Hearing aids in but still not understanding words

Likewise. I have worn hearing aids for the past 6-7 years with steady deterioration of my hearing overall. A couple of months ago I purchased new Phonak Luminas and have been working steadily with my audiologist and with a Phonak training rep to optimize my hearing and comprehension. I still struggle with interpreting many words, particularly in situations where there is any background noise at all or with people who speak rapidly.

Recently people have started masking again for Covid’s resurgence, and masks make it virtually impossible to understand what people are saying; I rely heavily on reading lips. I have and use a Roger mike and a Phonak TV connector. Both are helpful, but the Roger mike is of very little use in noisy rooms. It seems the technology that has been developed thus far still leaves us to deal with some of the core issues of hearing loss pretty much on our own.

I find myself being careful where I go and what situations I put myself into. It’s hard living that way, but the alternative is frustration, stress, and feeling excluded from much of the interaction around me. I am learning to speak up, but it’s a long learning curve for people with normal hearing to understand our limitations and needs. My husband still often speaks to me from another room and expects that I will be able to understand.

Thanks. I think University of South Carolina has something.

If you are having trouble with your audiologist try an Audiologist Dept. at a University or hospital. I went to the audiologist at The Ohio State University, Columbus OH where audiologists are trained to become audiologists. It was the Speech and Hearing Dept. on the west campus of The Ohio State University.

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.

Julie I talked to the HLAA chapter in Washington and found out they have only eleven lobbyists.
This is contrasted with other organizations with 100’s of lobbyists.
He said the problem is most people don’t join their local HLAA chapter and get involved.
With tens of millions of people with hearing loss in this country why do we have so little involvement.
I plan on joining my local chapter and going to the next meeting.
Why don’t all the people on this site get involved so we can move the needle and get something done.
Overpriced hearing aids and CI are not the answer. Not when technology exists for fully implantable hearing aids if Medicare would just approve prosthetics for these hearing aids to be covered by Medicare.
I was not impressed with the national HLAA lobbyists that I talked to.
He sounded totally outnumbered and defeated.
Love to hear your thoughts as always.

I wish I had better 'news'. HLAA is a relatively small organization compared to many others. HLAA depends highly on volunteers. Lobbyists are generally paid advocates. HLAA can only do so much. If more people would get involved HLAA could do more.

There is so much disinformation about hearing loss and the stigma that surrounds it prevents people from getting the correct information. Just look at some of the advertisements that push 'hearing aids so small no one will know you're using them'. That invisibility thing has stumped a lot of advocacy and involvement because people think they should be ashamed of having hearing loss. When you're ashamed of something you don't talk about it much less lobby for it.

Medicare is all about money and money to pay for whatever is needed thorough Medicare has to be available. Not a good reason, but it's the truth. Other issues trump hearing loss.

Sadly, people with hearing loss AND the general public do not know enough about hearing technology to educate, advocate and make personal decisions. HLAA has done a ton to educate those who are willing to come to the table to talk about it and learn.

Volunteerism is hurting badly all over the place. Sadly.

I am aware of fully implanted hearing aids, but they are not really there yet. My cochlear implant gave me my life back. I only regret waiting as long as I did to get it. I fear that many people who think there will be something better down the line will wait too long to benefit from it. Not sure if I said this before but will say it again. I had two friends who were in the medical field who became profoundly hard of hearing as they aged. They didn't want to get cochlear implants because they felt something better was coming. Both have passed away. Both could probably have had much better last decades had they gone the CI route. Who knows??

Once again thanks for your quick response.
Are you aware of any CI implants that are underneath the skin making swimming and other sports more accessible for seniors with grandchildren?
If not that are there some that are less noticeable that are waterproof? It just seems like CI’s are due for some significant breakthroughs.
Maybe people with severe hearing loss should do more research to see what is out there.
I welcome your thoughts.

@daveshaw I concur with Julie's response, in particular there is only so much a small national HQ can do. We rely on the local Chapters in the States. I am an HLAA member and it is a real struggle getting people with hearing loss to come to meetings, let alone volunteer to be a Chapter leader. I've dedicated my retirement (I actually started in my 50's due to my hearing loss) to trying to educate as many people as possible on how hearing loss can affect your life in so many ways - in particular mental health. I am the outreach coordinator for my Chapter and State (PA). I go to senior centers, retirement communities and senior expos to get the word out. It can be frustrating at times, but I persist because I can and someone needs to get the ball rolling. It makes me feel so good when I connect with someone at one of these events and they contact me later for information or to join our Chapter. Today I helped present at a retirement community on Technology and Alerting Systems. Had 2 people come up afterwards for information on the Roger mic I was using. Next week I have 2 presentations. We are trying to help overcome many of the roadblocks (like Medicare!!!!). I feel strongly that the Millennial generation will be much more open to wearing hearing aids or CI's and will speak up much better than us Boomers. They are already wearing a form of hearing aids in their earbuds.

Your comments are spot on. I wish I had a genie in a bottle to put a spell on everyone with hearing loss to do something about it and to speak up. BTW I am getting activated with my 1st CI this Friday. I won't be embarrassed to wear it - when someone comments on it I hope I can educate them on HL

Thanks for your efforts. I plan on attending my local chapter this month or next month.
I look forward to hearing what your thoughts are after activating your first CI.
There are some really interesting things on the horizon as far as CI implants. Look up the research on a company called Envoy. They are working on a fully implantable implant. The problem is that it is categorized as a prosthetic. They have a bill in the House and Senate to try to get Medicare to pay for it.
Can you imagine taking a shower, swimming or keeping them on when you go to bed.
Good luck to you.