New to hearing aids, question about tech levels

Yes, saw the blue line. So where do I start? Per Valusiano comment, Phonak has a higher range on speech rescue (Oticon white paper - frequency lowering range 2015).
There is an offer in classified section, Phonak Paradise P90 selling at USD750 per pair. Very tempting.

Thanks

@Zebra @Neville

Would a powerful Phonak or Oticon be helpful in my case?

Your loss is profound, possibly off the chart in some of those frequencies,a BTE would be a good place to start, like Nadia UP, can’t understand why anyone would recommend RIC, next step is CI, something you have to seriously consider, even tho I see you mentioned you didn’t want to do this.

BTE is slightly bigger. RIC is just nice. The Audi started with More 3 and I bought More 1! So I end up with RIC and a difficult to hear in noisy environments. Watching TV is fine and a quiet restaurant is OK but not in the seminar room or noisy restaurant.

CI is very expensive here and insurance does not cover it.

@danka said:

BTE is slightly bigger.

BTE is what is needed tho to gain the best you can from hearing, I think.

@danka said:

difficult to hear in noisy environments.

The frequencies you’re missing out on, I believe is where clarity comes from and better understanding in noise?

@danka said:

difficult to hear in noisy environments.

@danka: Unfortunately, I think you’ll find that once your loss reaches a certain point (and I believe you’re there) no HA can solve the “Speech in Noise” problem. Then you need a Phonak that can use the fantastic Roger accessories.

(You’ll have to come out of retirement and start treating piggies again!)

@Zebras said:

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An ultrapower BTE will give the best chance at providing amplification at the most severe thresholds. HOWEVER, realistically, it is often the case in losses like these that the damage to the ear is such that the sound quality for amplified sounds up at that profound range is going to be poor and will not contribute to better understanding. That’s why earlier I think I indicated that the ears were likely unaidable above ~600 Hz in the right and ~1000 Hz in the left. Given that, a UP RIC may be doing okay. I would expect, with a loss like this, that lipreading support and closed captions would always be necessary. That said, I think it’s worth trying a BTE because some patients can tolerate gain in that profound range and find it helpful. One can always return to a RIC, although they would be out the cost of the earmolds and whatever fitting fees may be associated. But then they will know.

That right ear cannot be contributing that much speech recognition at this point. I think that even if one isn’t that interested in cochlear implants, it is worth going through the candidacy process because you gain a lot more information to better make an informed decision. I understand the magnitude of the decision to get a CI and yet. . . and yet. . . I’ve had five patients implanted recently all of whom have had tremendous outcomes. The main thing I see is how massively listening effort has been reduced for them.

@danka said:

CI is very expensive here and insurance does not cover it.

This I totally understand. I had to wait until our countries Medicare system helped before getting CI.

You have been given good advice from many members here.

Your mid and upper frequency profound hearing loss pushes you into ultra power hearing aids. The Oticon Exceed and Phonak Naida come to mind first. My personal thoughts would be the Phonak because they have frequency lowering that reaches lower frequencies than Oticon. This may help you more than you might expect.

The aids you do get will need custom ear molds to get the most out of them.

A different fitter might be best too. To be sold on RIC aids with your hearing loss does not show best practices fitting your profound hearing loss.

Good luck with this.

Hi @Raudrive, Thanks for your kind suggestion.

I would try eBay to get an owned set of Oticon Exceed or Phonak Naida as the MORE 1 is only 6 months old. Happy to try out how gain or clarity with Ultra power HA

Stay healthy and safe.

Yeah @danka, been away all weekend, at a 8Ball pool tourney, I didn’t play particularly bad, twas just others played better! But that’s Pool… Well, that is a very challenging loss you have, and @Neville is the expert, so I would be very much inclined to go with his excellent advice… I do very well, with the Phonak Naida Paradise 90 Ultra Power aids, and I have dead spots, with no response above 6KHz on the right, and nothing above 2KHz on the left… I have several advantages though, I have always been aided, I am a good lip reader, I have done a few courses in lip reading, I can also use sign language BSL (British Sign Language) if need be… Lastly, I have several Roger ALD’s (Assistive Listening Devices) for example, I will digress back to my 8Ball Pool, after each pool competition, we were eating out, as the hotel we were staying at, didn’t do meals, it was basically accommodation only, so 2 nights we went to a different Indian restaurant, first night (Friday) it was a small crowd, but with a bit of fairly moderate Indian music playing in the background, usually a conversation killer for us HOH, so I plonked my Roger On down on the table between the 4 of us, and it was pristine conversation I was picking up nearly everything that was said… 2nd night (Saturday) we went to a very busy bar before the Indian, again I plonked down the Roger On, and I could follow the conversation as long as I concentrated, onto a different Indian, it was busy, usual music and folks enjoying themselves, not a problem with the Roger On whatsoever, yes I am getting visually aided through lip reading, but you cannot focus on 3 other folks lips simultaneously, but for the majority of time, I didn’t need too, I was hearing what was being said… In all truth, it’s probably the first time I have used the Roger On in more challenging listening environments over a couple of days… I was impressed how well the Roger On held up, and indeed I was very pleasantly surprised! Perhaps ALD’s is another avenue you might pursue, I am aware how expensive these are, but they can make a massive difference in acoustically challenging situations, I bought most of my Roger ALD’s via eBay second hand, so there are bargains to be had… Good Luck in your quest for better hearing @danka … Cheers Kev

For the past 10-15 years, lips reading was the choice in noisy environments. Never attended any courses on lips reading but learn along. We are a multi-racial country with different ethics and dialects.
Have to get Phonak Naida UP or Oticon Exceed and Roger via eBay for a start before finally committing to a new HA. Maybe in a year or two, there will be new tech for profound hearing loss!
Would try eBay -USA, UK or Australia - and start hunting.

Enjoy your billiard and Indian food. We have a lot of Indian Foods in Malaysia/Singapore. Do take a holiday is convenience.

Stays safe and healthy.