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Original poster

For Those of us who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Part 2

562 replies

Violinist64 · 05/06/2023 21:05

The original thread is almost full and I have found it extremely helpful so have started this new thread.

OP posts:
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10
purpleme12 · 09/09/2023 22:53

I have to say I don't get sweaty ears!

GardenersDelight · 27/09/2023 19:43

Well got mine yesterday so far so good
But can't work out how to sink to phone for calls and podcasts

SuziLikeSuziQ · 27/09/2023 20:11

Yoghurtpotsatdawn · 04/09/2023 00:11

Can I join in ? I’ve just got a pair of Danalogic GN aids which are a huge improvement on the awful things I got first time round. All they did was made everything louder, but nothing was clearer, and I couldn’t filter out any background sound.

I was diagnosed with mixed hearing loss in one ear and sensoneural in the other. My ears had quite a lot of wax in, but wasn’t blocking the eardrum so they were able to test and fit aids but have now done microsuction and the rest of the hearing test done. I have an ENT appointment for the mixed hearing loss. Does anyone know if conductve loss could just be caused by all the wax? I have had a perforated eardrum in that ear and had constant ear infections as a child and was told at my first ever test that there was quite a lot of scarring. Thanks everyone. This is such a useful thread.

As far as I'm aware (I'm a deaf Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People) they don't consider wax to be a conductive loss but yes, if it's up against the ear drum then it could be preventing it from vibrating properly. But they wouldn't say it's a conductive loss, they'd say you've got wax! It doesn't sound as though you had loads in there anyway if they did some tests and fitted you with an aid. It's far more likely that the scarring on your ear drum is causing the conductive part of your mixed loss as it will make the ear drum tighter and prevent it from vibrating properly.

Anyone else enjoying Bake Off with the contestant with a cochlear implant and having a BSL interpreter? I love that there are slowly more Deaf role models on television!

Summerswimmer767 · 27/09/2023 20:17

@GardenersDelight do you use a iPhone or iPad then turn on Bluetooth -then if the hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled you can go into the “settings” on your phone/iPad then scroll down to find the “Accessibility” option then scroll down to “Hearing” then my aids appear at the top as a device to connect to. I don’t know how android devices work though.

noearnohear · 27/09/2023 21:52

Great thread- I had a tumour years ago which was growing on my inner ear and wrecked all the nerves so I can't hear in my left ear and it's so frustrating as people always think I'm rude/ignorant or ignoring them. I'm not sure if hearing aids would work on me

Greedybilly · 27/09/2023 22:08

Great thread . I'm partially deaf and wear hearing aids but they're not the magic wand everyone thinks. I do struggle working in an office- I often take my aids our as too noisy- then miss things/people don't give me chance to get them back in. It's exhausting. anyone else?

eveoha · 27/09/2023 22:09

I’ve just been fitted with the most fantastic ear moulds for my hearing aid - not sure what they’re made out of but they have dramatically improved my hearing and are so much more comfortable-Thankyou you Ruth at Broadgreen Hosp ☘️👍🏿🙏🏽

purpleme12 · 27/09/2023 22:10

I would so like purple ones. I saw a child at school with them.
Such a shame they only give them to children

Tomrrowandtomorrowandtommorrow · 27/09/2023 22:28

I got NHS purple glittery moulds, aged 37, because my 4 Yr old was with me and was allowed to choose them! Then years later when my dog ate one, they replaced it with purple glitter again. Love them!

It's great to meet my people! I have Otosclerosis (sp?). They think so anyway, I don't fancy the surgery because the risk of making my thundering tinnitus any worse is frankly terrifying.

I'm also finding work really hard. I'm a teacher and I swear the kids get quieter every day. It's very saddening.

purpleme12 · 27/09/2023 22:31

Tomrrowandtomorrowandtommorrow · 27/09/2023 22:28

I got NHS purple glittery moulds, aged 37, because my 4 Yr old was with me and was allowed to choose them! Then years later when my dog ate one, they replaced it with purple glitter again. Love them!

It's great to meet my people! I have Otosclerosis (sp?). They think so anyway, I don't fancy the surgery because the risk of making my thundering tinnitus any worse is frankly terrifying.

I'm also finding work really hard. I'm a teacher and I swear the kids get quieter every day. It's very saddening.

