I had a new hearing test this week and the audi said I have profound loss in my right ear. Word recognition was very poor. I have worn aids for almost 15 years current ones for the last two.
She also made referal for me to see a .
She said I could get new aids that may help a little more than my current ones or I could go to a system she talked about both but left the decision up to me. I opted to go with the new aids since I am familiar with that technology and I can return them in the first 6 months and then try the CROS system. I would like to hear pun intended from people who have already been down this road.
I am 25 years . I first tried a single aid in the bad ear for four years until that aid died. All it did was amplify the unintelligible noise. I have 100% comprehension loss in my left ear. If you look at my you will see that although I have a loss, I do still hear a little something. It’s just noise. I can tell when they play tones in that ear if they are loud enough, but I can’t tell you what frequency they are. I can’t identify sounds or words.
I recently purchased a pair of Phonak Audeo Paradise 70 aids. The aid on the left transmits all the sound to the aid on the right and nothing to the ear on the left. The aid on the right plays the sound it receives from the left into the right ear as well as provides high frequency amplification for the loss in the right ear. It does not boost the mid range or low frequencies.
My life has been improved incredibly by these aids. I no longer miss conversations on my left, my wife no longer has to constantly maneuver to be on my right, when I receive a phone call, I no longer have to put the phone to my head, I can leave it in my pocket and take notes or type with my hands instead of hold the phone. I’m right handed, so holding the phone with my left hand to my right ear so I can write with my right hand and hold the paper with my left elbow became a way of life. The TV now sets at a much lower volume and my wife now turns the volume up because she can’t hear it.
The down side? I can’t use a smartphone app to adjust my hearing aids. All of the available Bluetooth channels are used by streaming and the CROS transmission. Phonak says they are working on a solution for 2022. Other than that, I haven’t found one.
As in most things in life, YMMV (your mileage may vary). Just because I have had a great experience, doesn’t mean you will. But, knowing what I know now, I would do it all again. Would I have done it before now? Maybe not, I think the technology is just now maturing to the point to make CROS aids dependable and feature rich.
I’m sorry about the length of this post, but I’m passionate about my CROS aids.
Tulsa OK
