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I am a 73 year old woman who has experienced decreased hearing over the past 25 years. My right ear is 30dB/44% with less that 60% speech recognition, and my left ear is 25dB with speech recognition less than 40%. I have severe high frequency loss. I currently wear Phonak 90 hearing aids in both ears and can hear well enough with the hearing aids in a quiet room with someone in close proximity, but really struggle when there is any kind of background noise, which means most everywhere else, and of course noisy restaurants or crowded rooms are impossible. My audiologist recommends a CI on my left ear, while trying to preserve my low frequency hearing. I have heard the CI is not that effective in noisy environments.
I am embarassed to say, that my vanity is right now preventing me from moving forward. I am currently a single woman, who is is still somewhat dating. I know this sounds immature on my part, and of course I want someone who will love me because of who I am and not how I look, but, in the real world, I cannot but think that this may be somewhat of an inpediment to ever getting there. Yes, I feel like a silly teenager, and I do believe everything is attitude, and I should just embrace it, but is anyone else struggling with similar issues?
Many thanks,
RW
Replies to "I am a 73 year old woman who has experienced decreased hearing over the past 25..."
You might find a great deal of support if you could/would get involved in an HLAA Chapter.
Most HLAA folks are people who have experienced adult-onset hearing loss. Many are retired. I know many who have met a future significant other through involvement in HLAA. These people all understand the struggles we have in noisy settings. They look at hearing aids and cochlear implants as helpful technology. They feel good about helping themselves. They don't care if it shows to use it.
I struggled with personal issues about my hearing loss until I became involved in HLAA. For me that was a long time ago. I've been reaching out to others for decades now because that organization gave me my life back. http://www.hearingloss.org Look for 'chapters'.
It does mean going public about your unique needs. Are you willing to do that?
I am 85 and had my CI implant done in 2022. I have no regrets. I have only had one person see my equipment and stopped me to ask questions about it as he was looking into it. I have short hair and do comb some hair over it but if not so what? I have difficulty in noisy environments and the Rogers mic does help somewhat. I also have a tv connector that Bluetooths the tv right into my hearing aids. My Phonak hearing aid is compatible with my AB Bionic CI. I find my hearing is better in the first part of the day. By evening it's not so good. My audiologist told me it was audio exhaustion of all things. I usually take my hearing aids out in the evening after the news and read until bedtime. I live alone so it's not been a problem. My friends and neighbors know that I do this and I have only had one person knock at my door and she didn't know. I saw my Ring doorbell because it flashes the lights on my Ipad.
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Hello, RW.
I will speak of my experience with HAs only, as I don't have CIs. I am in a very similar situation and have the same HAs that you described as well as severe to profound hearing loss >1kHz. Noisy environments are impossible for me as well, along with every other HA user that I know. There are some here that tell of the positive experiences with a remote microphone, but I only use a TV connector which is wonderful. If the remote mic performs like that, I would say the you should try a Roger mic. Not cheap though. Not sure if a CI would help, but my Audi didn't want to go the CI route since my hearing < 1kHz is not as affected and I would lose that. Perhaps a second Audi opinion would help your decision?
Vanity... My Audi asked what style of HA I wanted. I replied with the question: What would work best for my hearing loss? She replied "BTE/RIC", immediately. I was to the point that I couldn't function with my hearing loss and just wanted what worked. It's a game changer... except in noisy environments.
Dating... If you're truly seeking the person you say that you are, a visible CI won't matter to them anyway. Perhaps it may help to weed out the shallow ones...
JustTodd