In thirty years of wearing hearing aids, I have never had both malfunction at the same time. Until now. Lunafur (Luna plus Lucifer) ate hearing aid number one. Number two died a natural death of moisture exposure. At 2500 dollars a pop, I do not have spares. I wear them until they are on death’s door.
Luna destroying more than hearing aids!
I have a few thoughts as I sit here in silence. Well, not really silence. I hear ringing that can range from a low roar to a rushing sound to whistling depending on how tired I am. Anyways, I digress. My thoughts.
Thirty years ago, hearing aids had different tiny screws for adjusting sound. They only had low, middle, and high range sounds to adjust. I remember sitting in the audiologist’s office while she rustled paper which was particularly annoying. She would rustle, get the special screwdriver to turn the sound down, then rustle again. It was up to me to let her know what I could tolerate and what was too much. They gave me some hearing but it was imperfect at best.
In 1995, computerized hearing aids came out. They could plug in my audiogram to the hearing aid’s program. It would automatically adjust sounds to my specific needs. It was a game changer. Suddenly the sounds I needed amplified were loud enough while the others that were annoying quieted down. Although it was not perfect, the quality of sound amazed me. It has only gotten better since then.
Perfect, right? This week smacked me in the face with the other reminder of what hearing loss does – causes isolation. Regardless of how fabulous hearing aids are, hearing loss is still a social struggle even with amplification. Without it? There is no way I can function in a hearing world.
Back when I was new to accepting my degree of loss, I thought through the what-if scenarios such as complete deafness. My audiologist and everyone else suggested sign language. I took a class. I learned two things. One – no one else around me was willing to learn to sign with me so it was useless to me. Two - my hands don’t seem to be able to sign very well, bending my fingers is an issue.
Next thought? Lip reading. Somewhere along the way I learned it without even knowing. I could see the referees swearing when my mom watched football games even with their mics muted. As long as people faced me, my compression of speech skyrocketed. I learned from my audiologist that certain sounds (B, T, P, C, D to name a few) all look the same. I learned to listen for context. Living this way? Having to be that watchful? Is exhausting. Even more so with no hearing to back it up.
So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Certain things need to happen in order to get new hearing aids. One – you need an audiogram to test your hearing. My clinic was backed up for months to get in. Luckily, they had a cancellation within a few weeks.
Next, the hearing aid evaluation. What kind do I need? What might work well for me. There are a few different types. In the ear canal is usually for mild or possibly moderate hearing loss. Major disadvantage to those is the exposure to wax and moisture. They do not last. Behind the ear with a receiver in the canal. Again… moisture and wax. I tried them once but they only lasted 3 years. Not long enough when we are talking 5000 dollars out of pocket. And, finally, behind the ear with tubing and ear molds. In my humble opinion, best bang for your buck as they last longer than the others.
The next consideration… how many bells and whistles do I want? Do I want the latest speech recognition programs? Do I want fully automated hearing aids that adjust to a situation without me having to touch them? What is available in my hearing loss range? How much am I willing to spend? This is where having an audiologist who understands your type of hearing loss, severity, and needs is crucial. I need the power aids for severe to profound loss or I will not have enough volume to hear. Bells and whistles are not important to me. I want reliability with quality sound. Period. The latest and greatest does not matter to me as I am a long-time hearing aid user.
Finally, what kind of ear molds do I want? Soft? Hard? Hybrid? Full shell? Half shell? Barely visible? With my hearing loss, the type of ear mold can mean the difference between the entire office being able to hear my music because of sound leaks and constant feedback to a comfortable, tight seal. This time, I even got to choose a color! (Hot pink swirls OF COURSE!)
After all these choices, we wait. Again. The story of my life. Waiting. It takes a month for the aids to come in. The molds have to be custom made to my ear so that takes time as well.
Two weeks ago, everything FINALLY came together. I got my hearing aids.
Here’s what I want you to know for those of you with little ones with hearing loss. Even if they can automatically adjust the aid to your child’s or your specific loss. Even if they ask what the sound quality is like in the audiologist’s office. There will always be an adjustment period. Sounds will need to be tweaked. Audiologist offices are about as far from real life as you can get. Things may sound great there but let’s face it. It’s quiet. No street noise. No people. No ambient noise at all.
The next stage is so important. I cannot emphasize this enough. Pay attention to when your kid does not want to wear his or her aids. What is going on? Are you in a loud environment like a classroom or restaurant? What is happening? Is a fan going? Is there paper rustlings? Keyboards clacking? All noises we automatically filter out that hearing aids do not do so well with. Go back to the audiologist and tell them exactly what you observed. Have your child tell them what is annoying. Yes. You spent gazillions of dollars on these things but I can tell you, sound can be painful if they are not adjusted right. Your chances of success go way up if you communicate with the audiologist.
Where am I in the process right now? I am listening. Bass noises are loud and clear. Bring on the thunder. The higher noises like female voices are too soft. We will make adjustments Friday. Overall sound quality is phenomenal but the blue tooth connectivity is unstable. All things I will discuss at my appointment. Be an advocate. Speak up. Almost everything is adjustable these days.
A final word of advice…. Buy a dry aid on Amazon or some place similar. Put the hearing aids in it every night. It will remove the moisture from sweat to keep them working longer.
I know this is a painful topic for a lot of people. I know it is scary. But I hope this helps if you or your child should ever need to go through this process. I am so happy to hear again!