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What can I do to understand speech better?

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I (24 years old) had my hearing tested after a lifetime of struggling to understand people, especially anyone with a deeper voice. Phone calls are tough and i’m constantly guessing what they said. one on one conversations aren’t too bad, i catch about 70-80% (much less with men, but I make do and ask for clarification or just smile and nod and hope it’s not important) but when there’s background noise i have no clue what people are saying. if i know the topic i can guess some of what’s said, but otherwise i’m picking up 3 or 4 words a sentence at best.

my says my high frequency hearing is fine, but goes down to a 20dB loss in the mid-lower frequencies. From what i can understand, the amount i struggle to hear doesn’t make sense for how much hearing loss i have? the audiologist said “it’s normal to struggle like you do, learn to lip read and get another test next year”.

I understand that the actual hearing loss isn’t bad, but “can’t take phone calls without subtitles” doesn’t seem normal to me. my partner is very frustrated with how poorly i understand them, my hearing stops me from going out or making friends, and no matter how much i ask people to speak clearly or move somewhere quieter, sometimes it’s unavoidable. I can’t control the impossible to hear microphones they use in government hotlines, but I still need to call them.

is there anything more I can do to understand people? i’ve been trying to learn to lipread, but that obviously doesn’t work when I can’t see their face. i don’t qualify for subsidized hearing aids where i live, but would they even help me? i’ll try just about anything if it means i can be more independent.

Thanks for your help.

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I’d recommend seeing a different audiologist. Although a 20dB loss is considered within the “normal” range, it sounds like it is impacting you significantly. I don’t know if hearing aids would help or not, but it might be worth trying.

There is definitely something wrong.

If I were you, I seek help from an medical school, or at least try another audiologist who works with an ENT.

If they think a hearing aid may help, Costco offers a 180 day money back guarantee. Unfortunately, you have to pay upfront.

@cyborg said:

i don’t qualify for subsidized hearing aids where i live

Where is that … Local people might have suggestion for what is available there.

I agree with seeing a different audiologist. That response about lip reading is way off line for helping you.

Sharing your would help us help you too.

Try a Costco if one is close.

Welcome! Cyborg.

From what I read, you have a hearing test, and it says your high frequency is fine, but mid-to-low you have 20 loss.

There is something wrong. You have near-normal hearing. But you struggle with understanding speech. This is baffled me.

I would strongly advise you to consult with an specialist.

Wow Cyborg, you have my complete empathy, and hopes that you get to the bottom of what’s going on. The fact that you are so articulate in your post here tells me you have a GOOD strong brain. But how is it that the brain is not connecting to your ears - which appear to have some hearing loss but by no means PROFOUND.

The good news is that today’s hearing aids have Bluetooth connectivity, so you can get a pair and at least stream with your cell phone, the TV, your laptop. There are even devices like Phonak’s Roger ON iN V2 stick that can be used with a necklace device worn by an instructor, co-worker, your partner, etc for streaming audio right into your ears.

Could your vision be an issue? I bet I’d hear less even with my aids ON if someone put a eyepatch over my eyes. Thing is, that brain + ear connection HAS to be working in order for word comprehension to exist. If you’re missing conversations, your brain will get lazier over time and soon you’ll mentally give up on trying to comprehend. Everyone has trouble hearing in loud places, but today’s aids and accessories even compensate for that and make things better (by no means perfect, but BETTER).

Just take a deep breath and write out a list of things you want resolved. I’d recommend:

  1. Input your right here so we can get a better idea of your level of hearing loss
  2. Make an app’t with a good and eye doc to check out those two functions
  3. Get in to see a better audiologist - hey even Costco is a good option! - and trial a pair of aids with Bluetooth capability. Get familiar with the programs, settings and pair + connect to various devices.
  4. Come back here every time you have any kind of issue, worry or question. You’ll hear faster from folks here than anyone at a clinic cuz we’re here 24x7 - even on holidays!
  5. Be positive and persistent. Your health and relationships matter, so be confident that you’ll find something to improve both.

GOOD LUCK to you. You’ve been set on this path not of your choosing, but you can take control of things and work to get a resolution.

You can look at my for the details but my left’s low to mid is a bit lower at 30 and my right is fine. Almost everyone laughs at me trying to get an aid, even doctors and audiologists, and I test with 100% speech since the tests do not use deeper voices. However, I’ve struggled my whole life with male voices and can’t use the phone on my left. I don’t see your situation being too strange.

Trying an aid has been a really long and hard process for me but the improvement in hearing is amazing. I would find someone willing to work with you and give it a try. That said, I am lucky that mine is currently covered which gave me the extra push to try.

So many helpful replies, i’ll try to answer all of the main point people are making :smile:

@user990 said:

If I were you, I seek help from an ENT medical school, or at least try another audiologist who works with an ENT.

If they think a hearing aid may help, Costco offers a 180 day money back guarantee. Unfortunately, you have to pay upfront.

sounds like a good call. i got the impression that as soon as they couldn’t make a sale, they weren’t interested in me. I’ll try to see an , hopefully they’ll be a bit more helpful.

