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New NHS user seeking advice

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Edited

I’m a 73yr old in the UK and got my first NHS aids 3 weeks ago.

I’ve had almost complete hearing loss and severe tinitus in my left ear for almost 40 yrs but my right ear has been fine and until about 3 yrs ago I got by reasonably OK but not any more.

I’ve now got cross aids, a Phonak Cros P in my left ear and a P70 13t in my right. I got used to them rapidly, maybe a day or so but have found putting the domes in very difficult but becoming easier with practice. My big issue is that I’m unsure if they are faulty. Moving from an environment to a different one causes them to go off for several seconds then fire back up again. They also seem to cut out a lot, then start up again if I fiddle around with them a bit.

I find I only need them in a pub/restaurant or business meeting so 95% of the time i don’t really need them, I’m quite happy without them & I’m concluding that on balance they are more trouble than they are worth.

Yesterday they became very muted to the point that they are unuseable and I can’t sort out the issue. I’m going to drop them in for service and persevere, but I am wondering if I might be better off buying some top quality ones from Boots or similar. I can afford to do that but given that I’m OK most of the time I do wonder if it’s worth laying out a large sum of money to do that

Any advice would be appreciated

7 people in this conversation10 min readJump to latest

Sounds like Autosense is switching programs, rather than muting. Audiology can add additional programs that you can manually select to avoid this.

Thanks, I’d assumed that was the case but I’m wondering if newer, more sophisticated kit wouldn’t do it more quickly and not leave me with 20 second delays of functionality. Also will newer kit have better audio quality? The cros P literally died the night before last after a new battery fitted 24hrs earlier and only used approx 10 hrs in total, turned off the rest of the time. The following morning I fitted the pair with new batteries and they now aren’t working at all, neither are functioning. I’ve downloaded the tech data sheets from Phonak, tried everything and suspect they may have wax blockage issues as there is a tiny bit of noise coming through, but not really audible. Something isn’t right!

I’ll persevere with them for now but a trial with the latest and greatest will probably be in the cards I suspect. Is there that much difference in audio quality in the newer high end ones? Do they change programs more quickly? That’s what I need to know

Thank you, I don’t have an issue with the new sounds, adjusting to them wasn’t difficult. it’s’ what appears to be the system working at snails pace and taking a ridiculous amount of time to switch from one scenario to the other suggesting a lack of computing power.

To draw an analogy my 2016 Mercedes had a satnav so slow that if you missed a turning in a city you had to stop to allow it to reroute, the same model 2020 car did it on the move and my 2024 Tesla does it instantly. Surely hearing aids have followed a similar trajectory? Is the sound quality better in the latest models? I’m new to this so I don’t know, it’s that information I’m looking for. The NHS audiologist kept telling me the they were just as good as the ones you can buy privately but l find that difficult to believe. Why would anyone pay out £4k for something you can get free?

To answer your last question first, you pay your £4k for ready and frequent access to an audiologist in order to get the hearing aids set up optimally for you. If you have ready access to NHS audiology you should persevere with them and give detailed accounts of issues. You might need several appointments.

If you do go private you will be able to choose the latest models from a range of manufacturers. But the most important thing is to find the right audiologist. You might take your Merc to the dealer but you might get better service from an independent garage. The advantage of independent audiologists is that they are not tied to just one or two makers. Chains such as Boots have a limited range of makers. The audiologist I go to here in Somerset offers a full range of makers and you can trial different makes before buying.

Finally, if your tech savvy, programming your aids yourself can be very useful in optimising them.

Your issue’s are Autosence and getting a bit blocked, AS is fully adjustable in the software to help reduce the delay in switching in different environments, you can also have a separate program as the default start up program instead of Autosence, next change the wax filters, why go Boots, go to Costco if possible, they sell only premium models and you won’t beat them on price, save thousands!

Many, many thanks to all who have responded thus far, it is greatly appreciated and my learning curve is currently vertical. I am brand new to this
My game plan is to exhaust the NHS route first, and the aids,supplied aren’t as old technology as I first thought. They are 2020.
What I am attempting to establish however is Quite simple;

Will buying privately get me aids with better sound quality? The ones I have now are OK but nowhere when compared with beats or pods pro3 when listening to music via Bluetooth

Can I get more efficient auto sense? Replies so far suggest I can, but I still seek positive confirmation of that

Thanks again, Dave

@Saudidave said:

Will buying privately get me aids with better sound quality?

Well not necessarily, really up to the fitting, again I’d at least give Costco a go before splashing out more then you need to, the latest models I’d like to think should give you a better run then the older paradise platform from Phonak, post your audogram as this will be helpful for others to offer advice.

