Finding it hard getting used to digital hearing aids - any experiences?

[peggotty]

Hi, I had two in-the-ear digital hearing aids fitted last tuesday to replace one antequated analogue hearing aid and I'm finding it really quite difficult to get used to. Background noise is sort of reduced (which was my main reason for getting them really) but it sounds sort of unaturally muffled iykwim rather than reduced. Also my own voice sounds weird, which the audiologist warned me about, but will I get used to this!? I find that low pitched noises are also just muffled sounding rather than reduced, the clarity just doesn't seem right. I think part of the problem is that I am having to get used to hearing with two hearing aids rather than just one for my worst ear and nothing for the other. I have 52% hearing loss in the bad ear and 37% loss in the 'good' ear. My dh says he noticed this weekend that I seemed to be struggling to hear what my dd was saying when she was facing away from me in her buggy, which was always true, but I have to admit, does seem a bit worse now. I just feel a bit disappointed in these digital aids, but my expectations may have been too high, in that part of me might have expected 'natural' hearing rather than what it is, hearing through a 'machine'! Does anyone have any experiences, words of hope ...! TIA

[babyjamas]

i had digital hearing aids fitted about 4 weeks ago (i have a condition called otoschlerosis). i as expecting a magical transformation and that i would be able to hear 'normally' and comfortably straight away - so not the case! first off the aids were so uncomfortable and painful - quite honestly thought that i'd rather be hard of hearing than continue to wear them - and the sounds were so weird, hard to explain but certainly not normal. Anyway, 4 weeks down the line it has all settled down and i think i am heraing much more 'normally' now - would imagine that a lot of it is to do with how the brain interprets the sound and getting used to it all. Hnestly, give it a couple of weeks and i'm sure you'll find you're quite happy with them.

[peggotty]

Babyjamas, I have otosclerosis too!! Was it pregnancy that made the condition worse with you as well? Your post has reassured me, thanks - did you have to go and have any adjustments or anything done with your hearing aids at any point? And have you considered the operation for otosclerosis in the future? Sorry for all the questions!

[babyjamas]

probably was pregnancy - 3 children in th last 10 years, the last one just over a year ago and my hearing noticeably got worse over that period. I didn't realise quite how bad my hearing was until i got these aids! Like you i have a good ear and a bad ear (actually i thought i only had hearing loss in one ear, it was only when i went for my hearing test that i found that both ears were pretty poor, just one worse than the other). I haven't had them adjusted - after the first week or so i have really settled in to them. I have thought about the op, but quite honestly am happy if th hearing aids continue to do their job (and i quite like having the option to take them out - dh snoring heavily on Friday night after one too many beers, and i blissfully slept, years ago i would have been awake all night!).

[peggotty]

Yes, it can be handy being able to take the aids out . I am pregnant again at the moment so will be interesting to see if my hearing gets worse. I am due to go back to the audiologist in 3 weeks so if I am still struggling I can speak to him then. Thanks for replying, you've really helped.

[Idreamofdaleks]

I think the brain needs a couple of weeks to learn to process sound from hearing aids and you are supposed to wear them all the time because of this.

I have otosclerosis, worsened by pregnancy but didn't want to go down the hearing aid route.

I have had an operation on both of my ears and now have normal hearing in both. I would really encourage anyone to think about having the operation - it was a lifechanging miracle for me and I would be happy to answer anyone's questions about it.

[peggotty]

Idreamofdaleks please tell me your experience of the op, it's something I would consider in the future. Did you do it privately or nhs, what was the % failure rate you'd been given? Two consultants I have seen were both encouraging me towards the hearing aid route (which I have taken for the time being) rather than the op. I was told something like 2% failure rate, but I guess this might depend on who does your op?

[Idreamofdaleks]

Not being able to hear at night really scared me in case there was an emergency or if my child needed me.

Having perfect hearing again has given me so much more confidence in social and work situations - I didn't realise how much my confidence had eroded until I got it back.

[chopster]

I have to admit I never did get used to them. I hated the mechanical sounds they gave me. The antiquated ones looked horrible but I found the sounds better with them. I have a similar loss to you 60 and 40, but mine is congenital. I don't use aids at all now, haven't done since I was a teenager - I get by fine with lipreading.

[Idreamofdaleks]

I had mine both done on the NHS.

The experience of the surgeon makes a huge difference to the likelihood of a successful outcome. Make sure you get a sugeon who has done hundereds of these ops already.

Most unsuccessful ops can be revised for a successful outcome but there is a small risk that the nerve can be damaged which would leave you with no hearing at all. Without the op however your hearing will continue to deteriorate but this further hearing loss may be slow or rapid, there is no telling.

The operation does carry some risk and it's not pleasant but the gains from it are incredible. I would suggest that you find a surgeon who does a lot of these ops and ask to see him for an opinion.

[peggotty]

Idreamofdaleks - that's interesting I didn't knowthey could revise 'failed' ops - the first consultant I saw was really quite negative about the op - even at 2% it's a pretty tiny chance of failure surely?

Chopster - I have heard that the bigger, less aesthetically pleasing, shall we say, aids give a better sound, but alas, I am probably too vain for that!

[chopster]

I have nerve damage, I still have some hearing. Surely to be leaft with no hearing the nerve would have to have been completely severed?

[Idreamofdaleks]

peggotty please find a consultant who is an expert on this operation to talk to. Consultants have a duty to tell you about the dangers of an op and that can be scary - it scared me and actually put me off the op for a while as I am pretty cautious by nature. A good surgeon means that the risk of nerve damage is less than 1% which is pretty low.

But the vast majority of young and middle aged people who are suitable for this operation choose to have it rather than to wear hearing aids. I would really urge you to consider having surgery as it was one the best decisions I ever made (both times!).

[Idreamofdaleks]

do you have nhs hearing aids or did you pay for them privately?

[peggotty]

I paid for the aids privately. Also have cover via my husbands private healthcare so if/when I do go for the op, should be able to get it done straight away. Actually, the 1st consultant I saw was through bupa, and tbh he was an arse. Told me, amoungst other things, I shouldn't go on the pill, shouldn't have a large family, and that I should have a hysterectomy when I had finished having children!!! (presumably, instead of going on pill. Subsequent consultant said this was all a lot of rubbish. it's a bloomin minefield!

I am pregnant at the mo' so no chance of having the op anyway at the moment, but will seriously consider it...

[Idreamofdaleks]

Sounds like your first consultant thinks the hearing loss is hormonally accelerated but this is not what all of them think.

Do have a think about the op and ask me any questions you want. I had the fist op in 2001 and the second ear done in 2006 - the operation itself had advanced considerably in that short time, they are always making progress with these things.

Settling for a lifetime of subnormal hearing would have left me very underconfident, I don't know if it bothers you in the same way.

Commiserations on being a fellow sufferer btw!