What to ask at my audiologist appointment?

Lots of information in here. https://www.hearingloss.org/hearing-help/technology/hearing-aids/
Print this sheet and take it with you to your audiologist https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/HLAA_Purchasing_HearingAid_Checklist.pdf?pdf=Checklist

Take notes. Ask lots of questions. Take notes on the answers. There is a steep learning curve. But it is important to get it right. Hearing aids perform differently and have different features. I wouldn't feel bad at all if I was unable to make a decision on my first visit to the audiologist. Most audiologists will appreciate your interest and asking good questions. They want you to have success. Sure, audiologists have experience fitting patients and they generally know what they have had success with BUT they don't have your hearing or life style. Good luck and may you have great success.

@gulzar

Hello,

This is long and has to do mainly with your relationship with an Audiologist. First, find out how long your Audiologist has been in the profession as experience is an important factor.

@arrowshooter gave you valuable links for your first appointment as it is important that you understand all the practical aspects of finances, cost,
office policy, brands they deal with etc. before you even go into a hearing test (if you have not already done so).

I have 40+ years of experience wearing bilateral aids with a current profound loss and have dealt with Audiologists with their own private practice, those associated with a clinical or medical practice and also several very experienced independent (not a chain) hearing aid providers who were wonderful programmers.

Audiologists in private practice have a financial stake in selling hearing aids and those connected to a medical or clinical practice are salaried. I have had good and bad providers in both settings. Most Audis have a bias to a certain brand because they believe that particular brand works the best but that doesn’t mean they should try to sell you on that brand.....just be aware of that.

This is an expensive undertaking and, once you get all the practical considerations out of the way, it’s time to asses your Audi. Your Audi should be extremely patient and willing to work with you and should absolutely be available for adjustments for the lifetime of the aids. This is included in the price of the aids. I would not work with an Audi where the adjustments and follow ups are limited in any way. You may need one or two or you may need 21or 22 adjustments. You should feel at ease and comfortable and not rushed...at all. If you sense any impatience before the end of the trial period, I wouldn’t purchase them. Thirty days is not enough time for a trial period but that seems to be the norm and you should be back in the office in 2 weeks for a follow up. I have had Audis on the phone with the brand reps for advice while I was in the office...that’s a good Audi. But you can sense if the Audi is uncertain what to do with you.

It’s hard to describe what you are hearing or not hearing. So I would write down, before your first appointment, what exactly you are experiencing ...what things sound like (muffled, shrill etc) ...what situations are you in where you are having the most problems. This also goes for when you try your first brand.
This helps the Audi immensely. The aids are programmed per your audiogram but it doesn’t stop there. While in the office, the Audi should be tweaking them to your benefit so don’t leave until you are satisfied. They will sound different out in the real world as your brain adjusts. Be sure you know all the buttons and controls on the aid (which should have a Tcoil).
Also be aware that the assisted devices on most of these brands are proprietary...you can only use them with that particular brand. There should be a trial period on those too.

Research hearing loss in general, go on blogs or forums like the Mayo and you will start understanding the world of hearing loss which will help you help the Audiologist.

Let us know how it goes and when you have decided to purchase one (or two). We can help you with any questions after that. Remember , two people with identical audiograms will have entirely different needs and adjustments and brands. Only you will know what you need and want. It also helps if you can bring someone close to you with you who can give some input.

FL Mary

Thanks so much was very helpful
My most concern is i have severe high frequency loss above 1000 and mild low frequency hearing loss which hard to find even available such hearing aids
Most of them just want to sell you anything they can
I will be happy with 50 percent improvement
Thanks to all who responded to my question
I spoke to AuD for Cochlear she said try HA first it’s not good for those who had hearing loss with loud sound It might cause me permanent hearing loss

I, too, have good hearing at low frequency but a profound loss above 1,500 hz. That is a difficult situation to treat. From my personal experience you may have difficulty getting good results on your first try. It takes your brain a long time to figure out what the sounds provided to your ears by your hearing aids mean because your brain hasn't heard that sound for a long time. For 20+ years and 5 different hearing aids I could hear some birds and crickets but they did little to improve my speech understanding. Only recently, with a change to the receivers in my hearing aids have I had a significant improvement.

Again, good luck and stick with it.

Since we haven’t heard those words for long time
I believe we need training on words by specialist to learn how they sound so should come with therapy

@gulzar, such a great discussion to get started. In addition to the great advice you've gotten here from @arrowshooter and @imallears, you may be interested in this discussion:
- What to Expect at Your Hearing Aid Fitting https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-to-expect-at-your-hearing-aid-fitting/

What additional questions do you have?

What sort of change was made in your receivers?

They were larger receivers. They are more powerful and deliver more AND higher Hz sound. They required more occlusive ear moulds. My hearing aids are fairly new and capable of handling the larger receivers. They help my speech understanding but it remains lousy. The first thing I noticed when I left the audiologist office is that there are "beeping" signals at traffic light intersections to signal blind pedestrians. You just never know what you're not hearing.

@arrowshooter Go by what your audiologist recommends. Depending on your audiogram, your hearing aids should help compensate for your dB loss and severity. If it's noise induced loss, you will have some difficulty discriminating sound at certain frequencies. Good luck.

This is great discussion topic so thank you for starting it. I am a retired professor in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (trained and licensed in speech-language pathology). I know the audiologists in my community and currently see an audiologist is in an ENT practice in a medical center. In fact, I have a follow-up appointment with my audiologist in two days. He had been following me for over 10 years so when my testing results showed that I "qualified" for a hearing aid under my insurance, I responded with "yes, let's do it". When an audiologist suggests a particular hearing aid, you will get a trial period for a month to see how that hearing aid works for you. You'll go back to the audiologist and discuss that hearing aid and make decisions together on what works best for you. My audiologist asked me questions about my hearing environments. So, here are a few questions for you to consider:

1. Can you fit me with a hearing aid where I can hear people better in noisy environments (like restaurants and airports)?
2. Can you fit with me a hearing aid where I can change the settings depending on the environment I'm in? I'd like a setting that will improve my hearing in religious settings and at lectures.
3. Will the hearing aid help me better understand the people on TV or the radio?
4. I need a hearing aid that will improve communication with my spouse or loved one. Also for family gatherings?
5. I like to go to museums and concerts. Lots of those places have symbols that show a hearing loop. Can you explain how a T-coil works and if this is something I might like?

Because many public spaces (movie theatres, museums, churches, synagogues) have hearing loops, my audiologist recommended a hearing aid that could be set to the T-coil (referred to as a hearing loop). I have a hearing aid that allows me to not only adjust for volume, but also the environment - general, lecture (oriented to the front of the room) and T-coil.

I'm happy that you are seeing an audiologist and wish you all the best.