Hearing Problem......no Hearing Aid Needed?

[cheeryble]

Hi there

Age 64.

I have had deteriorating hearing for a few years. Main problem confusion with background noise.

I bit the bullet, and went last week to get kitted out with a hearing aid.

The doc made a chart of my hearing.

He said, which I knew already, that I had high end hearing loss but my ears for the normal speaking range up to 1000 or 1500hz were just above the line so OK in that area.

When I mentioned I got confusion and that sometimes it could even painful on the telephone he suggested I may have an inner ear problem called "recruitment" where the hair cells deteriorate or die.

I have looked it up and it's rather freaky when hair cells deteriorate others designed for a different pitch do double duty, with the drawback that you can get double volume.

This can actually get very bad indeed to the stage where up to 8 frequencies are covered by the single hair cell and if a sound gets to the level it's detectable it's also unbearable.

But we'll hope that's an extreme case.

So anyway he suggested I wouldn't benefit from a hearing aid (got to admire his honesty) and I might try a couple of meds (helps blood flow in inner ear same as for Meuniere's Disease).

I have started a couple of days.

ANYWAY.

I enjoy selected podcasts from the Leonard Lopate Show.

He had a show recently interviewing a neuroscientist and sound expert. I recommend it highly, fascinating stuff from how songs get stuck in your head to why cat purrs are soothing.....well listen:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/feb/08/please-explain-hearing-and-sound/

A part was about hearing loss.

I remember the guy saying (I paraphrase):

Most people with hearing loss actually can hear voice-pitch perfectly well.

But the upper end loss interferes with many cues and directionality which refine your hearing and allow distinction.

To me it suggests my confusion is caused by upper end hearing loss, and i may indeed benefit from an aid.

SO I'm trying to gel that with my doctor's recommendation.

Is it possible I both need a hearing aid AND have a bit of recruitment?

Any input out there?? Any similar experience of almost painful sound and clatter? Please speak one at a time and clearly

Thanx!

[CaptHaddock]

I think recruitment is a normal attempt by the body to compensate for the loss of signal that occurs in hearing loss. I think I had recruitment before getting hearing aids, because although I lost some sensitivity in the upper ranges, loud noises were more bothersome than before. Anyway, I got hearing aids and am very happy with them, although I still hate loud noises.

Your pattern of hearing loss is so typical that it has a name, the "ski slope," which is what your audiogram looks like. Me too, and several of my friends. I don't understand the doctor's recommendation not to get the HA. I would get a second opinion. I wouldn't focus too much on using scientific presentations to understand the nature of hearing loss. You can do that later. The first thing would be to get aids and start to get used to them so that you can understand conversations again. For those like you and me who have upper range hearing loss, it becomes harder to understand words because the consonants have a higher pitch than the vowels usually. So, it sounds like everyone is mumbling and you can't make out the words.

The good news is that nearly everyone, 75%, of people who buy hearing aids like them.

Good luck.

[cheeryble]

Thankyou Capt haddock for your interesting and considered opinion

[newarrior]

I am 50 and I am the same boat--tinnitus, hearing loss, hyerperacusis, recruitment, balance messed up...All started when I was 33...Regarding Thailand it really sucks because it means I cannot go to so many places, even with ear plugs, for fear of making my hearing worse...That and my fear of soi dogs keep me in the states..It also is harder to learn Thai when you have hearing loss...

[newarrior]

I am 50 and I am the same boat--tinnitus, hearing loss, hyerperacusis, recruitment, balance messed up...All started when I was 33...Regarding Thailand it really sucks because it means I cannot go to so many places, even with ear plugs, for fear of making my hearing worse...That and my fear of soi dogs keep me in the states..It also is harder to learn Thai when you have hearing loss...Feel free to contact me any time--DAVE

[jdinasia]

I would say that a second opinion is assuredly in order. Hearing is pretty important ... if you were in Texas I would be sending you to the Collier Center for Communication Disorders ... here in Thailand, I simply have no idea who is best. (CCCD diagnosed my acoustic neuroma when I was 27 .. it stayed stable until 37 when I had GK surgery for it.) I do have to say that I have heard some good things about the audiologists at Samitiwej Hospital, but have had no personal contact with them.

Sheryl may have some ideas for referrals.