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First ever hearing aid - how on earth am I going to get used to this?

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Got a one week trial from ampilfon…

30 mins and I can’t stand it any more. Ears itching, feels awful.
Please tell me it gets better.

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Edited

Hi Paul,
It does get better, but it’s slow. Talk to your audiologist about your difficulties immediately, if you can, and get help from them. If you post your it will help us help you. For the below, I’m speaking about my type of loss and what helped me–I have good low frequency hearing that drops to deafness in the highest frequencies. If your loss is different, some of these suggestions won’t work. I’m happy to chat in more detail or offline if you need a listening ear.

My audi said to wear mine only at home initially, to get used to them. I thought, “how silly, it will be fine.” It wasn’t. At home, alone while my husband was out, I wore them for less than 5 min. Everything was SOUND EVERYWHERE and it was anxiety provoking and waaaay too loud. I waited a long time to get for genetic partial deafness, so it was a very long road for me to benefit. Now, I appreciate how they help me hear although I confess I don’t wear them 100% of the time (bad girl!).

Below are some suggestions I found helpful (and sometimes I still use some of them, there are times I’m just tired of listening to the world). Please pick and choose what works or is feasible for you.

Turn them off/ take out around water running, dishes clanking, crinkling paper, toilets flushing, loud places, screaming kids in the park, etc. This works for a high frequency loss, otherwise it’s not helpful.

New users often start with less amplification–I needed to start even lower than that so the audi turned down the high frequencies and my HA has a volume control so I could turn everything down even further

There are several brands of ear oil that reduce itch of HAs and earmolds–I use one called Miracell–be careful if you have in the ear aids not to get it inside the aid, it takes very little to do the job

Use the HAs in the morning to get used to them, when it is often quieter and you are rested

If you are under the weather or tired, be gentle, I’ve found at those times it’s both harder to hear and more of a pain in the butt to wear hearing aids

Dr. Don Schum of Oticon has given talks showing that, for adults who know language by the time they lose their hearing, the major speech frequencies needed for good comprehension run up to about 3,000 Hertz, so lots of amplification at higher frequencies isn’t needed. Phew.

There are some real experts on this forum and I’m sure you will get the support and help you need, between your audi and them. By the way, a trial of only one week is very very short and many places give longer times for someone to decide to purchase or return.

Keep in touch and congratulations for taking a hard step that can pay off well in the long run!
Barb

Paul have been wear aids for 15 years, it takes time to get use to them the first time, and also anytime you get new aids. My first year wasn’t that much fun, but I kept at them because I had to to be able to keep my job. That first year I went through 4 sets of hearing aids and 2 different Audiologist. I was finally told my hearing loss wasn’t a simple type of loss and it was going to be hard o fit and to adjust to. Over the years as my hearing loss as progressed and hearing aids have improved and I have adjusted to the aids I have been able to hear so much better. You are starting out at a time that hearing aids are so much better that they use to be. Try not to bet drawn by to fancy claims, and marketing. Start with the basics and just learn to hear again. Most of all be extremely patient, start out slow and hour or two a day if need be and work up to wearing them all day. Your brain has to relearn the sounds, and the level of those sounds. Don’t push it.

In reply to @cohen

Thanks Barb - I dont have a copy but I saw on screen. Like a slope going downhill… so I guess higher frequencies?

Its not so much the loudness but the feeling of having them in your ear and itchiness. I never ever liked in ear earbuds…

I’ll look into miracell…

I’m 52 years old so its disappointing to have to have hearing aids. Getting older I guess :frowning:

Like I said patients and slowly work into wearing them, I use EarGene for itchy ears. My hearing loss is becoming a high frequency loss, but started out as a cookie bite loss with having good lows and highs, it was hard to fit, and I had a hard time adjusting.

In reply to @paul3

I think most of us get to the point where other than hearing better we’re not even sure we’re wearing hearing aids. I’d try wearing them at times where you’re busy concentrating on something else. It’s also possible that you’re sensitive to the material the domes are made of or the fit isn’t right. I’d definitely let your audiologist know about the issues you’re having.

Hi @paul3
I’m sorry for your experience. This happen very often, because of two reasons:

  1. We’re used to not-hear some high-pitch sounds, like birds chirping, cutlery, vehicle sounds (motor, horns)… a lot of ambient sounds are higher than we’re used. First weeks with my I din’t undertad all those sounds of the pee in the water…
  2. First time users need a good fitter. Your audi must have experience to fit your HAs gradually and avoid those shocks.

Please, stand forward and don’t dismay, everyone of us felt like you on firts time.

Never had a problem with itching ears or discomfort.
So, it’s definitely worth looking into it. Good fit is the one you’re not aware off.

And if you have physical discomfort, then you can’t be relaxed to let your brain adapt. So, definitely ensure good fit first.

