Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

Hi Len, great to see another musician on Mayo Clinic Connect. My axe is the French horn. What's your primary instrument? I just visited the New Horizons website https://newhorizonsmusic.org/ It sure looks like a lot of fun.

For anyone else interested, here's the link to the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss https://www.musicianswithhearingloss.org/wp/ The title of one blog listed on the website struck a chord (pun intended) with me "Deafened but Not Silent."

Have you considered getting a second opinion about the operability or treatment of your acoustic neuroma, also known as vestibular schwannoma? Note that a risk factor with surgery is also hearing loss.

Hi, I'm new to the group as well. Last week I went for what I thought would be a baseline hearing test and was shocked to learn I'm a good candidate for two over-the-ear hearing aids! I'd noticed some minor shifts such as not hearing the ice cream truck tune as soon as my husband could and sometimes seeing one of our cats meow but not hearing anything. My husband can't hear those meows, either, and we joked they were "silent meows." Both my father and his mother had significant hearing loss but I didn't expect this in my late 50's!

I'm happy to "meet" you all and I may be back when it comes time to decide on which hearing aids to get. I don't know yet which ones are covered by our insurance.

Hello Colleen
My main axe is/was trumpet. I stopped actively practicing/performing on it about 10 years ago. Part of that decision came from playing with a local university Wind Ensemble in which the percussion section was in very close proximity. to the trumpet section. At one point, I wrote (in pencil, of course) on a piece of music, "COVER LEFT EAR BEFORE DOWNBEAT!" My tinnitus went wild all the way home from rehearsals and into the next day. Subsequently I began playing Cello in our New Horizons String Orchestra. At the first rehearsal I was amazed at how quiet it was even with all members playing simultaneously. Lately, since I started teaching an adult beginning trumpet student, I've begun demonstrating on trumpet again. My schwannoma was diagnosed by a wonderful ENT Dr who referred me to Wake Forest University. There the schwannoma was confirmed as inoperable.
I'm attempting to find an audiologist through Sensaphonics in Chicago who has experience and training in working with musicians.
What has worked for you?
Best regards, Len Allman

Hi, I'm new to the group as well. Last week I went for what I thought would be a baseline hearing test and was shocked to learn I'm a good candidate for two over-the-ear hearing aids! I'd noticed some minor shifts such as not hearing the ice cream truck tune as soon as my husband could and sometimes seeing one of our cats meow but not hearing anything. My husband can't hear those meows, either, and we joked they were "silent meows." Both my father and his mother had significant hearing loss but I didn't expect this in my late 50's!

I'm happy to "meet" you all and I may be back when it comes time to decide on which hearing aids to get. I don't know yet which ones are covered by our insurance.

@christyj Nearly 20% of the population of the USA has some degree of hearing loss. The incidence is higher as people age, but noise induced hearing loss has increased greatly among younger people since the 1970s when wearing headphones, earbuds, etc. became popular. Noise induced hearing loss is preventable but not curable.

It's especially common in individuals also have a genetic tendency towards it. Getting a baseline audiogram is wise. Like you, I was shocked when my first audiogram showed hearing loss. I was in my 20s. I was not warned about the dangers of noise way back then, and I was exposed to a lot of it via music, hunting, and spending hours in a noisy gymnasium. It progressed, and by the time I was in my mid 30s I needed hearing aids.

Decades later, I am the benefactor of technologies I never dreamed of when I was diagnosed back in the mid 60s. (I'm in my late 70s now.) I'm so thankful for the technology I have access to, which includes a high powered hearing aid and a cochlear implant.

If you can benefit from hearing aids, I encourage you to try them. When you are ready to do that, ask the provider to give you plenty of time to try them in every setting possible.

You will find joy in hearing your cat's meow. I hope you'll feel free to ask questions of others in this group who use hearing aids. We are more common than people realize.

Did the person who tested your hearing give you any suggestions about what to do next?

Hi @christyj Welcome to Connect.
I started wearing HAs in 2004. My family had made me notice how often I was asking them to repeat what they said so I got tested and sure enough, I had a hearing loss that was not severe but bad enough to be helped by HAs. I have been wearing them ever since.