Thank you, you’ve have confirmed my initial conclusions re failure of my aids to work. Again, may i say I’m new to this and came to here to accelerate my learning curve. I obviously came to the right place. Thanks to you and all others for the advice provided. I am very tech savvy, having designed, implemented and gone on to teach construction measurement and pricing software. I am something of a nerd!

P70s are decent hearing aids, and NHS Audiology should easily be able to get them better for you.

There are two extra elements to Autosense, which you may find useful. Those are: Comfort in echo and Speech in car.

Autosense works in the same way on all Phonak aids from the Marvel, Paradise, Lumity & Infinio ranges.

I have Marvel, Paradise & Lumity hearing aids, and I now self programme them. I soon got disillusioned with my local NHS trust. They did a “first fit” and sent me out of the door. I returned 3 times, to get adjustments, but they really, either, didn’t understand the software, or, chose not to make much effort.

You could ask them, to add an additional programme (probably “Calm situation”). Once done, they can select that programme as “Startup”. Done in Program manager.

Personally, with my 70s, I switch off Autosense altogether, and just use 3 additional programs:

  1. Calm situation
  2. Music (bass frequencies boosted)
  3. Speech in noise
    With my 90s, I have the same additional programmes, but I leave Autosense as a selectable option. None of my additional programmes are at default setting, as a lot of those are counter productive.

I can pretty mych hear Speech in noise with all my pairs, even M70s with domes, rather than moulds. Ot takes some doing though. The Audiologist is an important factor, probably 50%. Good luck.

Edited

In reply to @PeterH

Hi Peter

Many thanks for responding. I’ve had a steep learning curve over the last 3 weeks with hearing aids.

I wasn’t instructed in any way by the NHS audiologist about cleaning the aids and I’ve had a frustrating time. With the help of this forum and online videos I’m now pretty much up to speed I think. I realised yesterday that if I played some music I could hear it playing through the P70 but very faintly and concluded it must be the causing the issue. My other ear is totally kaput btw and I have a cros aid in that.

I’ve just returned from specsavers in Wilmslow with some wax filters and the girl who sold them to me kindly fitted one for me in the shop. Everything is now working fine.

Prior to my initial NHS hearing test I had my ears suction cleaned by Nabeel at Echo hearing in Bramhall and he was excellent so I’ve booked a visit to him next week to look at the whole spectrum of what is available out there

I don’t need the aids at all the vast majority of the time and it’s a matter of balancing cost and return.

Many thanks once more to you and all the other respondents for the excellent help and advice

Regards, Dave

In reply to @Saudidave

Phonak hearing aids have roughly taken the following timeline…

2020 - Paradise (as in P70, 70 is the technology capability level)

2021 - Paradise with improved Bluetooth

2022 - Lumity

2024 - Infinio & Infinio Sphere

2025 - Infinio Ultra & Sphere Ultra (major firmware update)

Step changes between models are typically improved Autosense plus improved functionality. The change from Paradise to Lumity is relatively small but the step to Infinio is much larger, including improved functionality using for speech & sound environment recognition. The latest Sphere Ultra is generally recognised as the market leader for speech recognition in noisy environments with the Infinio Ultra being highly capable in most environments (and I think also available in Cros).
These Phonak models are based on re-chargeable batteries which should provide a full day of use.
I guess the Sphere Ultra cost per apir would be about £4k and the Infinio Ultra at about £3.7k at a private audiologist (including ongoing support visits).

If you are close to a Costco with a Hearing Centre, they supply the Sennheiser Sonite Rise which is broadly the same as the Phonak Infinio Ultra but without the tinnitus control function (not sure about Cros). A small range of other makes/models are available at Costco and all cost around £1.4k

Well worth a visit but ask them about your need for tinnitus control & Cros to find out if they have with those capabilities. Best of luck.

The capability is obviously essential as I have virtually no hearing in my left ear. The tinnitus control is different. I’ve had a loud hissing noise in my left ear for almost 40 years now but in all honesty it doesn’t bother me, I accepted it after the first year or so and I no longer think about it. I don’t even consciously hear it unless it’s mentioned!

I suppose getting rid of it would be nice but it’s not a critical factor for me.

Edited

I’m going to Echo Hearing In Bramhall next week to investigate my options. I’m also going to see how much I actually use the ones I have too. I only really need them in crowded pubs or restaurant, my better ear isn’t that much reduced in capacity.
I’m not up for spending £4k, or more for , unless I really need to.

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