Is my hearing really that bad?

I’m 77. I got my HA’s when I was around 65. I knew my hearing was slowly degrading and I made the decision to get them. I have no reason to explain them, nor to defend them anyone. I can generally hear what I need/want to hear and I’m also accepting of what I might miss. I’m retired now but was using them when I was working. My initial reaction when I got them was to discover exactly what I was missing. I was sitting outside on a warm summer evening and tried removing them for a short while. I immediately noticed that the night sounds, the bugs and the birds, were completely gone. That was when the point was driven home to me.

My biggest problem is my wife not having the patience at times. I’m not picking on her in particular but anyone with HA’s can attest to the people who talk to you while walking away and at a lower voice from another room.

Other than that I have them and I need them. Mine are over-the-ear style and while I suspect that I might catch more sounds with the in-the-ear design since the microphone is in the “normal” location instead of behind the ear lobe, I satisfied with what I have.

@patchelect said:

My biggest problem is my wife not having the patience at times. I’m not picking on her in particular but anyone with HA’s can attest to the people who talk to you while walking away and at a lower voice from another room.

This is just so hard to get people to really grok. I had a wife come in the other day saying “I do great with my hearing aids and my husband doesn’t, so his hearing aids must be awful" and I had the opportunity to explain the difference between hearing loss and 100% speech clarity versus 20% speech clarity.