Personal Sound Amplifiers vs Hearing Aids

imasteeler · Aug 13, 2022

Greetings, all:

Going into my 16th year since the onset of Meniere's, and 7? since going bilateral.

Any advice for hearing aids and other OTC devices? I can see there are all ranges of devices, and I have several friends (without Meniere's) who use normal hearing aids they say work reasonably well for them.

In my case, the ENT/Audiologist tests routinely come back with varying metrics - depends on the day I go and fluctuates quite some. But - hearing loss and loss in word comprehension is always confirmed.

As I can hear clearly with BOSE noise cancelling headphones and earbuds, I am thinking now that one of these PSA devices might help me in situations where I cannot get a signal put through to my earphones.

So - asking if anyone has tried these???

Cheers to all, and thanks for your help...

imasteeler · Aug 13, 2022

ah yes... distortion... that's the bit that fluctuates so wildly for me. A few years back when I had more gigs, I used the Aftershokz bone conduction headset for a while to boost the bass guitar signal to my head directly onstage - worked ok for that, but was entirely too many wires to deal with while playing. The bone conduction headset, in ear monitor buds, and a 4 channel mixer - they all had their own wires...

What I am looking for now is something I can stick in my ears and control with a phone app - I have found something that looks reasonable, they are shipping tomorrow from Amazon with a 30 days guarantee... If they don't work for me, I can send them back...

I'll post updates in a few days - should not take long to figure them out.

yellowboy · Aug 14, 2022

DO NOT get just amplifiers. They can damage your ear more if there is a loud noise like a backfire or just a loud bang. Get OTC Aids or go to Costco their aids are cheap compared to an audiologist.

twodogs · Aug 14, 2022

Hearing aids can be programmed for specific uses. Amplifiers just make sounds louder. I used one in school ages ago and it was somewhat useful. Go with HAs. I feel for musicians who face quite the loss if things worsen.

imasteeler · Aug 15, 2022

Yep - correct on all counts. The PSAs amplify the sound - all sound. They cannot be attenuated for any frequency or otherwise. Sending them back, and re-thinking the entire situation.

I have seen some amazing advances in audio technology over 50 years of playing live music - in the studio and on stage. Surely, some of that has made its way into the hearing aid business...?

I will find what works for me eventually, I am confident of that.

Even if I cannot hear well enough to play live with others - I can still do studio work.

IvanNew · Aug 16, 2022

The hearing aids helped me to "feel" again that I hear in stereo, but it is still not normal hearing like before the disease. By this I mean that they help me, but don't expect miracles.

Now, I do not recommend simple headphones that amplify the sound, that can work for someone with normal hearing loss where all frequencies have the same level of loss. For Meniere you need a good (and expensive) hearing aid that can be configured by an audiologist to raise those frequencies where you have losses without increasing those frequencies where you normally listen.

Calibrating a hearing aid with Meniere's takes time, get used to making many visits every 1-2 weeks to test settings and tell the audiologist. Don't worry about being heavy, you know perfectly well that this disease is like that.

The audiologist will do a pitch hearing test, a word discrimination test, and a noise tolerance test. The noise tolerance may cause light dizziness or vertigo, but it is key for the audiologist to know what is the safe margin to which you can raise frequencies.

Depending on the type of hearing aid you buy, it will have a mobile app that will allow you to play around with the bass and treble settings as well as having several different settings memorized to change as needed (going to a party, to a bar, watching TV... , etc). But more important than all these configurations is that the audiologist can configure each program so that you can use it according to the fluctuations of your hearing that you have every day, obviously this also takes time and many visits to the audiologist during the first months since you will have to go there to say "Hello, today my hearing has changed".

Next November I will be one year old with my hearing aid and although it is not the miracle I expected (I thought I would hear perfectly normal again), it has helped me to hear more naturally. It is also true that the brain needs to readjust and train itself to the new information that the hearing aid emits (it is an ugly metallic sound), the more it is used in the long term the better it is understood.

It is expensive, yes, I bought the second most expensive one in the store and it cost $3,000, because I was a student with no income, I had a $600 discount. I have financed it for 3 years without interest. In any case, for asking and trying it during the first month they do not charge.

imasteeler · Nov 3, 2022

UPDATE as of today, 11-3-2022

After several iterations of trial, error, and fail with OTC hearing aids I went in again for a proper audiologist assessment.

