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Why can't my grandfather find hearing aids he likes? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by 11111one11111 to c/asklemmy

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Looking for anyone with experience with helping pick out hearing aides. It's hard for him to describe what he doesn't like about them so I can't provide much in the way of specific issues. One thing he has said was that they change how loud some things are compared to how they should be which I think he means they will make certain pitches louder than other pitches so something like setting spoon on glass plate will be loud but the sound of a low voiced man talking is quiet when normally the low voices are the only ones he can hear. He is the typical old geezer so it's easier to list all the numbers in Pi than it is to get him to a doctors office.

We have tried 2 different very expensive aids costing thousands each, we tried the new apple ones, he tried countless magazine ads hearing aids and doesn't like any of them. He's a very straight forward man so it's not his way of getting around using them or that he's embarrassed. He wants to find a pair he likes but he is also a very picky man who was a mechanical engineer so I feel like his expectations can be a little high sometimes for things to be perfect.

Just thought I'd see what other people's experiences were with hearing aides and if there's anything anyone can recommend.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

One thing I have been told by family who took several attempts to adopt hearing aids is to start at a low volume level. In addition, it takes several attempts to set the “levels” to what sounds right for a user. Most newer ones have an app that allows you to customize it yourself. Otherwise a good technician should be able to help tweak it.

It is a big change that is not easy to accept or get used for many people. I have had several people I know of the try, use, return cycle 2-3 times. Hope that helps.

[–] DantesFreezer 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This. A good audiologist will usually start the gain pretty low, like 30% otherwise it overwhelms your brain in a way that's hard to describe but will mean you don't like it. After a few months you can have the gain turned up.

But if you can't get the settings tweaked you can just turn volume down as soon as they are turned on.

[–] MrEff 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Close, but definitely not 30% volume. When we fit hearing aids a good audiologist would have asked you if you already wear hearing aids and other questions to know if we need to enable a very specific feature. Each brand calls it something different, but it is generally called "first time user adaptation." It let's us set an initial decrease percentage (normally 60-70% of the prescription volume) and we can then set a 'target time' of normally about 2 or 3 weeks, maybe 4 or 5 if they are extra old. Then the hearing aids will slowely turn up on their own over the time set. In the end, the person is as 100% volume and they shouldn't have noticed. You can still do your own personal temp volume changes in the app and it doesn't interfere with the progressive steps.

A good audiologist will then typically have you come back in 2 weeks, then a month, then at 6 months, then annually or as needed. Each appointment they should be checking several things and asking about the sound and volume levels and such, but specifically we can see where you are adjusting the volume to on average. Most manufacturers let us then just take your average adjustments and apply them to the prescription. So if you are turning it down 3 db on average every day, or if you just cut a little bass or push a little more treble, we can see that and just apply it to be permanent. This is why we encourage people to use the app as much as possible.

Now, all of this is also dependent on the person wearing the hearing aids all day. We get a lot of old people that insist they only need to wear them in very specific situations and then wonder why they never get used to them. It is always fun the first time the person finds out we can see how long the hearing aids are on every day. So they are like "yeah I totally wear them for a few hours every day. 4 or 5 hours, easy" then we tell them they are actually averaging about an hour.