First Day Wearing Hearing Aids - Help!

To some extent it takes some time to get use to sounds you haven’t heard for a long time or in your case maybe never.

However, hearing aids should never make your hearing worse. So it would seem that they are not adjusted correctly yet.

Musicians, vocalists, and music professionals have a harder time getting hearing aids adjusted to their satisfaction, and sometimes they are never satisfied. Widex seems to be the go to hearing aid brand for them. Many of these folks have gone the DIY route to get their aids dialed in. That may be an option for you to consider.

If you are keeping the Bernafon aids, bring a recording of the sounds that you are having issues with and show the hearing aid provider the information that you have collected so far when getting the aids adjusted. Again going the DIY route may work out the best for you. So something to consider.

There is a DIY section here, and they can can help you with that if you decide to go that route.

Thanks for the reply. I am on a trial with the Bernafon set for 2 weeks and the way the first day went, I am hesitant to wear them again. I will try them again.

I did mention to my audiologist that Widex seems to be a preferred brand but he wasn’t keen on them. I am not sure if he genuinely does not rate them or he is not affiliated.

I do understand that this may take time but any sound in that 2-3.5 kHz range seems to grate and at times be painful. I also understand that hearing aids are generally for speech and that my specific requirements are different but, Intelligibility is way worse in the standard mode. The music program is still intervening with weird artefacts and I can’t trust what I am hearing when doing mixing or mastering at this point and the disparity between the two modes is so much that I can’t be sure what would be a more natural response.

As for DIY, is my aim to get a response that is true to the “textbook” human hearing, or is it better for me to understand what I need for comfort, what I consider a natural sound and repeatable performance?

Thanks for the welcome! I may sound like I am unhappy about this but I am excited about potentially having extended range!

I found this link below and essentially all of the things that heater talsk about is my experience but possibly with much worse hearing.

Lifelong musician/audio engineer dives into trials of HAs...here's my story and experiences thus far

This is such a great thread. I’ve come to realize that Puresound is not recommended for much of my hearing loss. I’m currently using Philips 9030’s and considering the Widex SmartRIC and the Philips 9050’s if they ever are available at Costco. Huge price differences. I’ve done some DIY and have recently combined two music program attempts that seems to work, although I still lower the gain in the app by two steps (5dB). Obviously there’s not much being applied at that point but seems to be …

Thanks for the audiogram.

Did you get your word understanding scores. I ask because that’s a severe/profound high frequency hearing loss.

This is your first set of hearing aids, correct? If so you can plan on some time to acclimate, maybe months. That time to acclimate might be detrimental as far as the hearing aid trial period.
Costco might be a great place to start due to their 6 month return policy. This would enable you to acclimate during the trial.

Good luck, great help here on the forum.

I have never completely gotten rid of the weird artifacts in my Oticons. Turning off speech rescue helps, but then you lose some of the speech distinction.

I also have the severe high frequency loss.

I find in normal settings without noise Phonak is best. But Oticon really picks out the speech in noise. But I’ve spent months tweaking them. Some days I get sick of the artifacts and just wear Phonaks.

Widex didn’t work for me. Even with tight fitting custom molds the feedback was terrible. Too much gain in HF for my loss. (Your gain is similar)

You MUST get custom molds for your loss

You need REM adjustment

Your brain needs 3-4 months to adjust.

@Shaun_R said:

I am on a trial with the Bernafon set for 2 weeks and the way the first day went, I am hesitant to wear them again. I will try them again.

Somehow you need to find an audiologist that will give a much longer trial period. 2 weeks is out of line for a trial period. Do you have other audiologist choices?

Where are you located? We have members in Australia that might be able to help you.

Don’t get hooked into buying aids until you get fit properly and used to the aids.

Your audiogram is very similar to mine and I am an audiophile. I have been using Widex for 8 years and currently have SmartRIC 440’s. I have tried others along my journey but in my case they came up short. There are several key aspects to using them. First as others have said finding an audiologist familiar with Widex (if that is what you decide on) and one who is willing to work with you. My audiologist is fantastic and it was pure luck that I found her. Second I researched settings and how they affect the sound I would hear (this forum is a good resource). Working together we eventually came up with a dedicated music program. Third is I accepted the fact that aids are just that, they are aids. I would never have perfect hearing again. Fourth having said that I decided that music was what I wanted most so that is what drove my quest. Music is most important to me and hearing ever single word from someone in a crowded noisy setting will never be perfect. I am 71 years old and 50 years of newspaper printing presses is what caused my loss. Good luck on your quest don’t give up. It requires time, patience, and work on your part.

Your primary goal is to be able to wear them. Hearing aids do you no good if you don’t wear them. So you need to get to the point where you can wear the hearing aids.

Again your settings don’t have to be exactly what the software says you need, just helpful and wearable. In my case, I adjusted my Philips 9040 hearing aids to be below the target levels the software says I need at certain frequencies and loudness inputs.

Adjusting hearing aids can take a lot of time; know how; and communication skills, both HCP and the person wearing the hearing aid. That’s why folks keep saying the person who adjusts your hearing aid can make all the difference. That’s also why folks go the DIY route.

I use what Philips calls an open bass dome. The feedback managers of three different hearing aid manufactures that I’ve used have worked well enough that I’ve never had to go with a closed fitting. I am giving up some Bluetooth usability, but I find an open dome worth it.

Thanks, I may get them adjusted again and try again!

I tried Intents and it sounded to me like there was a level of 3rd order Harmonc distortion in those upper frequencies that I couldn’t tolerate. As you can imagine, it was a short trial.

Everyone saying to give it time, you need to adjust, aren’t wrong within the context, and it’s a sensible thing to do. At the start there’s the initial fitting and a few sessions of fine-tuning to get them as you like them. Still, based on what you describe, I wouldn’t rule out an off test (though that is rare) or, more likely, and not so great initial fitting.

But the fact remains, what your hearing is your preference and what works for you. I can appreciate your frustration at the situation you describe. I do some composing, luthier, and attend a lot of live acoustic performances… so quality of the sound is important too. Based on your needs, you owe it to yourself to try Widex.

Yeah, I tried the Bernafons again (Intent rebranded) and there is a constant white noise sound and it reacts so dramatically and resonance is unbearable. I will push my audi to try the Widex

Make sure to find out how experienced your audiologist is with Widex.
I suspect you can go to the Widex web site and find a list of audiologist who handle Widex in your area.
Even then how experienced are they with your problem.