Hi. I just got hearing aids for the first time a week and a half ago. I
got Starkey CE-H9s for both ears (my audiologist calls them half shell
in the ear models). Anyway, I have an appointment with my audiologist
next week for follow up, but I thought maybe I could get more opinions
on some questions I have from you guys. Most of the questions are, is
this normal/what to expect, so, are these normal?
1) My tinnitus is worse after a few (3-5) hours of using hearing aids.
I've had intermittent tinnitus as long as I can remember, which gets
worse with stress.
2) General ear discomfort after a few (3-5) hours of use.
3) Sometimes localized ear discomfort after use (like one spot hurts).
4) Background noise and "in-my-head" noises are very annoying. (e.g.
wind noise, highway wind noise, eating popcorn at the movies, eating
bagel chips, etc.)
5) When I put in my aids, about 15 minutes after my shower, sometimes
water comes into my ear canal and I have to take out the aids and wipe
them and my ear out to be comfortable.
6) I feel "phantom" hearing aids for an hour or so after I take them
off.
My other questions are related to the 30-day trial I'm on. I can get
smaller aids and I was wondering if any of the 5 above are better with
smaller aids. My audiologist has one that is soft and just goes in the
ear canal (she said you can even sleep in these). However, I'm not sure
I should go smaller with my hearing loss. My loss was described as "50%
hearing loss", moderate, and a cookie-bite type. I was tested as:
Right Left
250 Hz: 5 dB 5 dB
500 Hz: 10 dB 15 dB
750 Hz: 40 dB 30 dB
1000 Hz:50 dB 50 dB The big loss is in the 750 - 3000 range.
2000 Hz:50 dB 45 dB
3000 Hz:40 dB 35 dB
4000 Hz:20 dB 25 dB
6000 Hz: 5 dB 15 dB
8000 Hz: 0 dB 5 dB
Do you think I have the right product for me given this information?
Thanks for any questions you can answer. It's all so new to me.
Joy
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Joy-Ann Maloney jmaloney at umd5.umd.edu
