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Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

Posted by Colleen Young, Connect Director @colleenyoung, Feb 5, 2019

Welcome to the Hearing Loss group on Mayo Clinic Connect.
This is a welcoming, safe place where you can meet people living with hearing loss, and friends and family supporters. Whether you were born deaf or hard of hearing, experienced hearing loss after birth or with aging, it helps to connect with others. Together we can learn from each other, support one another and share stories about living with hearing loss, coping with challenges and celebrating milestones.

Let’s chat. Why not start by introducing yourself? What is your hearing loss experience? Got a question, tip or story to share?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Hearing Loss Support Group.

capausz | @capausz | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @tulip "HA's are considered a "quality of life" issue and not a medical necessity. No, I do..." + (show)
@tulip

HA's are considered a "quality of life" issue and not a medical necessity. No, I do not agree with that but that is the excuse we get. My real theory is that it would bankrupt the system, especially Medicare, if they covered HA's because so many people need them.

As for Cochlear Implants, GO FOR IT!! My CI's are the best thing I have ever done for myself. HA's just do not compare. The short of it is that HA"s just amplify sound where CI's use your ear structure to produce sound the way it is supposed to be made. CI's have given me my life back.

Also, CI's are covered under insurance 🙂

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I recently saw an ENT doctor for my hearing loss. He looked in my ears briefly and said, “You have a serious hearing loss...”. I then asked him about CIs andhe said Iwouldnot need them for 15 or 20 years. How couldhe make that assessment about CIs from just looking in my ears? I have worn hearing aids for 15 years.

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Mentor
Julie, Volunteer Mentor | @julieo4 | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @angus "My name is Kathy. I have hearing loss in both ears. Have worn aids for about..." + (show)
@angus

My name is Kathy. I have hearing loss in both ears. Have worn aids for about 30 years. Recently i was told i was a good candidate for cochlear implants. I am 65 I am going to try the full mold aids first.

Without my aids in i am deaf. Which is scary.

My question is can anyone help me understand why aids are not covered insurance?

Thank you so much

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You are fortunate to be a candidate for cochlear implants. I was implanted with one CI when I was your age, even though I qualified for 2 then. I am amazed at how well my brain has adjusted to being bimodal (hearing aid and CI). I test extremely well when using both technologies. I've thought seriously about having a 2nd CI, but am told, after extensive testing, that I do too well to qualify since my test results indicate I'm hearing 90+ percent when using both HA & CI. Interestingly, when I remove one technology, it doesn't matter which one, I do poorly. The brain is amazing. I encourage you to go for a CI. Good Luck. PS: Get involved with HLAA If you're not already a member. HLAA advocates for you. If more people would become involved, we just might change the insurance issue.

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angus | @angus | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @julieo4 "You are fortunate to be a candidate for cochlear implants. I was implanted with one CI..." + (show)
@julieo4

You are fortunate to be a candidate for cochlear implants. I was implanted with one CI when I was your age, even though I qualified for 2 then. I am amazed at how well my brain has adjusted to being bimodal (hearing aid and CI). I test extremely well when using both technologies. I've thought seriously about having a 2nd CI, but am told, after extensive testing, that I do too well to qualify since my test results indicate I'm hearing 90+ percent when using both HA & CI. Interestingly, when I remove one technology, it doesn't matter which one, I do poorly. The brain is amazing. I encourage you to go for a CI. Good Luck. PS: Get involved with HLAA If you're not already a member. HLAA advocates for you. If more people would become involved, we just might change the insurance issue.

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Thank you so much. I think i will see about the CI. All of this information is great. Thank you again

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JK | @contentandwell | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @capausz "I recently saw an ENT doctor for my hearing loss. He looked in my ears briefly..." + (show)
@capausz

I recently saw an ENT doctor for my hearing loss. He looked in my ears briefly and said, “You have a serious hearing loss...”. I then asked him about CIs andhe said Iwouldnot need them for 15 or 20 years. How couldhe make that assessment about CIs from just looking in my ears? I have worn hearing aids for 15 years.

