got my aids

[John F]

Hi everyone,

I had my Phonak micopower IX aids fitted on Tuesday. So far I'm OK with them. It's been about 12 years since I last wore aids so I know I will have to get used to them all over again. There are definitely new sounds coming in. I am not crazy about the way my voice sounds. It has a "plugged up" sound to it. My wife and people at work are telling me to speak up now, that never happened before :) There seems to be a sharp crack to alot of sounds. I will go back in one week to make some adjusments. My audi says there is alot of room to make adjustments and that there is alot she can do with the aids to get things right so I am optomistic that things will work out. I know that she did not set them to their full potential because of how long it has been since I wore aids.Physically they feel good, I know they are in but they do not bother me. I wear glasses most of the day and this is not a problem. I did not get the remote yet because I wanted to let the aids do their job without me manipulating them. It is tough trying to know if something needs to be adjusted or if it is something new that I have to adapt to.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to explain my experience to others because reading other people's experiences helped me make some decisions.

[Peter]

John - I am into the process about 60 days. I've been back to the audiologist 6 or 7 times for adjustments. I experienced exactly what you describe.
My take is:

50% proper HA adjustment
50% time for brain to properly adjust

Keep at it until things are right for you. If you are working with a true professional that is the outcome they desire as well.

It works if you work with it,

Peter

[xbulder]

dear pete
what did you have, please review it!

[Peter]

Xbuilder, I am not sure what your question is.....

On April 4th I was fitted with two Siemens Artis 2P HAs

My left ear is roughly 30 to 80 loss while my
right ear is 60 to 80 db loss

My audiologist said that these HAs would do the job just fine now and also give me some room to grow in the future.

Total package price here in NYS was $3600 ($1800 per HA)

Have I hit the answer you were looking for here?

Peter

[John F]

Peter,

Thanks for the encouragment. I have had a couple of adjustments so far. I think there are still some adjustments to go yet. I don't think I am getting the speech recognition improvment I was looking for. One problem I'm experiencing is my left ear has become pretty sore. In fact I have not worn the left side aid for a couple of days trying to give my ear a chance to get better. I hope this is something that can be cleared up. I go back in tomorrow to do some more tweaking. I'll keep working with my Audi until we get it right.

[Peter]

My right ear becames very very sore

Combo of three factors:

Long - deep mold
curve in the canal
slight constriction at the bend before enlarging on the deeper end

Solution after three new molds and many in office grinding

1) Hard material
2) In office grinding and polishing to gprevent pressure on the bone
3) Some programing changes to help prevent feedback coupled with a vent change.
4) Today all is well, however, it took almost 7 seven weeks to achieve the solution.

Not wearing the HA is not a solution option really.

Peter

[John F]

The Audi looked at my ear yesterday. She says she sees something in there but it is deeper than the aid goes. I am going back tomorrow when the DR is there to have him look at it. I was able to wear the aid yesterday and am wearing it today. I had her do some adjustments but they are not working. We went a little too far with the volume and the noise cancelation keeps switching on and off. I'll have her tweak them some more tomorrow.

This is where I admire the AH package. It would be nice to be able to make the adjustments my self instead of dealing with it for a couple of days before I can get back in to the office. The big problem is that her office is a nice quiet little place without much background noise. Then I drive home and hear all the car/road noise and then get in a house with 4 or 5 people and a couple of TVs and I realize that the adjustments are not working. Well, no choice but to keep working on it till it gets where it needs to be. I know that I have a difficult loss to fit so getting the most out of the aids without going over the top is going to be tricky. We will get there sooner or later.

[johnny]

John F

I wonder if these are the right aids for you. It seems there is too much tweaking over too long a time. Here is my experience a few years ago. I had been a customer previously, and these were my first pair of digitals.

Five visits to get the new aids adjusted. A vacation was coming up. My audi simply gave me back my check and took the aids. That was all within 5 weeks. When I returned around 2 months later, he said he had aids that would be better for me. They sure were - from the moment I put them on I knew they would work. A few minutes of tweaking and away I left, not returning for many months to get a check-up.

It is easy to blame your lack of full satisfaction on yourself. In my case, it was the aids at fault, or else the audi didn't know how to adjust them.

For what it is worth ..... Johnny.

[xbulder]

perhaps it is time to consider a different brand/model/style of hearing aid...

[John F]

I understand what you are saying. I am beginning to think that these just won't do what I need them to do. Also, this past weekend the right aid kept shutting down and then came back on over and over. I tried new batteries but that did not solve the problem. I see my audi again tomorrow and I will ask her about other options. The sad part is I like the way they fit and look, but that is not why I am wearing them. I have until the middle of July to send these back. These are small and I'm not thrilled about going to a larger size and starting all over again but if they aren't working I have to make a change. Kind of frustrated right now :(

[EnglishDispenser]

There seems to be a sharp crack to a lot of sounds.

There is a common fault on Phonak and Unitron aids.

The top 3 or so highest frequency bands can have their LOUD gain set right next to their MPO.

This leads to loud cracks/clicks when you, for example, handle coins.

This is a 'headroom' issue.

The solution is simple .. but not widely known!

You need to insert a tiny bit of 'fresh air' between the MPO and LOUD gain curves. A couple of millimetres on the screen is all that's needed! You can either lift the MPO a tad and/or drop the LOUD gain a tad.

This avoids the sudden 'clipping' effect.

[John F]

When I explained my frustration and what was going on with my aid my audi decided to start from scratch with my right ear. She took a new impression and noted that the mold could have been made a bit longer. She is thinking that this will help with the feedback problem I was having. She told me that I have a very straight canal and that could be a reason why the aid was not staying set in my ear. As far as the other concerns ( static noise, cutting on & off) she told me that she has not had any problems with the other micro powers she has fitted but to be on the safe side she would send this one back and have a new one made. I'll have to go a while on one aid but I appreciate her willingness to get this corrected. It's been quite a ride so far but I will keep working to get this right. I'm thankful my audi is determined to get me set up right, I just hope it is sooner than later.