WAY OT - Hearing aids??

Okay, I know there is a lot of experience on this group. This is
dog-related only because it involves humans being able to hear at agility
trials.

DH has a severe hearing loss. It is in one specific level - the jet engine
level. (Thank you to the US Army and Mohawk Airlines.) He can hear low
noises better than most. His hearing is fine right up to the damaged level
and then is almost completely gone and returns once above that. Fortunately
for our marriage, although many women's voices are in the Lost Zone, mine is
not. Or maybe I'm just loud enough.

He needs to hear in a couple of very different situations. He needs to be
able to hear conversation in places with background noise. Restaurants,
agility trials, living rooms with the TV on in the next room. This involves
amplifying voice levels without amplifying background noise. And he needs
to be able to hear while outside in hunting situations - quiet but with
wind, listening for distant sounds.

Several years ago, he did get some in-the-ear hearing aids. They worked
okay for some situations but not great. However, he has a constant ear wax
problem so that was a constant battle. No vanity - he is fine with a
visible hearing aid IF it works.

Does anyone know of a type of hearing aid that would address both of the
needs - indoors with background noise and outdoors with wind - with a narrow
range of hearing loss? Is it possible? What about getting two different
types of hearing aids - sort of like having different pairs of glasses?

I know there are a lot of advances being made in hearing aids (all those
baby boomers going deaf) but is there technology that really can address
these very different needs?

Thanks,
Judy

Judy wrote:

Does anyone know of a type of hearing aid that would address both of the
needs - indoors with background noise and outdoors with wind - with a
narrow range of hearing loss? Is it possible? What about getting two
different types of hearing aids - sort of like having different pairs of
glasses?

I know there are a lot of advances being made in hearing aids (all those
baby boomers going deaf) but is there technology that really can address
these very different needs?

Dredging up some 8-year old information (from when my Dad wore
hearing aids)

1. Ear wax is a problem with external hearing aids as well as
internal ones, because it distorts the shape of the ear canaland
doesn't reflect sound waves the same way skin does. Your DH will
just have to keep his ears cleaned out, I think - my dad had a
similar problem. There are OTC solutions that one can use; I
don't remember the brands.

2. Recent technologies in digital hearing aids have made inroads
against the background noise problem, although I don't think it's
completely solved (it's not completely solved for normal hearing,
either - background noise impedes the understanding of speech).
Some digital aids have different settings for different
situations, which you activate by pressing a tiny button on the
hearing aid. These hearing aids are more expensive than analog
hearing aids. (I'm not up on the latest; he should talk to one or
more audiologists to get information about what they can do,
brands, costs, etc.)

3. I don't know that there is any 'law' that says you can't have
different types of hearing aids. Learning how to use one and
getting used to it are more difficult than getting used to
glasses, but I wouldn't think it would be impossible, if one type
of hearing aid doesn't work for him. I suspect the main barrier
for most people is cost. Glasses cost a few hundred dollars a
pair; hi-tech hearing aids cost a few thousand.

Here's a link with some discussion about digital vs analog
hearing aids.
http://deafness.about.com/od/hearing...italanalog.htm

FurPaw
--
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

To reply, unleash the dogs.

"FurPaw" wrote in message
. ..
1. Ear wax is a problem with external hearing aids as well as internal
ones, because it distorts the shape of the ear canaland doesn't reflect
sound waves the same way skin does. Your DH will just have to keep his
ears cleaned out, I think - my dad had a similar problem. There are OTC
solutions that one can use; I don't remember the brands.

The internal ones he had would block within minutes - even when he had his
ears pretty well cleaned out. The problem was that it took such a small
amount of wax to block it - and then it involved tiny little wires to clean
it back out again. He gave up.

Some digital aids have different settings for different situations, which
you activate by pressing a tiny button on the hearing aid. These hearing
aids are more expensive than analog hearing aids. (I'm not up on the
latest; he should talk to one or more audiologists to get information
about what they can do, brands, costs, etc.)

I have heard of friends who have tried those. They start out very impressed
but end up not so much. But that was a couple of years ago so it could be
better.

Glasses cost a few hundred dollars a pair; hi-tech hearing aids cost a few
thousand.

Divorce costs way more than that. Seriously, he's starting to feel isolated
so it's a problem that we'll throw money at if it will help.

Here's a link with some discussion about digital vs analog hearing aids.
http://deafness.about.com/od/hearing...italanalog.htm

Thanks. I will check that out.

Judy

Judy wrote:

The internal ones he had would block within minutes - even when he had
his ears pretty well cleaned out. The problem was that it took such a
small amount of wax to block it - and then it involved tiny little wires
to clean it back out again. He gave up.

Dad had the same problem with internal hearing aids. That
coupled with large fingers and loss of motor control due to
Parkinson's made them pretty much a no-op for him, and he
switched to the external type.

