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Hearing loss woes and aids?

I got Ramsey hunt syndrome, following getting shingles from crohns immune suppressant therapy. This causes nerve damage/palsy to parts of face and inner ear, in my case numb left cheek, weepy left eye and end of tongue has no sensation. Got a audio flat spot around 70hz on left, luckily only really noticeable after shingles attacks, and permanent tinitus, tho bearable as more background noise than foreground. Tho how you assess something so ephemeral Is of course problematic. I can’t turn up the wick any more, the next day would be a tinnitus blizzard.
I find if having bad day I turn off everything inc phone and go monklike, silence/rest helps.
 
Andrew C! said:
My hearing has calmed down a little ie my right ear is maintaining good pressure and working for much longer periods. The perforation seems to have healed, allowing this to happen. I’m also being very much more careful with volumes, having very steadily lowered the listening volumes over a period of time, to get my ears working. I still use hearing aids for when socialising and in class, but for music listening and one to one conversations I can now get away without them.

The best result of this ‘retraining’ is my piano sounds much cleaner, and I can pick up the nuances when playing. My Phonac’s are not good with piano music, which is apparently a good test of the sibilance which can be created with some hearing aids.
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I've found retraining helps, i think i automatically concentrate more and the distorted volumes are much further away.

Always been bad in noisy environments and i partly put that down to my fairly solitary lifestyle. Most day to day interactions are over the phone so i have not gained any subconscious lip reading skills.
 
Unhappily I’ve joined the hearing loss club. Last month I was listening to my cans and thought the bass was a bit off. After 36 hrs my hearing in one ear had disappeared. Thinking it was wax I visited a private clinic who told me to visit A & E pronto. Two jabs in the ear later it’s a bit better from being 70db down but there’s a lot of “sizzle” on the higher frequencies and I don’t need to worry about lower frequencies because there aren’t any. SSHL apparently so in due course a hearing aid beckons. Wondering if my Hi-Fi days are over…
 
I'm saddened to hear these experiences, my sincere sympathy to all.

My tinnitus is worse than it used to be (I used to be a drummer, but recent COVID has made it twice as bad as it was), and the typical HF loss is starting to catch up with me at 40 (I could hear 20KHz at 33). I do think about hearing loss as I listen to my tinnitus...

My friend - also a drummer - is blind, still loves his hifi, and is suffering gradual hearing loss. He has Tannoy Turnberrys and Anthem amps. His hearing loss is obviously is huge matter to him, and he has never really been satisfied with the performance of even decent hearing aids.

Another hifi loving loving friend is thrilled with his recent hearing aid, he now boasts that he has better hearing than I do, the human equivalent of a flat response.

This leaves me feeling things may be alright in the future. I will look forward to reading other's experiences of hearing aids with interest.
 
The most expensive hearing aids are adjusted for your specific hearing frequency losses so that you'll have as close as possible to normal frequency hearing. Unfortunately, this does not equal High Fidelity electronics. Sadly, your hearing will be about equivalent to an MP3 played through a portable radio.

On the bright side, if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Linnie, you'll still be able to "hum along to the tune"!

;)
 
RickyC6 said:
I’ve just had NHS hearing aids (Oticon) fitted and I’m very impressed.
My hearing started to diminish after a viral respiratory infection that hit me really hard 5 years ago, along with my sense of taste and smell. I’d hoped it would improve and I think it has a bit but finally decided I needed to go down the audiology route in the last year and inevitably with COVID it’s taken a while.
Just stuck Kind Of Blue on and I’ve realised what I’ve been missing! High frequency was my issue. I can hear hi-hats!
My own voice sounds ridiculously loud but apparently my brain will calm that down after a while.
On the whole…this is a good thing.
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Spraggons Den said:
It’s not fair to have endured chemo and radiotherapy only then to have diminished aural faculties. Is there any possibility of your hearing returning?
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Ive had the NHS Oticon (Spirit Synergy ?) for about 3 years now, my first impression of them was like listening to the world through a transistor radio, it was absolutely awful and I can remember thinking 'well that's listening to music screwed then' I'm happy to report that it's not quite that cut and dried, it does seem that your brain can adjust what's coming in to something less intrusive and I am now listening to the hi-fi again.

It's very disappointing though that none of the HA makers have anything that goes above 10Khz, (most are not above 8Khz) as I am quite sure that there are at least 3-4Khz more within the normal adult hearing range above 10K that we can't hear now (if you are high frequency deaf as I am). What is missing is not what you might expect either, I am noticing that I can hear notes missing in chords (so a different chord ultimately), upper octaves on pianos sound dreadful, try whistling, that's really hilarious.

