Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

Hi Judy:
Welcome to the group! I definitely agree that hearing loss can be a very lonely experience. And your loss has progressed relatively quickly. I have a moderate to severe hearing loss (more like severe, if you ask me) and can get tired and frustrated with the usual types of social interactions requiring listening and responding. Sometimes I can do one on one conversations but that's about it. Mostly I prefer to email people. But being in this and other HLAA groups has helped me greatly. I've seen a lot of people with less hearing left than me do very well in interacting with other people. Because they were able to be open about their hearing loss and, most importantly, convey to others that they really wanted to understand what those other people were saying.
You might want to find out more about cochlear implants. That HLAA seminar this afternoon has me convinced they work surprisingly well, and they are appropriate for people with profound and severe levels of hearing loss.
Stay safe and be well.
Ann

HI there. Noise induced hearing loss is very common. In fact, it, along with tinnitus are the two most common disabilities experienced by veterans returning from combat zones. HLAA has a Virtual Veteran's Chapter that might interest you. Check it out on the website. http://www.hearingloss.org Glad those hearing aids are helping you! Also the accessories that connect you to the phone, an external microphone, etc. Many people would benefit from those 'add ons' if they knew about them. And yes, hearing aids are way to expensive, but if they are working well for you, they are worth every penny.

Hi Judy, welcome to 'Connect'. It's a great place to ask questions and visit online. It helps a lot to compare experiences. I'm actively involved in HLAA, and thank HLAA for enlightening me about hearing loss over 35 years ago! It's a wonderful organization. You are definitely not alone with hearing loss! Good luck with those new hearing aids. Be sure to get telecoils in them. Ask me why if you don't already know. HLAA promotes telecoils and hearing loop technology. I live in Wisconsin. Where are you from?

I'm sorry I missed that HLAA seminar on cochlear implants. I am sure it will be posted on the website soon, so we can all go back and learn. I'm bimodal, which means I have both a CI and a Hearing aid. They work well together. Cochlear implants are amazing, and they keep getting better and better.

Hi Julie, thank you for the welcome. I live in Eastern Pennsylvania. I would like to know about telecoils, I’ve heard them mentioned but don’t really understand what they do. I do have an iPhone 11, just got it about a month ago. Not sure if it can help in anyway.

@jett215 I wanted to respond to you for both your question on telecoils, but also because I live in Eastern PA as well. I live in Berwyn, Chester County. In addition, I am the Eastern PA Chapter Coordinator for HLAA which means I work with the 5 HLAA Chapters around Philly. I would imagine one of them would be close to you that you could join the Chapter and start meeting others with the same or similar issuers as yourself. The Chapters are for socialization as well as education. We are meeting virtually now on Zoom, but it would at least get you in contact with others nearby who you could get together with once everyone is comfortable again. Let me know where you live and I can hook you up with the Chapter leader for the Chapter in your area. The next meeting on October 26th is going to be a combined meeting of the 5 Chapters on Zoom with a speaker discussing all of the different microphones you can use in conjunction with your HA's.

As far as telecoils, I just bought a new pair of HA's a month ago (Phonak Marvel) with telecoils in them. Telecoils are small wires that fit into your HA's and if you were ever in a room which had a hearing loop installed, your telecoils act as a direct sound receiver so that when the speaker speaks into the microphone at the front of the room, you can hear him/her directly in your HA as if they were talking directly to you. You don't hear all of the other ambient sounds in the room or auditorium that might normally affect how well you hear the speaker. It is an awesome feeling when you first use the telecoils. You won't believe what you were missing. The telecoil also lets you use certain assistive listening devices in conjunction with your HA's for meetings in noisy rooms. I highly recommend you ask the audiologist for telecoils in whatever HA's you buy.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Mike Miles

I live in Macungie which is Lehigh county. Don’t know to much about the HLAA chapters in my area, or if there is one.

Thank you for the telecoil info I have an appointment with the audiologist later this month. I will definitely ask about the telecoils.

Hi Barb, just found this forum trying to get used to it. I saw my ENT doctor in September, I asked about CI and he stated I wasn’t ready for them. He stated that when I could no longer benefit from hearing aids then I would be a candidate for CI. I’m wondering about this. I saw the HLAA lecture on CI, maybe my doctor should have watched it as well.

Hello again. It looks as if Mikepa gave you a pretty good description of what telecoils do. I'd like to add to that a little bit. There is a very basic device called a 'neck loop' that can be worn around your neck and plugged into an audio device like a computer, a portable radio, iPod, iPad, tablet, cell phone, etc. Plug it in and turn on the telecoils in your hearing aid and it will bring clear sound directly to the hearing aids. With a tiny radio, I can sit in a sports arena full of noise and listen to the broadcast on the radio when I use the neck loop. It doesn't require batteries or charging. It's a very basic device that costs under $50. To use it with your iphone, you would have to have an adapter that would allow you to plug into the phone because they removed the input jack option a few models before yours. That adapter is called an Apple Lightening 3.5 headphone jack adapter. It sells on Amazon for $7.99. While you will likely get BlueTooth (BT) in your new hearing aids, this simple and basic telecoil system is foolproof and inexpensive. Many hearing aid fitters tell people that BT replaces telecoils. It doesn't. Is it 'old technology'? Yes, but it's value is enormous.

Another feature that is important to most of us who are seasoned hearing aid users is a manual volume control. 'Automatic' always sounds good until you cannot set something the way you want it. So my mantra is "Be sure to get telecoils and manual volume control in whatever new hearing aids you choose." We don't always need air conditioning in our cars, but we don't buy cars without it. Same for telecoils. You'll regret not having them when you can benefit from using them.

Last, but not least, use the trial period for your new hearing aids in every possible situation. If they are not doing what you think they should do, ask questions and get them adjusted during that trial time. You are paying dearly for that service. Good luck!

Wow! Thank you so much 😊. I will take notes and have them ready for the audiologist. I do have the adapter for my iPhone. That’s a start. Please, any information will be greatly appreciated