If you wear hearing aids, WEAR THEM!

[Hay Dude]

Dr. Phil says it means your wife don’t like you no mo.

 

[mikester]

Not sure what triggered this, but some people find the additional background sounds/noise to be unpleasant.

Buddy go one of those new bluetooth enabled hearing aids...wife insisted he got that so she could contact him easier. Problem is he now turns it off all the time to get her out of his head!

 

[woody]

I first got mine and noticed how many birds we really have around our place so pretty I have not heard that many birds in a long time, and then I realized how loud my keys hanging on my belt loop was and worse than that my wife smacks when she chews gum, I still wear them sometimes

 

[Oaktree]

Nothing worse than being in a social setting wear everything is "WHAT" "HUH" and someone repeating themselves louder and louder, or someone else randomly talking loudly enough to drown out the current conversation because they can't hear that people are talking to each other already.

I won't deny that my hearing isn't what it used to be (too many years of loud music, power tools, etc.), but the biggest hearing issue I have is a difficulty focusing on one conversation in a crowded room. This isn't something that came with age, it's something I've had as far as I can remember. My left ear is a little better at discerning conversations, and I'll generally compensate by turning my head a bit to the right but it still can be a strain.
I'm sure there's a medical term for it, not sure hearing aids would help with this.

 

[dstig1]

I won't deny that my hearing isn't what it used to be (too many years of loud music, power tools, etc.), but the biggest hearing issue I have is a difficulty focusing on one conversation in a crowded room. This isn't something that came with age, it's something I've had as far as I can remember. My left ear is a little better at discerning conversations, and I'll generally compensate by turning my head a bit to the right but it still can be a strain.
I'm sure there's a medical term for it, not sure hearing aids would help with this.

Huh. Same for me. Always been that way since a kid and I have had such great hearing in the past that I could tell the audiologist to fix the slight hum in their system (which annoyed her that time as she had just had it tuned up ) . But understanding a conversation with lots of background noise has been very hard as long as I have been alive. "They" typically say that this is a sign of hearing loss, but my hearing tests always came back super good.

 

[Jstpssng]

difficulty focusing on one conversation in a crowded room

I often have the same problem trying to read articles online. There are so many impeded links that often it's hard to discern what happened to the original article.

 

[Oaktree]

First I've heard birds chirping in over 5 year...it's a magical sound!

Wear 'em if you got' em...

This brings up a few questions...how long did it take to adjust to wearing them? Was the sudden increase in sounds that you never heard before a bit overwhelming? How did you cope? Do you remove them when operating power equipment or are around anything loud?
How well do they stay in? I've found those little ear-pluggy things for mp3 players don't stay in worth beans.

I'm just thinking of when I got contact lenses in my early 30s after needing (rather thick) glasses ever since grammar school. Objects seemed much bigger, light dazzling to the point where for the first time in my life I needed sunglasses. Got used to it after a while, but it took some time.

 

[BackRoad]

I was gifted an "in the ear" custom fitted pair from an Uncle that passed (he wore them 3 times and stopped using them). Went to an Audiologist who sells the product line for adjusting the hearing aid output to my needs...and he didn't charge me!

He said the fit was surprisingly close, and I've only missed 1 day over the last 8 months not wearing them.

I knocked one loose while squirming around under my Jeep changing oil, otherwise no issues - and I am very active.

The only real surprise was the volume of MY voice is also amplified when speaking...I quickly learned to simply ignore it.

I wear a comfortable pair of 27db muffs from 3M when on the open station tractors or lawn mowers. The plus is I can now listen to Bluetooth content while using the muffs!

Loud rooms like restaurants or at church before the service can be a bit distracting, but the benefit of being able to now actively participate in conversations far outweighs any downside.

I was not aware of the impact, but not hearing the upper frequencies had been causing me to unconsciously withdraw from general conversation in both group settings and even just with my wife. She had stopped some of the normal (and highly needed) day to day conversing just because of the "can you say that again" situations.

And now when I go outside in the quiet and just listen...there's so much nature that I can hear again - it's pure magic...

For me at least, the experience has been a 95% positive upside in quality of life over any minor negatives.

 

[Darth_DMack]

I spent 36 years and some change in the US Army, the VAST majority of that tenure, was in Special Operations. Riding in airplanes, helicopters, shooting... a LOT... and getting blown up a few times, my hearing is shot. Blast over pressure ruptured by left ear drum and I have insufferable tinitus.

The Army gave me some "top of the line" hearing aids, before I retired. I must admit, they do work well... but, they are the behind the ear type, with the little speaker that rests inside the ear canal. I can't seem to make it through the day wearing them, they make my ears itch so bad, and the little silicone "pods" (speakers) cause my ears to make excess wax.

Doing some research, there is a trend saying that if you have hearing loss, and can use hearing aids to help, this is being championed to combat early onset of Alzheimer's. Now, take that with a grain of salt, but if you think about it, hearing loss leaves sensory input areas that the brain is used to, now it is dormant in those frequencies. Interesting concept but I don't know how accurate it is.

My Audiologist told me that it would take 6 to 8 weeks of wearing them daily, to "re-train" my brain to tune out background noises. My hearing chart looks like a mountain range with peaks and valleys...

Just some input from a dude that is hard of hearing, and doing his best to get used to wearing these things. (((As I sit here scratching my ears)))

 

[FPGT72]

I have them, and have not had them in them in for about a week now.

I figure why should I. During the day I am home alone now, out in the shop where stuff is loud already, I don't want to hear it better, or on a mower, yea I want that tuned in. It did take care of the unending eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that I "hear", but really that has gone on for so long it usually does not bother me. I know I should, but I don't.