Sadly there is nothing fair about getting old and illnesses, it's just life (as we know it Jim ;))
 
Nearly 2 months in and my NHS standard issue Oticons are settling in nicely. Really enjoying listening to music. Still have the treble down and bass up but only a fraction compared to at first…
 
My dad uses Phonak Paradise P90R. He's been through a hell of a lot and these fancy hearing aids, and these ones he finds are superb. They have custom program for music... Can also stream music direct to the hearing aids. Apparently a Good place to get them from is Wholesale Hearing.

Best of luck.
 
This thread is music to my ears. I'm 47 and following a footballing accident 10 years ago lost 90% of the hearing in my right ear. It hasn't hindered my enjoyment of music / HiFi (as far as I know). But, hearing conversation in noisy locations is difficult. I went to see an Audiologist 18 months ago and was shocked when he said I had 30% loss in my other ear. He sent me back to see the Consultant (who is hopeless). But, I am due to have NHS hearing aids soon. I will try these before deciding on whether to try Phonak etc etc. I'll let you know how I get on.
 
Frizzy said:
I got Ramsey hunt syndrome, following getting shingles from crohns immune suppressant therapy. This causes nerve damage/palsy to parts of face and inner ear, in my case numb left cheek, weepy left eye and end of tongue has no sensation. Got a audio flat spot around 70hz on left, luckily only really noticeable after shingles attacks, and permanent tinitus, tho bearable as more background noise than foreground. Tho how you assess something so ephemeral Is of course problematic. I can’t turn up the wick any more, the next day would be a tinnitus blizzard.
I find if having bad day I turn off everything inc phone and go monklike, silence/rest helps.
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hope things have improved . i see justin bieber has it too sadly

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-62819695

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61793240
 
dweezil said:
With my mother we ended up with a £50 amplifier / mic box connected to earbuds which works better than her old £3k per ear traditional hearing aids.
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That is interesting, was it some battery powered amplifier and microphone? A bit trouble for dad with hearing aid, cannot get from it intelligible voices.
 
My case is slightly different. Hearing aids are of no use to my right ear - it just stopped working because I have a Schwannoma - Benign tumour made up of dead cells which apparently floats around in the liquid that accompanies my audio nerve through the tunnel in my skull to reach my brain and so the nerve endings which are on the outside of the nerve are scuffed about by this 1,3mm football and lose their function, the opposite of coaxial cables where the important part is protected by the plastic sheath. MRI scans have shown it has not grown so I should be all clear for the future and have no real tinnitus problems so I´m not complaining and just listen in mono but my brain is doing a decent job of fooling me so if I sit at right angles to my speakers I can still sense a central image, almost.
 
gints said:
That is interesting, was it some battery powered amplifier and microphone? A bit trouble for dad with hearing aid, cannot get from it intelligible voices.
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It was very basic but did the job well. Geemarc LH10 Amplified Hearing Assistant
 
Was not aware that those things exists, good. Was built in microphone enough? Maybe we will try one.
 
I also have neurological damage to my left ear and have a Phonak aid for this. Can listen without but serious listening definitely with…. Balances left and right quite well. Improves speech definition too
 
Phonak P90 RIC user here. The standard music programme is superb for listening to my HiFi. Had a pair of Widex previously from 2017 to 2021. My new Phonaks are much better.
 
clap said:
This thread is music to my ears. I'm 47 and following a footballing accident 10 years ago lost 90% of the hearing in my right ear. It hasn't hindered my enjoyment of music / HiFi (as far as I know). But, hearing conversation in noisy locations is difficult. I went to see an Audiologist 18 months ago and was shocked when he said I had 30% loss in my other ear. He sent me back to see the Consultant (who is hopeless). But, I am due to have NHS hearing aids soon. I will try these before deciding on whether to try Phonak etc etc. I'll let you know how I get on.
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Did the trauma you suffered playing football, damage one or more bones in your middle ear, thereby causing ‘conductive’ hearing loss (as happened to me when I suffered a head injury whilst hiking, leading to a fracture of the innermost ‘stapes’ bone!)?
If so, then has the audiologist not suggested the use of a bone anchored hearing aid? These bypass any middle ear problems, sending sound directly to the inner ear. Mine works well, enabling me to enjoy the hi fi, and to discriminate between component changes/ improvements!
 
I'm wondering if my hearing is going (I'm only 45)... They might just need a clean. I'm putting off seeing the audiologist in case they have bad news for me. Silly I know.
 
Neil P said:
I'm wondering if my hearing is going (I'm only 45)... They might just need a clean. I'm putting off seeing the audiologist in case they have bad news for me. Silly I know.
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I had my ears cleaned as early as 14, 70 years ago. At the time an astounding difference. Again, earlier this year when the annual audiology test showed a deterioration of which I was already aware. My first step was seeing an audiologist, then the cleaning, a noticeable improvement. All I can say, having struggled for several years, just do it, something to gain at small risk, but it is your personal choice
 
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