I have now had my first for 4 months, after needing them for many years (and having had 3 abortive attempts in the past).
I have the Jabra 30’s. From the start everything sounded excruciatingly loud, so I turned everything way down, plus initially used Hearing in Noise with the noise filter on. I then went to All Around with the noise filter on at low levels. Now I try to turn the noise filter off, not always successfully. And I’ve been turning the sound levels up.
Is this a less than ideal approach? In a post I was reading tonight, it said that one should bear up with the loudness, harshness, etc. so that one’s brain can get used to it. It’s definitely slow the way I’m doing it, but it’s hard to imagine doing the opposite. I’m not sure that the post was referring to first HAs though.
You’re ignoring this member’s posts.
BBWM15 people in this conversation25 min readJump to latest↓
If it is too loud then lower the volume for a while. Also talk to your audiologist. And yes at first your aids sound too loud to you because you aren’t use to the extra sound. I have been wearing aids 20 years. My first couple sets of aids didn’t have any controls for me to make volume change or change programs. And yes my brain said my aids were too loud. It took about 2 months to get use to them. But you have had your aids 4 months you should be use to them.
Things will sound too loud at first as said above.
You can turn them down initially, and ease yourself into it. Wear your aids all the time to retrain your brain.
You could check with your audi to make sure the settings are correct.
I pressed through and quickly found I felt more hard of hearing without my aids. (Not that I was, I just felt that way.) I got used to hearing things better. Like eye glasses, I want to hear better, so I wear them. SO many things seemed way louder than they should. I just wasn’t used to it. But I never backed the volume down. I’d say it was worth it, but then I stuck it out and became accustomed to it.
If you can stick it out, I’d say it is better. But if you are afraid you’ll give up, I’d say make this deal. Plan to progressively raise the volume to full over the course of a few weeks. Just don’t quit!
When I got my first hearing aids, the audiologist advised me not to turn the volume down unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get used to the new sounds. Instead, I was told to wear them gradually, increasing the wear time each day. It’s the same advice I got when I started using progressive glasses.
What I don’t understand—and hopefully the experts here can explain—is why fitters or audiologists don’t use the transition feature in the programming software to prevent situations like this.
Maybe ask your audiologist to include the transition feature in the programming software (first user → experienced). I’ve never used it myself, but I imagine it’s there for a reason.
@cvkemp Thank you. My hearing aid fitter at Costco didn’t tell me to leave the sound level that he set it for. I knew to wear them all the time, and I have, with the exception of days that I have to drink my coffee first, and then take a shower to go out for apppointments. And then I put them on after my shower. The fact that I wasn’t told this is likely due to not having an audiologist, who has much more experience.
I’m not sure what the level of the gain was in the beginning. But when I first put them on in the am, it’s way too loud for me, and so I turn down the volume and maybe put on the sound filter in All Around.
Today, I asked him to turn down the initial setting a bit. I think he had it for 90%, and now it is 80%.
I will definitely try to keep the sound level up and keep the noise filter off. It’s so intense when I do that—especially if my husband has the water running hard, and is clanking dishes, or crinkling cellophane. Our kitchen faucet is ungodly loud. We need to get it changed.
It’s a very noisy city that I live in!! They have turned the fire and ambulance sirens way up, because people weren’t moving out of the way enough.
Just walking on the floorboards in our apartment is really loud!! The building is almost 100 years old. (Yes, I know some people live in much older houses, but apartment buildings get much more wear, and much less upkeep).
I wish I’d known this sooner, although, it would have been unbearable. It still is if something really loud is happening and the sound level is high-ish. I will try to push it much more. But it feels unbearable like scratching fingers on a blackboard, but really loud!!
Oh, I absolutely wouldn’t consider quitting! I’m never a quitter.
I know exactly what you mean about how it feels when you take them off. A new friend, who has much worse hearing than mine, who has been wearing for a long time, said when he takes his HAs off, the profound silence is terrible. (He may be a candidate). When I take mine off, I feel fairly deaf due to the same issue.
Again, I wish I had known to do this, to leave the volume up!! I did know to keep trying to turn up the volume and take off the noise filter.
My fitter did have a program set to reduce the sound, but slowly increase it. And he did turn it down to 80% now, so at least it doesn’t blast me when I first put them on for the day.
This is a major issue!!
Along these lines, I’m interested in the issue of hanging in there with the Jabras, which feel harsh and not necessarily natural. I didn’t try any of the other aids at Costco, because I’d done a lot of research and felt that the technology was probably better with the Jabras.
My husband tried the Jabras and the Rextons, and went with the Rextons, because they were much more natural sounding. He’s a professional musician, although fairly retired. I would bet that it might not be good to go with the one that sounds the most pleasing to you. But he may have made the right choice.
I get on him sometimes, because he sometimes doesn’t wear his—usually for a particular reason, but even so . . .
He was fairly in denial about how bad his hearing had gotten. Besides having been around loud music in his work, he had a very sudden loss of hearing in one ear—almost to nothing.
