Hearing Loss

[RSteve]

Until masks were the standard facial apparel, I never realized how proficient I had become at reading lips. Unable to read lips, I miss an incredible amount of what people are saying.
Yesterday, I had to make a quick stop at Home Depot. The cashier to whom I usually gravitate is profoundly deaf, but reads lips with perfection. I used my phone to greet and communicate with her by writing a text to my other line and showing it to her. She responded by voice and does speak very clearly for a person who has never had hearing.

 

[WTHall]

Another sufferer of tinnitus... probably from my time in the Navy. In the early 70's there wasn't a lot of effort in using hearing protection, IMHO.
A set of Costco hearing aids help.. when I put them in. My biggest grip is watching television where the dialog is drowned out my the (?) background music.
Found a set of headphones with variable frequency adjustments; one specifically to enhance speech. Works like a champ.
When my wife bitches about me not hearing her I tell her I can hear her, I'm just not paying attention. Bandages come off next week!

 

[pipeclubsi]

I apparently have two sources of my tinnitus, with each the source of a different tonal frequency. I also have the sound of running water and creaking when I'm very tired. I've tried some very sophisticated hearing aids and hearing assistive devices, but all seem to magnify the tinnitus. And, as a army veteran, I can receive hearing aids at no cost to me. And, of course, because of age, etc., I have significant non-tinnitus hearing loss.
Several years ago, I purchased a very expensive, state of the art set of hearing aids. There was a controller I carried in my pocket to adjust frequency response and adjust volume. It didn't go well, and, in fact, I couldn't get my brain to adjust to the necessary environmental changes.
I do realize there are some significant changes to the technology; bluetooth, etc. and I may give hearing aids another try. Until then, maybe an ear trumpet.

Well, it's time for another try. Perhaps new Phonak models. Sophisticated automatics usually take care of adopting the sound to the current environment. There are different formulas to sound enhancement and fine adjustments possible, so perhaps new models could make a big difference.

 

[sobx]

Until masks were the standard facial apparel, I never realized how proficient I had become at reading lips. Unable to read lips, I miss an incredible amount of what people are saying.
Yesterday, I had to make a quick stop at Home Depot. The cashier to whom I usually gravitate is profoundly deaf, but reads lips with perfection. I used my phone to greet and communicate with her by writing a text to my other line and showing it to her. She responded by voice and does speak very clearly for a person who has never had hearing.

That's common with many hearing loss people. I recall when I took my grandmother to the audiologist for her new replacement hearing aids. He spoke to her and she responded normally during the exam. Then he tricked her by holding up the manila folder so it covered his face below his nose as if he was reading it. Then he asked her, "Ms. Maggie how many children do you have?" And she just sat there oblivious. That's how he knew she was reading lips, probably not ever realizing she was doing it.

I like the hearing aids the VA issues. With the bluetooth feature I can connect my phone and listen to Skynard thru my hearing aids. I bet those would work awesome for jury duty.

I am a member of an organization that gives certification tests for licensure. We're required to allow people to use their hearing aids during the test. I'm surprised that hearing aid bluetooth feature hasn't become a popular way to cheat the test. Any audio file I can save to my phone can be played via my hearing aids and no one would know but me. As I'm proctoring an exam I have no way to know if a candidate is listening to something in his hearing aid or not.