Some digital aids have different settings for different situations,
which you activate by pressing a tiny button on the hearing aid.
These hearing aids are more expensive than analog hearing aids. (I'm
not up on the latest; he should talk to one or more audiologists to
get information about what they can do, brands, costs, etc.)

I have heard of friends who have tried those. They start out very
impressed but end up not so much. But that was a couple of years ago so
it could be better.

You might question your friends about why they were disappointed.
If they started out believing (or were led to believe) that the
expensive hearing aid would fully restore their normal hearing
function, they were bound to be disappointed. At best, hearing
aids do a lot more than they could 20 years ago, but they're
still an imperfect solution.

Dad accepted that he could hear much better when the background
was quiet (which might at least help with your husband's feeling
of isolation; it did for Dad), but even the digital ones didn't
help much in places like noisy restaurants.

FurPaw
--
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

To reply, unleash the dogs.

"Judy" wrote in message
...
Okay, I know there is a lot of experience on this group. This is
dog-related only because it involves humans being able to hear at agility
trials.

DH has a severe hearing loss. It is in one specific level - the jet
engine level. (Thank you to the US Army and Mohawk Airlines.) He can
hear low noises better than most. His hearing is fine right up to the
damaged level and then is almost completely gone and returns once above
that. Fortunately for our marriage, although many women's voices are in
the Lost Zone, mine is not. Or maybe I'm just loud enough.

He needs to hear in a couple of very different situations. He needs to
be able to hear conversation in places with background noise.
Restaurants, agility trials, living rooms with the TV on in the next
room. This involves amplifying voice levels without amplifying
background noise. And he needs to be able to hear while outside in
hunting situations - quiet but with wind, listening for distant sounds.

Several years ago, he did get some in-the-ear hearing aids. They worked
okay for some situations but not great. However, he has a constant ear
wax problem so that was a constant battle. No vanity - he is fine with a
visible hearing aid IF it works.

Does anyone know of a type of hearing aid that would address both of the
needs - indoors with background noise and outdoors with wind - with a
narrow range of hearing loss? Is it possible? What about getting two
different types of hearing aids - sort of like having different pairs of
glasses?

I know there are a lot of advances being made in hearing aids (all those
baby boomers going deaf) but is there technology that really can address
these very different needs?

My first thought was Directional Hearing Aid, and I got a dogpile hit for
that which referenced the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_aid. I
have significant hearing loss in the left ear and I will eventually need to
get some sort of hearing augmentation accessory. As an electronics design
engineer I am interested in the technology, and I know there are noise
cancellation techniques as well as various forms of analog and digital
signal processing that could be used to clarify sounds. There are
apparently some hearing aids that incorporate a directional microphone
element which would probably be helpful if it could be positioned toward
the source of the sounds desired. Hear are other links:

http://www.hearingresearch.org/multichannel.htm
http://www.hearing-aid.com/
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/t...igital_aid.htm
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/t...aring_aids.htm

Hear is a non-medical sound amplifier device for only about $80 that might
help:

http://www.sonictechnology.com/superear.htm

For extreme cases, this $200 device has a parabolic microphone that acts
like an audio telescope:

http://www.spyville.com/bionic-ear.html

I hope this helps. I know how frustrating it can be to have hearing loss,
and it can sneak up on you. I find myself sometimes just nodding in
agreement rather than ask people to repeat things I can't fully hear,
especially when they don't enunciate any better or speak any louder when
asked to repeat. My problem is in my left ear, which I usually use for the
telephone so I can write or do other things with my right hand. I have
found that it is especially hard to understand foreign speaking telephone
solicitors or help personnel, but I don't mind so much just telling them I
can't understand them and just hanging up when they can't improve their
quality of speech.

Paul and Muttley (who hears much better than he listens)

Paul E. Schoen wrote:

snip
I hope this helps. I know how frustrating it can be to have hearing loss,
and it can sneak up on you. I find myself sometimes just nodding in
agreement rather than ask people to repeat things I can't fully hear,
especially when they don't enunciate any better or speak any louder when
asked to repeat.

Argh! Yep. I have a 20% hearing loss in my right ear, and it's within
normal speech range. Apparently I've developed the habit of turning my
left ear towards speakers in noisy situations, something I hadn't
noticed until my husband pointed it out. I also do a certain amount of
lipreading.

But sometimes I still miss what's said to me, and it makes me nuts to
say "What?", or "Excuse me, I didn't catch that", only to have the
person repeat him/herself in the same mumble. This is an ongoing issue
with certain members of DH's family who are chronic "low talkers" (thank
you Jerry Seinfeld). I've given up on being polite about it and I
refuse to agree to statements I haven't heard so now I just say, "Speak
up, will you, and look at me when you talk. It's noisy here and I can't
hear you."

My problem is in my left ear, which I usually use for the
telephone so I can write or do other things with my right hand.

Get a headset.