Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

Yes, VA provides very good audiology care IF you are. a good self advocate . They provide top-of-the line hearing aids and accessories. Cost depends on circumstances. It depends on whether or not a veteran has a service connected disability and other factors. I have seen about 6 or 8 audiologists in VA and the same in private practice. Each one I've seen has been a caring and competent professional. But in both VA and private practice one must be a good self advocate.

VA has different (higher) thresholds for CI qualification than Medicare and Social Security. One of them is that you must have greater than a 50dB loss at 500 hz and an average loss of greater than 70dB over the 500hz, 1000hz, 2000hz, and 4000hz range. For many years my average loss was greater than 70 dB but my low frequency loss was too high to qualify for a CI in VA. But I did qualify for a CI under Medicare standards. Additionally VA did their speech recognition test without noise. Other audiologists did speech recognition with noise. Now my word recognition scores are in the low 30% range bilaterally and I have been referred for a CI evaluation. Because VA is short staffed they are sending me to Community Care (a private practice audiologist) for that evaluation all paid for by VA.

I checked on private audiology clinics who do CI evaluations locally and the biggest one is not taking CI evaluation patients because of a staffing shortage. Wait time is considerable in the other two local (less than 50 miles away) clinics. Other clinics are 100 -300 miles away. VA pays travel expense though.

So I have the choice of going through Medicare or VA (Community Care). But the biggest consideration remains "Do I want to go ahead with getting a CI or not?" . I know enough sign language to get by, but I'm not fluent because I'm not a frequent user. That's an entirely different community who uses ASL.

These are just my experiences. One would assume that VA uses the same standards throughout the country. THEY DON'T. But I highly encourage veterans to consider VA for their audiology care. But VA or private practice, it is important to be an "informed patient" and a strong self advocate. Mayo Connect helps with that.

Jim

I have never been a veteran but I find it very disappointing that for those who choose to serve our country the standards for being eligible for a CI can vary from state to state. I live in Colorado and the person I talked to was a Dentist who served in Vietnam in the Navy.
I have also heard horror stories about VA care in this country. I have also heard horror stories about healthcare in this country.
You are right that you have to be a strong advocate for yourself.
The only time I had a hearing test with noise was when I went out of network to an audiologist at a local hospital. In network audiologists are overworked and understaffed. My out of network audiologist gave me far more extensive testing than I had ever received before. She was also far more knowledgeable when it came to adjusting my hearing aids.
Good luck to you and others out there looking for high quality care.

Hi gang,

I'm a newly minted tinnitus sufferer and it's been affecting me greatly. I initially didn't know what was happening and woke up in the middle of the night in an anxiety attack. I saw an ENT and in my experience, they are useless. I have anxiety 24/7 and cannot sleep well at night. I do play cricket sounds that helps me get some rest but not my usual 8 hours of full rest that I had 5 weeks ago. I had very low tinnitus that came and went but nothing serious, then, 5 weeks ago, I took some business trips and got sick (bad cold - tested negative for Covid and influenza multiple times). Doctor put me on antibiotics and prednisone....then, slowly, I'm where I am today with tinnitus in both ears and slight to moderate hearing loss. The ENT didn't even read my audio analysis to me so I'm still in-the-dark to what it says.

Anyhow, I'm scheduled to meet with a Mayo representative Monday to see someone there in Rochester, Florida, or Arizona. I also have a call into Mass Eye and Ear but they are on holiday until next week. I also see the tinnitus center in UC Irvine in March.

So, I went from 60 miles-an-hour to 20 in about 5 weeks. I did see a huge improvement in the symptoms over Christmas (XMAS miracle?) and I felt great, like my old self, then the next morning at 2:00 a.m. it started again.

So, what should I expect with this new prognosis? The anxiety is keeping me up and masking only goes so far.
Thank you!

Hi I have had hearing loss due to an accident in 2014, during that time I had 60% in left ear and 40% in right ear! It has decreased significantly more time! Have went through the hearing aids, And what not, then 2 years ago I tried The cochlear implant, that did not work out for me due to underlining conditions! Had to get implant removed however note I have 2% in right ear and 10% in left ear! I’m learning sign language however that does not help me if the other person whom is talking does not know sign language! Looking to find resources and or groups to help! I not only have a hard time hearing an individual but having issues with word recognition! I’m irritating others by not being able to hear, and I’m frustrated in how the outside world is so cruel, how it’s so hard to function daily not being able to make Dr appointments, understanding people on phone etc: any ideas

My hearing loss is severe to profound and accommodated with hearing aids provided by the VA.

Hi, Krista.

Not sure where you're at on your assistive technology road, but one phone app that I have found particularly useful is speech-to-text "Live Transcribe". It's pretty fast and accurate but one needs to be physically close to the other person talking (in person only). I believe it's available for either Android or Apple (mine is Android). A web search for this will take you to your platform of choice.

While my hearing loss is not as severe as yours, I have contemplated a speech to text landline which is available through your audiologist/gov program, at no cost. There have been many commercials on television for services like this.

Another phone call app is "Innocaption" that can be used for cell calls. I had set this up but never used it.

I hope this is helpful for you; I know personally how frustrating it is to carry on a conversation in person, especially if the person is wearing a mask, since lip reading one of my acquired skills over many years.

JustTodd

@justtodd

Hi,

I also use Innocaption and Live transcribe. With Live transcribe you can get captions from anyone speaking into a microphone, from a stage and you are in the audience. I found that it is effective for up to 6 feet or so in person but a greater distance if there is a microphone involved. It may depend on how good the microphone on your phone is. It also does not work well in a noisy environment, like a restaurant, unless the speaker is up close. I have been using both for a long time and Live Transcribe is my lifeline to just about everything. I have a couple of other speech to text apps loaded just in case but Live Transcribe on my Android is preferred.

I have a profound hearing loss and use to rely on a captioned landline (provided free by Florida Deaf Services).
We got rid of landlines when Innocaption came out.

FL Mary

Thank you for your help, I have done the otter app! Yes the bass T thing is up have to be close to the person! Thank you for the insight on my audiologist phone help

I encourage you to request hearing access accommodation from VA. they are REQUIRED to provide it, but they commonly don’t. If your hearing aids aren’t enough for you to hear your medical providers you are entitled to receive some sort of help. BUT you must request it. This is true in private practice as well as VA. Sadly hard of hearing folks rarely make the request.

I’m also a veteran with severe to profound hearing loss. At my request my clinic has provided a tablet with a speech to text app which translates the provider’s voice to text almost instantly. I listen, lip read, and read the text. That makes for a very busy time for my old brain, so we sometimes have to slow down.

There are other forms of assistive technology too. Pocket talkers, hearing loops, neck loops, and FM systems all have their place.

I encourage you to become an informed patient and request what you need. It is critical that you understand you medical providers correctly.

I went to a senior expo and got my closed captioned telephone for my desk. It works through my cell phone as I told them I was not going to get a landline just to be able to have it. It is great especially when I have to make business calls. They came in installed it and got it connected through my cell phone. It 's been great for me.