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@capausz Did your physician have your hearing records? If he did that would have told him how much loss you had. There is no way anything could be told by just examining your ears and not having a hearing test.
JK

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capausz | @capausz | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @contentandwell "@capausz Did your physician have your hearing records? If he did that would have told him..." + (show)
@contentandwell

@capausz Did your physician have your hearing records? If he did that would have told him how much loss you had. There is no way anything could be told by just examining your ears and not having a hearing test.
JK

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@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my hearing loss was serious, and that I had had hearing loss for several years....claimed he could tell by my speech. He had a technician do a very brief hearing test and then sent me right down the hall to his Starkey hearing aid salesperson. I was very disappointed. I expected more from a specialist.

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JK | @contentandwell | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @capausz "@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my..." + (show)
@capausz

@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my hearing loss was serious, and that I had had hearing loss for several years....claimed he could tell by my speech. He had a technician do a very brief hearing test and then sent me right down the hall to his Starkey hearing aid salesperson. I was very disappointed. I expected more from a specialist.

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@capausz That is really disappointing and strange! I would find a good audiologist to go to.
JK

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Mentor
Julie, Volunteer Mentor | @julieo4 | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @capausz "@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my..." + (show)
@capausz

@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my hearing loss was serious, and that I had had hearing loss for several years....claimed he could tell by my speech. He had a technician do a very brief hearing test and then sent me right down the hall to his Starkey hearing aid salesperson. I was very disappointed. I expected more from a specialist.

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You have every right to expect more from a specialist. If I were you, I'd get to a cochlear implant center and have real tests done. It doesn't make sense to purchase new hearing aids if a CI is in your near future. In fact, even if you have one CI, rather than 2, you will want to hearing aid in the opposite ear to be compatible with the CI brand you choose. Get in touch with the nearest HLAA chapter in your area and find out where others are receiving appropriate evaluations. If there isn't a chapter near you, connect with The Hearing Loss Assn. of America. I cannot post their website on this reply, due to rules and regulations on this site, but you can find it by googling it. You deserve better.

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mikepa | @mikepa | Mar 18, 2019

The HLAA website is hearing loss.org

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mikepa | @mikepa | Mar 18, 2019
In reply to @mikepa "The HLAA website is hearing loss.org" + (show)
@mikepa

The HLAA website is hearing loss.org

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Sorry, hearingloss.org ,no space.

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mahnrut | @mahnrut | Mar 20, 2019
In reply to @contentandwell "@mahnrut If you think you may get new hearing aids, wait just a tiny bit longer...." + (show)
@contentandwell

@mahnrut If you think you may get new hearing aids, wait just a tiny bit longer. I have Oticon Opn1 hearing aids that were a fairly new model when I got them, a bit over two years ago. They were supposed to be a big improvement on clarity for people who had problems with that, and I am one of them. They were better than my previous hearing aids for that function.
They are coming out with a new one though, Opn S, which is supposed to be a 15% improvement on clarity. Since these are not yet even two and half years old, and the cost of hearing aids is so high, I won't be getting new ones yet. I sure wish I could though. If you can wait more than just a tiny bit, I would wait even longer until the audiologists get some experience with this new model. I was one of the first people who my audiologist prescribed the Opn1 for and it was a learning curve for both of us.

I am part of a group on Facebook that is for people with Oticon hearing aids. It's a private group but you can request to be in it, and I don't think they turn anyone down unless they feel it is someone trying to sell something. It is run by people who wear these hearing aids, not professionals, but I guess Oticon is allowed to post there which is how I discovered that they were coming out with a new HA.
JK

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Thanks @contentandwell for the info on the new Oticon coming to market. My audiologist is very keen on Oticon so I imagine he will know about it. It is good to think that there may be some improvement in word recognition which must be the goal of hearing aid manufacturers. But isn’t that difficulty due to damage to the auditory nerve (through aging in my case) so it would be interesting to know technically how they address that if when you say clarity you mean word recognition.

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