He had been using ear plugs for many years to protect his hearing, as had I.
If you’ve been using these aids for four months and are still having trouble, it might be worth looking into Costco’s 180-day return policy. Different brands have their own sound profiles, and everyone has unique preferences. I’ve come across comments from others saying that the Jabra/Resounds have a harsh and “tiring” sound..
For instance, I tried the Rexton and really didn’t like how they sounded, though many people here seem to love them. Personally, I prefer Phonak and Widex.
In other words, don’t get stuck with something you won’t enjoy after a few months of use.
I don’t know whether my comment will be helpful or a red herring
I have a pair of Widex moment 440. When I first got them I found that some things like doors and drawers were deafening and not acceptable on a long term basis. My hearing aids were initially setup using the Widex fitting software.
Following suggestions on this forum I asked my audiologist to change the fitting software to NAL / NAL2 and that solved my problem
The specialist at COSTCO reprogramed my four year old KS 10s and said they would be loud.
Well, they were loud. I just created a custom program on the Easy Line app called Quiet 1 and that suits me fine.
Every morning I select Quiet 1 on the Easy Line app and reduce the volume to -1. Whenever I am out and about with people I set the volume back to 0.
LATER:
I decided to skip my custom program and stick with the loud Automatic Premium default set by the COSTCO audiologist. It is now a week or so later and I am used to it already. I hear my wife better but the cars passing me while riding my recumbent trike are very loud.
Is NAL / NAL2 what is used when you do measurements? My fitter did REM measurements in the beginning, which was August 24th. I don’t think that he’s done it since. But I’ve switched from tulip domes to , and now silicone molds, so it probably should be rechecked.
Yes, I’m majorly frustrated that I have worked so hard on getting the aids/domes/molds right since June, when I first saw him. And I got my aids first on August 24th.
I feel that it is a result of: my needing aids for so long, without getting best results for so many years, having problems with the Jabras, especially not being able to stream (maybe now it’s ok, I have to check more), and the lack of experience and training of the Costco fitter I’ve been seeing. In this case, I feel like I have been having to be an audiologist, which I’m not, of course.
I come into each visit with a typed page of concerns, issues, ideas for the next steps. I have been diligently following the advice of the people on this wonderful forum with so much experience.
Plus, I tried 3 different audiologists in the past with terrible experiences. And I was on a previous forum years ago, and did tons of research on it.
I have to try them again with the molds that I just got. But the fact that I am having major feedback right from the beginning with the molds is kind of the last straw. They also both fell out right when we were in the parking lot of the Costco, although st least they didn’t fall down. I was trying very carefully to take my mask off.
I feel like I am at a turning point, and I may return these aids, and give up on Costco for now.
I want a way to get a good referral for either an experienced and good fitter at a Costco near me, or a really good audiologist in the city. I’m not sure how to do that. Does anyone have a good way to do that?? Thank you!
Thank you for your feedback. At this point, I am realizing that I have to push the envelope further than I was doing, because I have needed for so darned long, and am so unused to hearing all of these really loud noises!!
I had tried 3 different audiologists in the past and had awful experiences for different reasons. But I should have pursued it much more, as my hearing loss, of course, has just gotten worse.
It’s strange, because my , and previous tests, have shown that I have good word recognition—but that was in a soundproof audiology booth with headphones on!! But in real life, I couldn’t hear basic words, doctors, or my husband so much of the time! And I hadn’t heard a bird in many years! My husband could being lying in bed next to me, but I couldn’t hear him unless he faces me! And if he says something to me while walking away—forget it! These patterns of behavior that we all have are hard to change, even though we usually WANT to hear each other.
To try and answer some of your questions @Blue_Pearl1
I would presume the testing is done against whatever was used as the fitting software. But in my case changing the fitting software was the difference between buying my current aids and returning them within the “trial” period.
Costco has a good reputation on this forum so probably as good as any to follow up on.
I find that my hearing aids stay in fairly well - but removing a mask was nearly impossible without disturbing them. One suggestion that has been made before on these pages is to use a headband that covers the ears to prevent loss (more normally in sports)
I was only happy with my BTE moulds from a comfort point of view when the 3rd set was made
That’s a pretty bad hearing loss to be on your first pair of aids. It will take time to acclimate. Have you noticed if the too loud sounds are high frequencies or low? Is there particular sounds that are too loud? You want to hear all the sounds you have been missing. You will get much better results.
Your low frequency hearing loss puts you into either power domes or molds. If your molds fell out they do not fit you properly. No excuse for having feedback with modern aids.
As mentioned returning the aids and trying a different pair at Costco might be a good idea. As far as getting a different fitter you can just ask. Be honest with them and tell them what’s happening. I think Costco has 4 or 5 different high quality hearing aids now. One of them should work for you with the right fitter.
Maybe receivers are faulty? Try with another sets. This is less probable if loudness is a problem in both ears.
