Do Hearing Aids Work

From my experience with my son's MD and tinnitus, his hearing aid has helped with the ringing in his right ear.

He has lost 30% hearing in his right ear and the hearing aid helps that and the ringing.

Hi Sharon.  I have bilateral MD with hearing loss of 50% in left ear and 30% in right ear.  I just got hearing aids from the VA in the States.  I have had the aids for 4 weeks and have noticed the following:

1.  hearing has improved significantly in all decibel ranges including low range which MD patients lose as part of the illness.  The aids make all sounds louder including background noise and I'm hearing things that I did not hear in the past....backround noises such as water drip from facet, washing machine in basement, people talking in restaurants, etc.  I also hear new pleasant sounds that were missing before, such as bird songs, louder TV programs, and music range.

2.  Aids will not necessarily make sounds clearer.  If you have sound distortion now you will likely have some distortion with the aids.

3.  I have not noticed improvements in tinnitus; however, my VA audiologist told me they can add a neutralizing sound (probably a hummmm of some sort) if I want it.  I'll be seeing the audiologist next week and will investigate this further.

4.  Aids take getting used to.  My own voice sounds scratchy and tinney but I'm slowing getting used to it. Also, chewing food sound very loud with the aids in and that takes time to adjust.  Also, just having something in your ears is an odd feeling (unless you have used ear buds for a long time).  But all of these are only little annoyances and will become familiar the longer you wear the aids.

5.  By the way....for any US Veterans out there, go through the VA for your aids....they are FREE and are the top of the line in quality and functions and you also get free batteries for life.  We've earned this benefit...make sure you take advantage of it.  

Hi Sharon,

My MD hearing loss became permanent and I wear bilateral hearing aids. They take getting used to but are a part of me now

I hear so many things much better than I used to! The tv is at a normal level and I don't need to ask people What? as often. I also experienced things sounding "tinney" at first and the way my own voice sounded was weird. Sometimes it sounded like sounds were in a cave. All of that has gone away for me.

Unfortunately they have not helped my tinnitus at all

Right from the start I never even noticed that I had the hearing aids in. I can't even feel them at all! I have Phonak brand aids. My audiologist have me 10 levels of volume control, aggressively turned up the background noise reduction feature and also toned down the high pitches because I have hyperacussis too.

I still don't hear all sounds normally and although better, there is still distortion, mostly with music.

When I was deciding if I wanted hearing aids (I'm 58) my audiologist helped me with the decision by telling me that the longer I wait the worse things will get. When the brain stops hearing certain tones/pitches easily it will eventually turn off those sounds permanently and severe the brain/sound connection. She said wearing the aids will help slow the progression of hearing loss and keep your brain in the game. So...here we are...with hearing aids! They are really high tech now and if it's important to you, nearly invisible. If i don't tell people I'm wearing them they don't notice.

All the best,

~Mary

Hi Sharon, I’ve had a hearing aid for about ten years now and it definitely makes a difference to how much I can hear. I do find that I can’t wear it all day though as it gets uncomfortable as the day goes on, so usually I take it off late afternoon if I’m at home. I wear it if I’m going out though.

Hi Sharon. I had 50% loss both sides before Meniere’s so already had high quality aids. They are adjusted to my loss of range which is severe in the high ranges and speech sounds perfectly normal. My own voice sounds normal and the aids do a reasonable job of filtering in crowded rooms. What they are not brilliant at is music as I have lost some ranges completely. However there is no distortion at all unless I’m becoming unstable and about to have an attack. They don’t affect tinnitus at all but mine isn’t very loud as I am on betahistine so the Meniere’s is controlled thankfully. I’m in U.K. and bought my aids privately as the nhs ones no longer were adequate for my hearing loss.