Hearing aids in but still not understanding words

I have been wearing hearing aids for 3 years. I also have a problem with clarity. My hearing is very limited in a group setting. The background noise drowns out my being able to hear. I have had several hearing tests and they turn out fine because there is no added noise in the background like there is in real life.

One of the most important hearing tests a person should receive when being fit with hearing aids is called the SPIN test. That stands for Speech Perception In Noise. It includes a series of sentences that are given in progressively noisy backgrounds.

Nearly everyone who has hearing loss will tell you that they do fairly well in quiet settings, but the minute there is background noise that ability to understand diminishes. Yes, we hear but we don't understand speech.

Google 'the cocktail party effect' and let us know if you identify with it.

Very interesting information. Thank you.

I have a remote with my Phonak Behind-The-Ear hearing aids. When on an airplane I can click on the remote that lowers the background noise of the noisy aircraft. I hear the person sitting next to me and the Steward asking what I want to drink. These Phonak behind-the-ear hearing aids are 20 years old and I still love them. I wear a hearing aid in each ear. They can be repaired if needed.

What kind of 'remote' are you using with your older Phonak BTE hearing aids?

Did that ENT say anything about you qualifying for a cochlear implant? Your 40% word recognition should qualify you.

The idea of surgery can be frightening. Sometimes we express that fear to the point where the CI option isn't addressed. Of course, our state of health is a consideration. I do know several people who have benefitted from cochlea implants in their 80s and 90s. Age should not be an issue in a healthy individual.

It is also important to understand how modern hearing aids can work with remote devices like microphones and cell phones. Was that explained clearly at your appointment?

It came with my hearing aids 20 years ago. It is called a
a Digital Handy Control by Phonak. It is 2" wide and 4" long. You can control the background noise by pressing #one (quiet room), pressing #2 on a airplane and pressing #3 at football game.

Thank you for sharing that. Do you use a neckloop with it? How does it connect?

I used direct audio input with my Phonak hearing aids back in the 90s. It was simple to use and it helped immensely. It looked like a black cigarette and plugged into my hearing aid with a cord. Yup, it showed. In the early 2000s along came a wireless mike that also worked well. I was teaching then and used it all the time. It was not yet BlueTooth.

Then came the Roger Microphone, which has been upgraded a few times.

I have to say that back in the day much of this equipment worked as well as some of the tech used today. It was much simpler to use than some devices today that use Bluetooth and require cell phones to control.

I have been getting quite a bit of feedback from seniors who are frustrated with all the bells and whistles that require some training to use now. Training that they are not getting from their providers. 'Stuff', if they have it, is sitting in boxes on dressers.

Hard to say it worked as well in the old days but it did and was less confusing and much easier to use. It showed when we were using it. Today there is such a focus on making hearing loss invisible, which just promotes the age-old stigmas that surround poor hearing. 🙁

So good to hear this old technology is working for you.

Julie thanks for this helpful reply giving information on CIs. In answer to your question of whether my audiologist or the ENT had ever mentioned a cochlear implant (with my one ear Word Recognition score being in the 40s percentage) the answer is No but the ENT has been pushing the device called EarLens (for which his practice is the main vendor in the area) instead of hearing aids. I looked that up and was not interested (he finally has stopped mentioning it).
But since I last wrote about a year ago I tried a Roger On accessory from my audiologist who had never seen one but learnt enough to show me the basics. I found it very useful with my husband one on one but if he only remembered to face me I wouldn’t need it. It was also good when 4 people were at a meal in our house and I pointed it to the soft spoken but loquacious man. But it didn’t work in the middle of the table for that group and was hopeless in a restaurant with me across from my husband as it picked up the conversation from the table behind me.
So I didn’t think for me it was worth $1300 so returned it. But that experience made me question whether my audiologist who had been great for my lesser hearing loss stage would be equally good for my current severe in my opinion loss. I had heard years back another audiologist speak at an HLAA meeting and she had mentioned having local PhD audiology students to help patients with technology even going as far as going to their homes for tv connect issues etc. I could have done with support for the Roger On and maybe would have then kept it. End of story I have now changed to this audiologist who is fitting me with an earmold with my BTE phonaks to see if that makes any difference. She also has a cache of old donated hearing aids and has given me a pair of oticons as my back up pair were not functioning well. So a new day and although I don’t have much hope that the ear molds will make much difference a relative (much younger) said they made a world of difference for him over domes. Sorry this is so long!

No problem with the length of your response. It helps to be able to expound and explain!

Your audiology experience is interesting. It is also quite common. I'm sorry to have to surmise that the old saying "time is money" is part of a big problem. People who sell hearing aids do not have or take time to do the counseling many people need. The industry is also a bit suspect as it is often very brand oriented. Also commission oriented. That is changing in some ways, which is a good thing.

Good to know you've changed audiologists. I am surprised that with the issues you've had in the past that custom ear molds were not provided. While domes work for easy fitting and are satisfactory to many who use them, ear molds should be a step up for you. Let us know.