When you and your audiologist decide what HAs will be appropriate for your hearing loss you will get a trial period to see how well they work for you. You may even find that the help they give you is not significant enough to get them right now, or that they are just not the best ones for you.

Good luck with choosing some. A good audiologist is so important for this. I will be interested in hearing what you end up with. I have always had either Oticon or Phonak but my daughter who has a totally unrelated hearing loss (hers was present at birth) currently has ReSounds and she loves them. I know Widex is highly regarded also.
JK

@julieo4 Thanks for your reply, Julie! It sounds like you’ve had quite a journey. I’ve been vigilant about not damaging my hearing since my father blamed much of his hearing loss on working in a loud automotive factory without hearing protection. I do plan to try the hearing aids because I want to preserve my brain’s ability to benefit from them.

I’m scheduled to learn about my HA options on July 16th. Supposedly I’m to select them during that 40 minute appointment and they will arrive two weeks later at which time I’ll have another appointment explaining their use and then I’ll come in another two weeks to discuss how it’s going. They said they couldn’t share any info about the HA options before the first appointment.

The original audiologist (where I got my hearing tested but they don’t take my insurance) gave me some literature but my insurance works with True Hearing (not sure if that’s how it’s spelled) and the original person does not. She mentioned ReSounds works well with Apple devices and True Hearing does work with ReSounds. It doesn’t sound like I’ll have the option to try them in different environments as you suggested.

I'm curious to know what state you live in, if in the USA? All state regulations require a trial period, most often 30 days. There are a few states that have 60 day trial periods. It takes time to adjust to wearing hearing aids.They should all allow enough time to really serve as a 'trial' period.

There are some options you should insist they include. For example, a telecoil, which adds no cost to a hearing aid, can connect you to assistive tech in performing arts centers, theaters, meeting rooms, etc. BlueTooth is great for connecting with your cell phone, etc, but doesn't replace telecoil. You won't know how much these features can do for you unless you have the opportunity to experiment with them.

Insurance is another issue. I have never had insurance that covered hearing aids. If you do have it, you are fortunate. Medicare does NOT cover them. A pair of good quality hearing aids can range from $1400 at Costco, to $8000 elsewhere. It's important to have a well qualified fitter, which is where the audiologists come in. It's unfortunate that it's so confusing.

ReSound is a good brand. Still, as with all hearing aids, much depends on how well they are adjusted to your particular hearing loss. I look forward to hearing how this goes for you.

Hi @contentandwell JK, thank you so much for this. The audiology place I’m with now didn’t mention a trial period, I’ll have to ask about that. How do you suggest finding a good audiologist? This will be my third attempt - the first place I was referred didn’t take my insurance, the second place didn’t either but I went ahead to get the audiogram because I thought it would be a single visit, and the third place I chose when the second place said they thought they took my insurance.

I’m intrigued by the ReSounds because audiologist #2 said they work well with Apple devices. Thanks for mentioning your brands as well!
CJ

@christyj The audiology group I use was recommended by my daughter's pediatrician when she was 4 - she's now in her late 30s. I did not have a hearing impairment at the time but when I started to I just used the same group and I have always been satisfied with them.

Good audiologists have a doctorate in audiology generally, although I have heard that there are some good ones who do not. My daughter worked in NYC for the Center for Hearing and Communications for a while and highly recommended an audiologist there who is pretty well known in audiology circles so I went to her one time and she agreed with what my local audiologist had prescribed but it was good to have gotten that second opinion. If you happen to live in that area I would recommend her. Other than that you might ask your doctor, or if you know other hearing impaired people get recommendations from them. I always glance too at the various sites that rate medical people - doctors, etc. If there are many reviews then I think it is reliable, much less so if there are only a few reviews. One of my doctors has many reviews, all five stars except for one person! There's always going to be someone who didn't like a doctor for whatever reason.

Oticons are made to work with Apple devices too, I think many hearing aids do since so many people do have Iphones and Ipads.
JK