them only when I'm going to be in a social setting.  Many times I hear someone say something, but it just dosen't register in my mind what they said.  (So I'm not alone anyway)

[BnB Tom]

   USUALLY, your hearing loss is over a long period of time so if they just throw in a pair of hearing aids that abruptly bring your hearing up to snuff, you're gonna freak out.
 TOOOO LOUD!!  THAT'S NOT MY VOICE!  WHAT"S ALL OF THAT NOISE??

  A GOOD audiologist will start you out gradually and make adjustments after you begin to get used to the "new" sounds.  It should take several visits/adjustments before they become more natural (ie: bifocals).

  Had mine for 7 years now and look forward to putting them in when I get up in the morning so I can watch AND listen to the morning news with my coffee.

  And of course, to all of you macho-ites, they're not very manly so don't let any REAL bikers catch you wearing them 

 

 

[solo1]

Very good post Micheal.  Many years ago I sold hearing aids (analog and they weren't very good.)
I also worked in environmental testing which involved working with audio frequencies .db. etc.

I made a BIG mistake when I bought my first set of hearing aids.  I bought them from a distant friend who is a dealer. I sent him a copy of my loss, the test was done by an audiologist. I spent considerable time trying to get them to work by sending them back to him. 

I do not entirely agree with the don't buy cheap hearing aids statement as price is not necessarily a function of a good hearing aid.  I also have found that a good fitting can be done by highly trained technicians instead of audiologists, who generally want to sell more pricy hearing aids..  The newest method of in the ear testing using a very small microphone between the hearing aid and the ear drum, has really advanced the technology. Since every loss is different and every ear canal is too, it results in a better fit. Of course this is IMHO.

Denny, I have a small fortune in hearing aids and, although I'm a Korean war Veteran, as you know, I cannot get hearing aids from the VA. My records were burned and the VA insists that I was an xray technician in Korea.  Not true but i can't prove it.  BTW, my Senator's staff is trying to help.

[Hooter]

   I didn't know that birds chirped every morning until I got them. Ya the crackling that the wind can produce and some of the now heard "high pitched" sounds can be annoying at first. All in all, I don't like mine but they are necessary if I want to hear the things I've been missing for years. I don't wear them when riding, or at night watching TV. (my wife says so my selective hearing stays active   ) I think they are a great aid but I had to pay for my own and I don't see how $5,000.00 comes into play here but it did.
   I'm a retired 28 year    but not of the armed services so my insurance doesn't cover it. Too many years of qualifying with a handgun and not using hearing protection.   Now after 33 years in the fire service big equipment running didn't help either.
   For you people that still have good hearing, PROTECT IT. Hearing aids are nice but a PIA.

[solo1]

 For you people that still have good hearing, PROTECT IT. Hearing aids are nice but a PIA.

Quote by Hooter.  I couldn't have said it better.

In the words of some, "Loud pipes save Lives"  maybe, maybe not, but they sure as he** don't save hearing!  Motorcycle related now.