My first hearing aid - not what expected

Hearing aids take an adjustment period to get used to them, when I first got mine I was horrified at how weird my families voices sounded and hated it but now it’s normal and all I know. Things sound horrible to start with but then it become “normal” to you.

Unfortunately, I gave all audiograms to my audiologist and also the one she had done she kept. I only remember as I looked at the audiograms several times, that I have like 30 dB loss in frequencies between 6000 and 8 000 Hz, in real life it means I cannot hear sounds like crickets or running water in my left ear as clearly as in my right ear where the sound seems fine, but still has some loss even in right ear according to the audiogram. I thought the hearing aid would boost these frequencies and I would hear these sounds clearly, but instead I got an effect of talking to a microphone. I wonder if there are any hearing aids available where you don´t get the microphone sound effect at all.

The reason why you have a microphone effect is well… because you are listening through a microphone. Just keep going with them it will become normal and you will look back won’t be able to imagine hearing any other way.

Different brands of hearing aids tend to sound different. The care and skill of the hearing professional is even more important.

Since I could not find a good professional in my locality, I started going to Costco 10 years ago. They sell top technology level aids at a half to a third of prices elsewhere

Currently I decided to travel farther away and believe I have found a good audiologist. I am paying more money but I really need the improvement in word recognition.

Yes, but my adiologist warned me not to use the microphones on when in the street, public transport, noisy places, as that would be too loud for me and unpleasant. Then I would only turn on the microphones when teaching class, to hear thestudents who sit at the back better, and in nature when alone. That switching on and off all day long would make things difficult to get used to unlike someone who has the microphones on all day long, no?

Thank you. Well, everything will sound louder, that is what the hearing aids are doing to me now. I only needed a narrow strip somewhere between 6 and 8 000 Hz but I saw the assistent today setting that and the limit was 6000 Hz.

Hi there, you should post your audiogram which will help others to give further advice.

Hearing aids don’t fix anything. They try to help. Your audiologist should have explained everything to you which he unfortunately didn’t. Also you need to wear your aids at least a couple of weeks before your brain gets used to the aids. Then you go back to the audiologist for further adjustments. If none of this was explained to you, I would consider returning the aids and finding a new audiologist.

@hass5744: You owe me, @hass5744! BIGLY!

Your audiologist should be happy to give you the test results from the testing he did. No questions asked.

You need for ask for the return of your audiograms (the hearing charts) you left with the audiologist. They are YOUR property.

It sounds like you’re a young person. Your hearing loss won’t get better over time! The hearing aids should help slow down the loss. It’s hard at first to get used to the HA’s but they will definitely help in most situations when you get accustomed to them. There are certain words that you will never hear correctly again because recognition of some letters is lost and HA’s cannot correct it fully. I’m sorry for you hearing loss at a young age but you need to think of it as any other disability and correct for it.