Not sure what to make of comments by new Costco audiologist

In the US it derives from US “American” Football. One has 4 downs to move the ball 10 yards. If on the 4th down the team thinks it unlikely they’ll make the 10 yards and they have poor field position, they punt (kick the ball) and the other team repeats the process. So punt is essentially giving up when one is in a bad situation.

@Doggit said:

In my mind CI means big round things stuck on the side of my head and a robotic sound.

An example. The Cochlear N8 on the ear processor is about half again bigger than your KS10 hearing aids. I wear the Kanso 2 processors. They are about 3.5 cm in diameter and about 1 cm tall. I personally love the off the ear processors. Nothing hanging on my ears.

The sound from CI may be robotic at first but quickly becomes normalized. The brain does what it needs to to make the sounds just like you like them.

As far as Costco they follow best practices and fit most hearing losses. If your hearing loss is not in line with any of their hearing aids they will tell you to find someone else more fit to help you. If the recommend an aid they are pretty confident it will do well. As far as I know they are not driven by sales.

I also believe you should pursue a CI evaluation. Lots of great information about your hearing and CI without obligation to the surgery.

@Doggit, as a (nomen omen) bimodal user with better ear with 90-100% WRS I definitely agree with @joanhawsey and @Raudrive.

Sound is not as robotic as some people think. Keep in mind that I said this after my left ear had been completely deaf for 20 years (with no response at any frequency), so your prognosis is much better!

However, if your WRS is in your poorer ear quite decent, meaning over 60%, you can give a try, for example Phonak Audeo Infinio Sphere with UP receivers or Oticon Intent with 105 receivers, not sure about Starkey, because I have little knowledge about them.

Phonak has reportedly the best frequency compression named SoundRecover 2.

@SandraN has a similar hearing loss as you, and she is a very rare exception. The Phonak Audéo Infinio Sphere with UP receivers are so good that she doesn’t need a cochlear implant (CI), even though she is eligible for a CI evaluation based on her tonal audiogram. However, I don’t know anything about her WRS in quiet, nor whether she uses SoundRecover 2.

Hello Dawn

My ears were burning !

These aids are fine for me! I’ve never had a WRS and don’t use sound recover as I’ve no hearing at the levels to recover it to. Of far greater importance to me are the adjustments and physical adaptations made to my environment and by my family friends and colleagues. I’m able to work online using captions to support me, I do amateur drama and have a full life. I don’t have the time or feel the need to go for a CI.

Hello Dawn,

There are a couple of points of concern. If you have a sever hearing loss, and your practitioner is recommending a silicone dome, the rules of sound physics will not accommodate that style of coupler. If your thresholds are below the 60dB thresholds, then the feedback management is going to cap the output and you will not receive the benefit of that portion of the speech spectrum. In that case, a custom earmold would serve you the best. If your practitioner performed a REM, you would notice that the fitting screen would reflect that the output has been capped at the most vulnerable region, hence loss of audibility. Hopes this will help you a bit.

Hi sandra, Do you mean that you wear the Phonak paradise / k10s?

No I’ve had paradise for a few years but I’ve just bought new infinio sphere aids. The clarity is head and shoulders better than paradise as you’d expect from advanced technology. I use custom C shells with a 3mm vent as I absolutely can’t stand occlusion.(due to low frequency normal hearing) this does mean the sphere setting is less effective but it is good at getting rid of annoying higher pitched sounds that I’m only hearing through my aids. And then it focuses on the speech I want to hear. For example I was in the doctors waiting room last week with a lot of patients talking and a few children squealing and crying. I couldn’t hear much other than noise until they put my sphere setting on. Everything was quietened and I actually heard the soft spoken doctor say my name.

@FloridaSon said:

real ear measurements are taken at your audiogram test

No, real ear measurements can be done at any point during the fitting or following at subsequent visits.

Maybe a misspelling: ‘at’ instead of ‘from’, I think.

Yes,

Of course you are correct

You’re right. If I didn’t have the VA, I would go to Costco as well.

Update: Well I had 2 sessions, (both with different audiologists from the first one) in Madrid when I collected the Philips, and did not come away feeling over excited. I then spent a week wearing them and noticed I was not understanding as well as with just the one K10 and experiencing occlusion. First day back at school wearing them was hideous. From then on I went back to the KS10 in my left ear. Today I had a remote session with the first audi. After 45 mins of adjusting, he seemed to get exasperated. He said I need time to adapt to the new HAs. So we have agreed I will wear them at home for the next 2 weeks to see if I adapt, and then try another remote fitting. So far I see no improvement on the KS10, and in fact, as Philips is not compatible with my Android phone, I am missing out on streaming. Let’s see how it goes. Ho hum.

Lack of phone compatibility would be a deal breaker for me.

How old is your phone? Android phones have had ASHA for several years.

Take them back and get a refund. I think these hearing aids are the wrong type for your hearing loss.

Have you considered going for testing for a cochear implant?