Hi, @cooper12345
Welcome to Connect. We are not professionals but just patients sharing experiences. My best advice to you is to find the best audiologist you can and to trust in their experience and knowledge to guide you to what hearing aids are best for you.

I have an excellent audiologist. She deals with Oticon, Phonak, and one other top brand, I forget which. I rely on her for advice. There are two other audiologists in the same office and I know they sometimes confer on which hearing aids might work best for a patient.

If you happen to be in or close to NYC I highly recommend the Center for Hearing Loss and Communication - https://www.chchearing.org/facts-about-hearing-loss. It's a non-profit and charges are based on the ability to pay. I live in NH but I did go there once because my daughter worked there in a support capacity. Ellen Lafargue, AuD is excellent.
JK

I question your statement that you have 'nerve damage'. There is no question that sensorineural hearing loss relates to the nerve. However, cochlear implants would not work if the auditory nerve was not working. "Nerve Damage" is a term that was used decades ago to indicate what was likely to be a diagnosis of progressive sensorineural hearing loss.

In reality, the auditory nerve is probably fully functional, but is not being stimulated by the hair cells in the cochlea. In other words, that nerve is not getting the message it is supposed to send to the brain. Hearing aids can help, but they do not stimulate that nerve. Cochlear implants bypass the cochlea to stimulate the auditory nerve directly so sound gets to the brain.

I realize that you are not asking about cochlear implants, but think it's important for anyone who has been told they have 'nerve damage' to know that is unlikely. Also, that there is help beyond hearing aids.