Maybe dome size or shape doesn’t suit you. Maybe your ears are sensitive and you need extremely clean mold/dome every day plus clean hands for handling them. To some people it helps to dry aids and dome and sanitise with UV light.
Maybe they’re dry, in that case, those oils mentioned could help. Or just extra virgin olive oil, extra small quantities, a smear not a drop.

I have tickling issue like once a day, of all that movement, and then I pull out aid, scratch like a dog would do, and I’m fine. Was told that oil could help with that as well, but once a day is OK for me.

But, go back to your fitter and complain until they find a good solution and don’t accept ‘you’ll get used to it’ as one. Find another fitter.

Pain and discomfort isn’t something we should get used to. Also, don’t push yourself using aids under such conditions. Point of aids is to wear them ideally 8h and more each day. Chances are 0 that you will grow up to that amount of time if you start resenting them.

And then it won’t matter how much you paid them, pain source will sleep in a drawer.

Don’t do that to yourself.

Properly fitted aids are a joy (because you hear and they just work), not suffering :slight_smile:

I had a lot of problems with itching in the beginning. Stick with it, it gets better. One thing that helps me a little is I take the mustache trimmer on my electric razor and trim the hairs in my ear.

One week is not a trial. That’s like taking a car on a 20 yard test drive.

Edited

In reply to @paul3

I got my first hearing aids a little over 2 years ago. I’m 68 now. I had a LOT of comfort issues. They lasted for about 9 months and then settled down, for me. What eventually worked for me? I had silicone ear molds made. And I got new glasses. The only molds that worked was when the audiologist (my second one) had them made what I guess is called “open,” it’s when you move your jaw and talk instead of sitting still while the mould set. I’d not have known about that possibility without reading on this forum. My first audi said there was nothing else to try. She’d tried different sizes of domes. She tried different types of domes. She shortened the receiver wires and she lengthened them. She’d made me custom molds. My ears were itching too. Miracell helped. I had a lot of issues with the aids playing nice with my glasses. On my own, I decided to find a pair of glasses that have very thin temples–with no ear pads. That helped. I was ready to give up, even though I fully realized the aids were helping me hear much better.

Once I got different glasses and customized “open-set” molds, I was OK with the hearing aids. There are still some days, though, when I am way too aware of having the things stuck in my ears. I would like to do without them. But I can’t. In addition to the pleasure of hearing speech better, I try to concentrate on the few fun or useful things that go better with hearing aids. Bluetooth to my ears is great for listening to music and audiobooks. I am retired and sometimes spend 4-5 hrs streaming while doing other stuff, like knitting, working outdoors, or cleaning house. Phone calls streaming to my ears is much easier than making do with a speaker phone. I can understand my grandkids better during our FaceTime calls.

During the early days of getting used to the aids, I wore them 12 hrs a day, at least, even though the audiologist told me I could try shorter periods instead. Everytime I took them out I didn’t want to put them
back in. I needed the discipline of telling myself this was going to be the new normal, discomfort or not.
But every few weeks I went back to the audiologist and told her she’d have to try something else because the experience was driving me crazy.

Bottom line. It was a real struggle for me to get used to them. You think, or I did, that it would be like putting on glasses. So not true, for me. But it’s been worth it to persevere.

I was so happy to hear things that any discomfort was worth it.

On the other hand, I was amazed at how noisy the world really is. At times I missed the quiet. But I was more overjoyed about hearing new sounds to ever want to stop wearing them

In time wearing hearing aids will be like wearing a shirt. It’ll feel natural.

Thanks everyone for the feedback…

I guess part of the problem is, in my mind, I don’t REALLY need them. I can hear but I guess I got used to it. Only having a test made me realise I have a problem.

Been there. I fought it too for a very long time. However, When it started affected my job I started realizing I need to look into it. I began to feel like an idiot sometimes because what I thought I heard and acted on was wrong. Also, during meetings I found myself spending a lot of time trying to decipher what people were saying, it became hard work to do that. I would be working on a what someone said, meanwhile the conversation is continuing on and I would get behind. Then there is the family, not hearing them frustrated them and me. I completely gave up on t.v., just figured it was a lost cause.

Quality of life really started to suffer. It took me a while to realize it but when I did, I took action and I am glad I did. My first fit was ok but I wasn’t heavily involved with the process, like joining a forum such as this. So, it faded and just this year I got a new pair of Phonak P90’s, and I am very involved with my audi, and getting them tuned right. I am so much happier now and glad I stuck with it.

Josie
I got my ReSound GN just at the start of the pandemic and haven’t been able to go in for service as much as I should. I realize now having read the comments in this forum that my problems can be dealt with. Itching in the ear, magnification of distant sounds have solutions. Thanks to forum members.

In reply to @paul3

Paul I’m sorry I tried to reply and think I flagged your post by mistake instead. I haven’t figured out how to unflag.

To answer your question, yes, an that starts high and the left side and goes down on the right, like a slide on the playground would, indicates better hearing at low frequencies than high.

I hope you are getting along better now that some time has passed!

I think it’s pretty common that the high frequencies go first. Sadly that’s where the speech recognition resides.

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