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Hearing aid volume on right side much lower than left side

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Edited

I have a pair of Resounds that I got at Costco about 8 months ago. With identical volume settings in the Resound app , I ran my fingers over the microphones on each side. I also used the app to send beeps to the aides

In both cases , the right aide volume is much lower than the left aide

I have worn hearing aides for 6 years and had the soft volume in one aide issue arise many times. When a new wax plug or dome didn’t fix it , it was always a receiver replacement

Today my audiologist told me that the two tests I used are not reliable and even if my finger scratching the microphone is softer in one aide it should be ignored She cleaned the microphone areas on both sides and said problem solved

Given my past experience and the fact that test sounds are much softer on the right aide, i struggle to agree with her .

Thoughts ?

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@Rambo26 said:

She cleaned the microphone areas on both sides and said problem solved

@Rambo26: Perhaps I missed it - did the mic cleaning, in fact, solve the problem in real hearing situations vs “scratch tests”?

You say that you’ve had them for 8 months, has this just suddenly happened overnight or something that’s been noticed for a while?

@Rambo26 said:

In both cases , the right aide volume is much lower than the left aide

Looking at your shows that your left has a bigger drop then your right side, so the left has been programmed by your audiologist for more gain and the right for less, they won’t be identical.

Same with the beeps, these are customised for each ear.

Edited

In reply to @Rambo26

@Rambo26: I don’t have nearly the knowledge of audiology that some Forum members possess, but I’ll offer a personal observation: bass frequencies, in my case, have a disproportionate effect on my perception of loudness.

Incoming phone calls through my ConnectClip sounded so faint, the volume level was scarcely sufficient to carry on a conversation, however, I’ve discovered that if I increase the low frequency setting on my ON app +6dB, the volume level seems fine.

I think that - for me, anyway - it’s largely a matter of perception, and I definitely can’t explain the whys and wherefores. Perhaps your audiologist needs to find a way to better match the bass perception of the right ear with the left?

I dunno🥺

I use an iPhone. Under settings, Accessibility, Hearing devices, <my ’s>, Connected, there is an option to adjust independently. You might test with that.

Edited

@louyo: Good suggestion! I never thought of that as an interim streaming solution. But it won’t resolve his normal functional issues (talking with people, face-to-face, without streaming).

:chair::chair::chair::chair:

I have very roughly the same issue: Right is quieter on start-up than left, but beyond that, no noticeable difference in volume in various situations. My supposition is it’s the individual unit tuning that creates that situation. I find that I think the right is clogged far more often than the left, but oddly the right ear seems to produce less wax. But, upon changing the filter, audio pops back up to where I’m used to it.

@Rambo26, what you describe happens to me constantly. I’ve been changing every two to three day. That does help me. Although my Audi always says he doesn’t see wax buildup in my ears.
A few times one has stopped working, although the volume buttons still work. Usually that is a signal to change wax guards. But a couple of times I have had to bring the HA to the Audi’s office and they use a Jodi-Vac vacuum to clean out wax that has accumulated UNDER the wax guard. How that happens I don’t know. Maybe you’re having a similar problem?

Hi @Rambo26,
I understand that if properly set up then you expect the volume to appear be ‘equal’ in each ear with your scratch test. However, I don’t think your ‘tests’ are reliable :smiley: You have too many variables to consider - the way you are scratching each mic may vary, the individual mics may have differing sensitivities and you are relying on your abnormal hearing to assess the result.

The best OBJECTIVE way to check all this is with real Ear measurement () . The stimulus (played ‘speech’ ) is equal and controlled, and the in ear tube mics calibrated and should confirm the output is appropriate - presumable NOT equal as your prescription for each ear is different. Unless the AUDI wants to make each prescription temporarily equal for testing purposes.
See if your Audi will agree to try that.

In the end - rather than the scratch test I would rely on how you think they are functionally - is the sound unbalanced toward one side of the other etc. ?

Good luck

Thanks for all the good replies. Over the past 6 years, my aides have needed at least 6 receiver replacements. The receiver is the thin plastic tube that runs from the body of the aide to the end of the aide.

I will say this about my scratch test::

  1. When I have noticed that one aide has low volume by using the scratch test, it has always been verified by an audiologist as caused by a broken receiver.
  2. I agree that a scratch test that produces softer volume in one aide does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with the aide and that is the way to test. That said, when I do the scratch test and I notice a significant reduction in the volume of one of the aides as compared to how it normally sounds, that suggests to me that domes, , receivers, and microphones need to be checked out.

Since my first post, a scratch test shows the volume in the one aide is back to its normal level, and then a few hours later it will be softer. In the past, this has been a symptom of a broken receiver.

Of course, I have changed out and the domes to rule them out as causing the issue. And my audiologist cleaned the microphones.

How much does Costco charge to replace a receiver?

Edited

I’ve never been charged for a receiver replacement at Costco. My aids were all under warranty, which yours is if you’ve only had them 8 months.

Instead of rubbing the mics to test the aids, I rub my palms together in a back and forth motion as I move my arms back and forth from one ear to the other in a semicircle. It creates a “white noise” that I use to test the sound level from each aid.

With my Jabra aids, though, even that test can be misleading, as my All Around program is set for All Access Directionality, a “new feature” in the ReSound One and Jabra aids. My left ear is my weaker ear, and the directionality is usually omni. My right ear is slightly better, and is usually not in omni but focused ahead. If I do the test immediately after the aids turn on or switching into All Around the souns is equal. Soon after, the sound is slightly louder in my left ear than my right, as the All Access Directionality kicks in.

Also, a while back with my Preza aids the right aid started acting weird. That was about a week after the aids were cleaned at Costco and the mics vacuumed. There’s a theory that the vibration from the vacuum caused the mic to stop working properly. Both aids were sent back and replaced under warranty, and worked fine after that.

In reply to @Rambo26

@Rambo26 said:

Over the past 6 years, my aides have needed at least 6 receiver replacements.

@Rambo26 said:

When I have noticed that one aide has low volume by using the scratch test, it has always been verified by an audiologist as caused by a broken receiver.

So what has changed this time then? I don’t really understand what you are now asking - if you have done this 6 times before it now appears to be a simple disagreement between you and your Audi, no? Not sure what we can contribute.
If it is a new Audi - change them, educate them or get an objective test via . If it is the old Audi then you appear to have a conflicted situation - accept it, argue or change.

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