I'm so jealous.
I did ask but he said they only give them to children! 😭

Tomrrowandtomorrowandtommorrow · 27/09/2023 22:31

Is it right that you can only have BAHAs on one side? I love the way people accessorise them with jewellery (very Star Trek!), but my hearing loss is bilateral so I assume thats not an option? I'm overdue a check up.

Tomrrowandtomorrowandtommorrow · 27/09/2023 22:31

I'm not very mature, to be fair.

MontyDonsBlueScarf · 27/09/2023 23:53

@noearnohear I have no hearing in one ear due to nerve damage and low frequency loss in the other. I had been doing well with one hearing aid, but I've been trialling the new Real aid (one aid plus a CROS, which transmits sound from the non hearing side direct to the working ear) brought out by Oticon and it's amazing. Apparently this is a major technical step forward as all other CROS aids just transfer whatever sounds they pick up, whereas this edits the sound before transmission in the same way as a normal hearing aid.

I'm not aware of any improvements in my hearing as such but I'm very much aware that I can cope in situations that would previously been difficult or even impossible. So I would say it's definitely worth investigating.

@Greedybilly I so get the exhaustion, when I finally got a good audiologist and the right hearing aids the biggest difference it made to my life was that I wasn't tired all the time. Have you explained the situation to your audiologist? You might find that you can have aids with a mute switch or a different program which could work better for you.

noearnohear · 28/09/2023 06:20

How do you actually go about getting a hearing aid ?

ThePoetsWife · 28/09/2023 07:11

noearnohear · 28/09/2023 06:20

How do you actually go about getting a hearing aid ?

Get a referral to audiology via your GP

repeatplease · 28/09/2023 08:55

Hi - for sunshine mum and ticketyboo - have you had the cochlear implant yet? Went to presentation on this by the hospital and it was very much emphasised that success was down to individual perseverance with them and that not everyone tried hard enough. Gosh

GardenersDelight · 28/09/2023 09:18

@summereswimmer767 thanks for that but unfortunately I'm on android and think they're a bit behind as so many varieties
May have to change to apple if no success

ThePoetsWife · 28/09/2023 09:30

repeatplease · 28/09/2023 08:55

Hi - for sunshine mum and ticketyboo - have you had the cochlear implant yet? Went to presentation on this by the hospital and it was very much emphasised that success was down to individual perseverance with them and that not everyone tried hard enough. Gosh

Bloody hell - talk about blaming the victim!!

Did they tell you how cochlear operations can and do go wrong - and there are occasions when the implant doesn't work as expected, fails etc despite how much work the implantee puts into it.

When it works, it can be an incredible tool though.

repeatplease · 28/09/2023 10:27

Thanks for your reaction,PoetsWife! Thought I was being oversensitive since that was my reaction! In all fairness they said they hadnt had any fails - the surgeon emphasised how many ops he's done without damaging facial nerves. The booklet of experiences was impressive (though nearly all the writers were people who had lost hearing as an adult which must be terrifying) but am still sitting on fence about having one.

SuziLikeSuziQ · 28/09/2023 13:05

GardenersDelight · 27/09/2023 19:43

Well got mine yesterday so far so good
But can't work out how to sink to phone for calls and podcasts

What make are they? I have oticon with an android phone and need an intermediary device called a connect clip to use with my phone.

Poppercorn · 28/09/2023 13:24

GardenersDelight · 28/09/2023 09:18

@summereswimmer767 thanks for that but unfortunately I'm on android and think they're a bit behind as so many varieties
May have to change to apple if no success

Hey, are you using Google Pixel? This live transcribes calls for deaf people and it is amazing.

GardenersDelight · 28/09/2023 19:32

@suzilikesuziq yes I think I'm going to have to buy one though the audiologist thought the updated app meant I might not need to
Not sure whether to try with over ear headphones on top of the aids

Soubriquet · 28/09/2023 19:44

Does anyone know why people with hearing aids shouldn’t use the ear syringing stuff you can buy?

I think I have wax that needs to come out but the box specifically says do not use if you wear a hearing aid

PeskyandIknowit · 28/09/2023 19:53

@GardenersDelight I've an android phone and it connects well to Bluetooth but I guess depends on the phone and hearing aids. I like taking phonecalls through my hearing aids for the ease of it, but I use over hear headphones for music and podcasts as the bluetooth sound quality through the hearing aids just isn't as good.

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