What a complete and total difference it makes to deal with someone who actually understands the challenges we face as members of the Meniere's Disease club.

I now have a pair of Widex Hearing Aids I am test-driving. These are top of the line, (most expensive), and were recommended by audiologist specifically for musicians.

Indications thus far are encouraging... I've played one gig with them - outdoors in a very noisy environment with a less than optimal PA/monitor system - and I was able to hold up for the 3 hours engagement.

Today I am happy to announce a second engagement coming up Nov. 12th at The Rustic in downtown Houston - I am looking forward to it...!! MUSIC+EVENTS - The Rustic

One caveat - my left ear all the sudden got stronger recently... this was confirmed by a 2nd test with the same audiologist... so she had to re-program the hearing aids to that measurement and now I am basically starting over with a new mix...

But - to play music live again with other musicians...? Priceless...!

Will post any meaningful updates after next outing...

imasteeler · Feb 17, 2023

Back to the drawing board...

Left ear went back to virtually dead, aside from the tinnitus. Right ear doing most of the work now.

I had to give the Widex hearing aids back - my insurance plan would not cover them, and $6,800/pair was too steep for me given the performance I had experienced. I played 2 gigs with them in, and 1 gig without. The gig without went better for me. Was an outdoor gig in late December, playing material I am familiar with and have played many times - so mostly muscle memory. Biggest challenge was hearing the count off and being on meter for the first few bars.

New year, new insurance: now I have a set of Signia hearing aids - fitted a few weeks ago. These are more attenuated to day-to-day hearing than playing live music - so far it may account to maybe a 20% improvement at best, but still dialing it in. Audiologist tells me my brain has to get used to hearing all this noise I haven't been hearing before the real benefit will begin to materialize. It all seems do-able. I just need to try to stay positive, I guess.

March 2nd will be the next test of playing guitar live in a very loud environment...

In the meantime, got to learn how to work with them for all other things.

Best wishes to all...!

Fight on....

tammy05 · Apr 4, 2023

hey, do not use hearing aids except as suggested by an audiologist. You must take a hearing test and suggestions from the audiologist to select the right hearing aid for you. Hearing aids are programmed for different users. The audiologist examines your condition and suggests the most satisfying hearing aids.

Isaiah 40:31 · May 2, 2023

IvanNew said: ↑

The hearing aids helped me to "feel" again that I hear in stereo, but it is still not normal hearing like before the disease. By this I mean that they help me, but don't expect miracles.

Now, I do not recommend simple headphones that amplify the sound, that can work for someone with normal hearing loss where all frequencies have the same level of loss. For Meniere you need a good (and expensive) hearing aid that can be configured by an audiologist to raise those frequencies where you have losses without increasing those frequencies where you normally listen.

Calibrating a hearing aid with Meniere's takes time, get used to making many visits every 1-2 weeks to test settings and tell the audiologist. Don't worry about being heavy, you know perfectly well that this disease is like that.

The audiologist will do a pitch hearing test, a word discrimination test, and a noise tolerance test. The noise tolerance may cause light dizziness or vertigo, but it is key for the audiologist to know what is the safe margin to which you can raise frequencies.

Depending on the type of hearing aid you buy, it will have a mobile app that will allow you to play around with the bass and treble settings as well as having several different settings memorized to change as needed (going to a party, to a bar, watching TV... , etc). But more important than all these configurations is that the audiologist can configure each program so that you can use it according to the fluctuations of your hearing that you have every day, obviously this also takes time and many visits to the audiologist during the first months since you will have to go there to say "Hello, today my hearing has changed".

Next November I will be one year old with my hearing aid and although it is not the miracle I expected (I thought I would hear perfectly normal again), it has helped me to hear more naturally. It is also true that the brain needs to readjust and train itself to the new information that the hearing aid emits (it is an ugly metallic sound), the more it is used in the long term the better it is understood.

It is expensive, yes, I bought the second most expensive one in the store and it cost $3,000, because I was a student with no income, I had a $600 discount. I have financed it for 3 years without interest. In any case, for asking and trying it during the first month they do not charge.
Click to expand...

I'm a bit late reading this thread & your post, but wanted to say thank you for this thorough hearing aid info/advice, @IvanNew! I am toying w/ trying a hearing aid for my MD ear but also have hyperacusis in that ear in spite of hearing loss. Bad combo!! I really appreciate that you took the time to spell out the process required to select & fine tune a hearing aid for an MD ear.

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