Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

Tried more expensive itc aids and molds or my over the ears aids and I have far too much occlusion and cannot stand that with them stuck in my ears. Even the air holes do no help me. I feel my ears are stuffed. I used them for a long time but finally gave them up and went back to the soft fittings in my canals. I pray it’s not my attitude. Mercy.

It took me awhile to get used to them but now I couldn’t imagine not having them.
A friend tried them and felt just like you did.
Hang in there. 😊

I have the same problems as you do. I have a CI in my right ear and a hearing aid in my left ear. I simply cannot hear in big rooms with many people chatting. I still go rather than sit at home. I have good friends fill me in on some things that are being said. Same goes for noisy restaurants. I have tried the hand held mike but it just doesn't work for me. It's a problem that many have spoken about in this forum. I think I miss music the most since it's just not the same with hearing aids.

I have a terrible hearing problem and getting worse. I have Phonak hearing aids and help a little. Have to be in a quiet room to hear someone. I also have awful tinnitus, which is frustrating.
Why can’t someone out there help us. They send people to the moon, but can’t help people with hearing problems.
All those advertised nutrients and pills don’t help either.

I only experience tinuitus when I go to bed. It is more like water running in the back ground or the hum of a motor. I hear; however, I lack clarity if other voices in conversation are going on or even my dogs barking take over and the voices become jarbled. Other than one on one conversations, I am left out with no idea what is being discussed. I feel bad you have to experience tinnitus Is this even with your hearing aids in? That would be hard to tolerate for me.

I celebrated my 73rd birthday with my daughter and her husband and my three beautiful granddaughters in a crowded restaurant and by adjusting my Signia AX 7 hearing aids to noisy environment I was able to hear pretty well.
Everyone probably has program settings on their hearing aids but my audiologist periodically adjusts them which helps. The noisy setting immediately eliminates the background noise.
Feel free to share.

@dwheels8 I would be interested to know if you are using any assistive technology with your bimodal situation. I also use a hearing aid and a CI. The assistive technology makes a huge difference for me in noisy settings. Not perfect, but way better than without it.

Telecoils are kind of like having 'binoculars for your ears'. They bring desired sound direct to your personal hearing devices. However, that 'desired sound' has to be projected via a microphone. That can be in a performing arts center, a meeting room, or even in your home. It can also be done via some simple devices you can use personally. Do you know what a Pocket Talker is?

Telecoils have been around for decades. They were created to use with landline phones. (Thus the name 'tele'coil.) Consequently, people in the hearing healthcare professions tend to diss them and call them 'old technology'. This is a shame because they can connect us to so much more now than they were originally developed for. Venues that have installed hearing loops that connect telecoils to the master PA system are creating communication access for millions of people with hearing loss. There are other ways to do that, but loops are the systems most preferred by the hard of hearing population that is in the know. You can find some good information at: http://www.hearingloop.org NOTE: Those 'other ways' are with FM technology and Infrared technology.

BlueTooth technology is newer. It works well with cell phones and can connect to other audio devices, but it cannot connect a room full of hearing aid users to a single sound system.

Maybe looking at the 'money aspect' answers a few questions. A telecoil adds virtually zero cost to a hearing device. BlueTooth can add $1000. What would you sell if you were making a living selling hearing instruments? Another thing to ponder is space within the hearing instrument. A telecoil is tiny, but it takes space. What is the focus on selling hearing instuments now? INVISIBLE, SMALL, No One will see it, etc. Really??

Telecoils often exist in hearing aids but are not activated by the provider. They have to be activated to function. ASK your provider if you have them and if you do, ask to have them activated. Then, insist that they show you how to use them. Chances are they might minimize their value and not have the means to share that information with you. Shame on them, The only way this changes is if the PEOPLE who use hearing instruments speak up.

That's my story about telecoils! I'm sticking to it!! 🙂 Auracast may be coming in the future, but it isn't here yet. Meanwhile, we want to hear NOW, not in a few years or more.

Thank you for all the information.

What is Auracast? I would love to hear more about it.
I keep on hoping technology can help all of us.
If we can put a man on the moon why can’t we help millions and millions of people get the gift of hearing back?
I am so glad you started this group.
The more people that join the group means more stories are being shared and the more we can all learn what is out there.