First pair of hearing aids but see no improvement

@joanhawsey said:

So, maybe it’s not common for AuDs to all have that?

I don’t know. It seems impossible for audiologists in North America not to have it. My clinic has had it for over 20 years. I’ve heard clinicians talk about working in places where their employers won’t get it? But there are affordable systems out there now, I think if I were in that situation I’d just buy one out of pocket.

But clinicians do things differently. I’m only eight years into this field; I’m not going to go out of my way to second guess someone with double my experience without greater cause.

Double your experience, but perhaps half your integrity. This simply isn’t a matter of opinion. Not performing REM is akin to shooting in the dark. Whether you’ve been shooting for 8 years or 8 minutes, anyone would tell you you’d be more accurate if you turned the lights on.

Without REM you’re flying blind - You are making assumptions about very important variables that can easily be illuminated with REM. You can argue how strictly an Aud must adhere to targets, whether they should encourage their client to adapt to the tone/gain or make adjustments away from target in the name of comfort, which prescriptions are most suited (NAL-NL2, DSL etc), and so on - but there is no justification for not performing REM at all.

Thanks for the feedback on REM. I don’t want to put this thread off on a tangent, but this is helpful. I live in a very rural area, which may account for it, but this forum has been instructional on how to advocate for myself.

All the best @joanhawsey - you hit the nail on the head! You’ll be a lot more successful if you do advocate for yourself.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Audi gave me two sizes of open domes. I tried both and they make no difference for me. I remember asking her about closed domes and she said those are for people with a more severe loss. So I just went with what was given to me. I will bring this up on my second appointment. I’m just a bit disappointed since I see no improvement at all at this point considered these are quite expensive.

@Rain.Drop said:

I remember asking her about closed domes and she said those are for people with a more severe loss.

Looking at your audiogram I tend to disagree with your fitter, maybe.
Power domes or even custom ear molds just might improve your hearing. The power domes are an easy cheap thing to try. The aids have to be set up for whichever done you do decide to use.

The LF is the usual guide; at the level shown, you’d usually want this fitting to be open as humanly possible.

Though as you say, more occluded domes cost nothing to try.

I completely agree with @Um_bongo. You should be fitted with open domes.

I’m confident you’ll have a much better result after REM. I know that Oticon’s estimated first-fit (particularly if set to the VAC+ prescription) is often severely under target. Here’s an example of a fitting I had recently. The 3 dotted red/blue lines are the first-fit estimations (at 3 different input levels). The solid red/blue lines were the final settings required to meet REM targets. There is a massive difference between the two! Had I not performed REM, this client would also be saying that they don’t notice any differences with their aids in.

Thanks.
I have always appreciated help from the pros.
I am bilateral CI now so no more self fittings.
Trying to help.

@Um_bongo not meaning to detrail the thread but talking of venting, my earmould vent size is 1mm (my audiologist told me she told them to put a 1mm vent so I do not feel occluded and to let in some natural sound), but my previous moulds I still have, got a larger vent size. Is there any way they are able to give me slightly bigger vent size? They are comfortable but I do feel a bit of occlusion. I was told I have good low frequency sound but does not look like it is a lot because of how steep my audiogram is.

@Um_bongo said:

If I had to fit a proper mould/tubing I’d ask for a Select-a-Vent option on a 3-4mm through vent.

Is that the option to have a bigger vent hole in the mold and chose a varying option of different plugs with their own hole size inside so you can select the desired vent size from larger to smaller?

Hi Rain.Drop!

So sorry you’ve having issues! I know you have a lot of replies here, but I’ll put in my .02 cents as I was also fitted with new hearing aids recently, Rexton BiCores from Costco. Like you, I was very excited to get them, but noticed very little improvement. I had two issues: they were simply not loud enough and lots of feedback.

I was very disappointed to say the least. Like @DaveL said below, I noticed that everything got louder when I put my fingers in my ears, so strange!

BUT.

I went back and the audiologist and he put me in larger, closed domes. That 100% took care of the feedback issues! There is zero feedback anymore, no matter how closely I cup my ears. And he adjusted the gain 4-5 notches.

And wow, what an incredible difference! The world came to life, and I could suddenly hear EVERYTHING! In fact, it’s nearly overwhelming and I have to take breaks now and then, lol.

So I’m guessing you need more gain, and that you’re in the wrong domes. You possibly need to go larger, and possibly closed domes. Not everyone needs or can tolerate them, but it’s worth a try!

(Adding… I’m no expert, this is just what worked for me)

In the old days==I thought the only way to hear better was to turn up the volume.

My hearing aids are so much better than the ones I had before. It’s the setup. I’ve fought hard to make improvements. We have to advocate for ourselves.

DaveL

@Rain.Drop said:

Still hear actors mumbling. Coworkers were talking across the table and I still couldn’t understand

My partner has perfect hearing, 1-10 straight across all the frequencies. Yet, she has trouble understanding certain people some of the time, e.g. the mumblers, the people who almost chew their words, soft spoken people, a range of others. Have you tried to identify what type of speech is most difficult for you to understand. Also, I may have missed it in this long thread but did you have a word recognition test? Results?