Costco hearing aids, while cheaper, are way out of my budget unless I trip and fall onto a bunch of money. but I did see a bloke on eBay who programs and sells old hearing aids for about $250 AUD, which is a bit more reasonable to take a chance on once I do more research. I’m not afraid of learning how to self program, I’m a tinkerer at heart. but finding someone to do the initial setup means i can buy the tools i need later :grin:

@GrayGhost said:

Where is that … Local people might have suggestion for what is available there.

Australia! the subsidy requirements need a 23dB average loss, but mine was only 15 or something like that off the top of my head. the only way to get around that specific requirement that i could qualify for is having tinnitus that a hearing aid could help. but my tinnitus isn’t that bad, it bugs me a lot at night but I just put the fan on to cover it up.

@1Bluejay said:

Could your vision be an issue?

I don’t think so… I do wear reading glasses but my vision isn’t bad at all, I think 0.75 in my worse eye. I got tested in September too, so those results are pretty recent.

@1Bluejay said:

If you’re missing conversations, your brain will get lazier over time and soon you’ll mentally give up on trying to comprehend.

that’s something I’m afraid of- especially since the pandemic, i’m not talking to a lot of people. i worry a lot about things getting even worse, hence why i’m being so stubborn about finding things that help, despite what the audiologist said.

Hi Cyborg, I am Australian too. I agree what you are experiencing is confusing but it is clear that you are having difficulty hearing and that this is affecting your ability to socialise and communicate and you are absolutely right to be proactive about it. Did you audiologist talk to you about the speech banana? That’s a part of the frequency graph where speech sounds are and if your loss is in those areas it can make it hard to distinguish between, for example c and t in speech even though your overall loss might not be great. Did they do the speech test in the hearing test?

I would suggest doing a trial of a pair of hearing aids - most clinics offer a free trial of 30 days or so (you’ll need to give the impression that you can afford them - and just make sure you understand the terms of the trial so you don’t have any obligations). This would help determine whether hearing aids will actually help you. Once you’ve determined that, then you could try to find an affordable hearing aid option, but to do so without a trial could mean you are wasting your money. You may need to try a new clinic since the one you’ve been to gave you the brush off.

Also if you have a copy of your hearing test, you can enter the details onto your profile on this forum and it will help people to advise you. Best of luck.

@cyborg you can go to Hearing Australia. They will treat you until the day you turn 26. I don’t know where in Aus you’re located, but if you’re close to a Costco store they are cheaper yet again. Or if you can travel to one, it might be worth your while. As long as you comply with the return policy you get 180 days with a full refund.
Sadly independent audiology clinics you’re possibly looking at around $7K+ for a pair of aids. I don’t know what Specsavers charge for aids though…
Good luck to you.

@cyborg said:

is there anything more I can do to understand people

@cyborg sorry to hear about your until now unsolved struggling.
Obviously you are on a forum of hearing impaired ones. So everyone trying to help you will feel the ‘pain’ you carry with you.

One thing I did not find in your post was what f.i. your general practitioner thinks about your problem. As hearing is a proces and not just a functionality of ears in my imagination there could be going something wrong in a lot of paths leading to speech recognition.
How sure is it that your problem is going to be solved by hearing aids as they are only usable for amplifying and regulating frequencies and so just a solution for amplifying and not ment for other related problems in speech recognition as such.

Anyhow, I wish you the solution for your problem as it seems a nasty one. Good luck.

Don’t just go by your . Word clarity and loudness are two separate issues. There are 26 million people in the US who struggle to hear in noise and have perfect audiograms. Did you get a speech in noise test also? If you score is not too bad, hearing aids alone should help. If you need more signal-to-noise help than hearing aids provide (manufacturers mislead people on how much they help), you’ll also need a remote mic to go with it or use your phone as a remote mic. Also, listening with two ears improves clarity, so hearing aids with Bluetooth streaming to a smartphone that also provides built-in real-time captions should help. In a nutshell, use two ears, stream wireless audio with a mic very close to the person speaking and use captions.

You may have an auditory processing disorder. Too many audiologists don’t know what that is, and will just shrug and say “Sorry, I can’t help you” after looking at your “normal” . My measurable hearing loss isn’t much worse than yours, but hearing aids with speech enhancement features have helped immensely. Feel free to PM me if you’d like!

CW took the words out of my mouth. I am a retired psychoeducational diagnostician and as such assessed many adults who described their experience with oral language in similar terms. Language-based learning disabilities with underlying auditory processing impairment is under diagnosed in general and particularly in adults who were not evaluated in childhood. A good audiological report is an important piece of the puzzle for a diagnostician or educational psychologist. I suggest that you consider finding a professional who regularly conducts psych-ed or neuropsych evaluations of adults. Some of my happiest moments as a diagnostician came from helping people like you understand the years of difficulty. Good luck!

You need to go to an otolaryngologist. I cannot fathom why you are having these troubles when I look at your chart. You definitely need a good medical doctor (not an audiologist) to examine you. Get going.

Edited

I would love to know the answer to this, because I’ve been told to do the same several times. I’m guessing it’s a CYA thing just in case the person turns out to have a brain tumor or something.

I mean, Australia has universal healthcare don’t they? So CYA referal would be fine and they could wait a few months to see an for five minutes and be told to go away. Given that there are apparently zero audiological red flags, I can’t imagine they’d send for an unless something changes next year.

If the OP is in Australia and their pure tone average is 15 and their worst threshold is 20, they should probably just go see Angela Alexander.

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