The same applies with hearing aids, but it is unlikely.
3 Years. Have you ever had ? Perhaps there are strange resonances, which make some sounds much louder? Or, like in rare cases, you have low volume of ear canal, making sounds louder that predicted without REM?
4 Weeks. Another solution. Ask your audiologist to measure your Loudness Discomfort Level () less than 7- Grade Cox Contour Anchors.
which leads to asking your audiologist for a 5.0 (also to delight @Neville, because DSL in a Canadian product) fitting algorithm where LDLs can be taken into account.
Nevertheless, LDLs can also be tested in REM with another fitting algorithms, such as , NAL-NL3, etc., using 90 non-speech stimulus level. IIRC, DSL seems to take LDLs into account calculating G50, G65 and G80 curves.
The question is also: does peaks of the sounds are excruciatingly loud or all the sound around you?
If the former - modifying the based on LDLs could help. If the problem is the latter - that all normal sound you stay in - there is more to modify G50, G65 or (more probably) G80 curves starting maybe from 80% of REM-based target.
Thank you! Yes, I had a done when I first got the aids on August 26th. I don’t think I’ve had it again.
So how did you change the fitting software? Did you ask the fitter to do that? Or ? What did you change it from and to? I am presuming that the fitter started with the Jabra software, but I would have to ask him.
There are so many intricacies with !! And especially because I went without for so long inadvertently.
Yes, it was upsetting that the HAs and molds came out right away! The molds didn’t come all of way out, but mostly, and the aids came all of the way off, although they couldn’t fall elsewhere because of the molds. I have tried so many fixes for that problem. The next step is to try the Deaf Metal cuff, which I have to sightly pry open to fit on my ear. The earrings from Deaf Metal help, but they still keep falling off.
Unfortunately, I can’t really go without a mask, as I am very high risk. And right now the flu hospitalization rate is the highest it’s been in decades. It’s a rough strain of it. Plus, NYC is extremely densely populated!
Well, I guess that it isn’t excruciating as in horrific pain. But it is unbearable!! I am pushing the envelope more and more, but it is really hard to take. And I don’t ever remember these sounds sounding like this, ie, our floor boards are creaking really loudly while I walk on them with slippers like ballet slippers! Yes, our building is old, and I don’t think the floor has ever been worked on (it sure needs it, but we rent—long-term).
That’s a pretty bad hearing loss to be on your first pair of aids. It will take time to acclimate. Have you noticed if the too loud sounds are high frequencies or low? Is there particular sounds that are too loud? You want to hear all the sounds you have been missing. You will get much better results.
Your low frequency hearing loss puts you into either power domes or molds. If your molds fell out they do not fit you properly. No excuse for having feedback with modern aids.
As mentioned returning the aids and trying a different pair at Costco might be a good idea. As far Ias getting a different fitter you can just ask. Be honest with them and tell them what’s happening. I think Costco has 4 or 5 different high quality hearing aids now. One of them should work for you with the right fitter.
Yes, it is really bad hearing loss to be on my first aids!! I had terrible experiences with 3 Audis in the past, plus one time in the beginning where I was overwhelmed by it. And I’ve been dealing with serious health issues for a long time, so it’s hard to manage it all. But I am not happy that I didn’t keep pursuing it more. It wasn’t that I didn’t want aids.
The sounds that bother me, I don’t think are low sounds. They are clanking dishes, a really loud kitchen faucet (objectively loud), crinkling cellophane, grinding salt (sounds innocuous enough!), very loud city fire and police sirens, city construction, etc. Oh, and the floor boards. Also, loud building sounds! Subway noise.Some of these are worse than others.
My husband just got in November, and I don’t think that he’s pushing it, plus, my loss is greater than his, so he doesn’t know that these sounds will be so hard for me to take. I am now pushing the envelope more.
I just read the other night that people that have great loss are much more sensitive than others—there was more to what they were saying, but I forget the rest.***
My says that my loss is the kind that is from head trauma, which I’ve had in spades, uncountable times.
Yes, I was not happy that the molds and aids fell out right away, and that I had a lot of feedback, which was right after they fell out. Today when I put them on, I looked in a magnifying mirror to get them in right. I have much less feedback today, although some.
But streaming calls is slightly better, but still terrible! I don’t know why. People on the forum don’t understand why, nor do I.
Recruitment, in medicine, is a physical condition of the inner ear that leads to reduced tolerance of loudness. It commonly occurs in individuals who suffer hearing loss due to cochlear damage. While low-magnitude sounds cannot be heard in the affected ear(s), the perceived loudness increases over-proportionally with sound volume once the auditory threshold has been overcome. This can result in a (seemingly paradoxical) reduced tolerance to loudness, as loud sounds may be perceived louder than n...
There is also a loss of the stapedial reflex (measured in ) and the tensor tympani muscle reflex—both of which have a role in protection from noise.”
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, because DSL in a Canadian product) fitting algorithm where LDLs can be taken into account.