hearing aids

[cjk]

So I recently visited an ENT and had a hearing test. It would appear that the lower in pitch a sound is, the better I hear it. As pitch raises, my hearing loss is more pronounced.
They tell me that I would be a really good candidate for hearing aids. I'm not excited about this as they are expensive and I am fairly cheap, but my father and grandfather both had them so I should probably not be surprised.

I'm hoping that there are of folks on here that might be able to provide some advice on this both related to playing the tuba and not.

With regards to playing the tuba with hearing aids, are there specific things which I should look for in a pair of devices? For those of you who wear them, do you keep them in to play?

I spend about half my working day on the phone, usually a cell phone with earbuds. I work remotely so my in person interaction with co-workers and customers is minimal. I might meet folks in person a couple or three times a year. It seems to me that I'd get the most benefit from hearing aids with in person interactions. It seems like a lot of hearing aids support bluetooth audio, but as far as I can tell, that's only receiving audio. There's no phone microphone in the hearing aids. I don't quite understand how this would be of a benefit to me in my work day though I could see the benefit otherwise. Right now it seems like they would just be a hassle for work as I might have take them on and off several times a day to use the phone. I'm probably missing something. I suspect that a conversation with the audiologist could answer most of my work-related questions.

Anyhow, I'm quite interested in suggestions from tuba players and how hearing aids + tuba really ends up working in the real world.

[Three Valves]

Did your hearing loss become so pronounced to you or to others that it prompted you to get a hearing test?

I mean, if loss of hearing occurs in only part of the spectrum, and it doesn't bother you, why get hearing aids?

[cjk]

Yeah, my wife. She thinks I'm missing more than I think I am. She's probably right.

[Ace]

Yeah, my wife. She thinks I'm missing more than I think I am. She's probably right.

I recognize what you are saying. My wife said the same thing.

Re acquiring a hearing aid, are you a military veteran with service-connected disability rating? If so, you could get high quality free hearing aids from the Veterans Administration. Just a thought.

I remove my hearing aids when I play any of my brass instruments, and leave them in when playing violin and viola.

Ace

[cjk]

Yeah, my wife. She thinks I'm missing more than I think I am. She's probably right.

I recognize what you are saying. My wife said the same thing.

Re acquiring a hearing aid, are you a military veteran with service-connected disability rating? If so, you could get high quality free hearing aids from the Veterans Administration. Just a thought.

I remove my hearing aids when I play any of my brass instruments, and leave them in when playing violin and viola.

Ace

Thanks Ace. I am not a military veteran.

[bloke]

Yeah, my wife. She thinks I'm missing more than I think I am. She's probably right.

There's probably a joke in there, somewhere...but I'll let sleeping dogs lie.

[Three Valves]

I recognize what you are saying. My wife said the same thing.

Ace

I’m noticing a pattern...

[gwwilk]

I've worn hearing aids for the past 12 years due to presbycusis, i.e. age-related hearing loss, aggravated by not using hearing protection when around loud sounds in my younger days. The ins and outs of hearing aids are difficult to navigate.

Both Android and iPhone cell phones can be used with hearing aids. Android phones can connect via bluetooth to some hearing aids. This connection can be direct, where no microphone is available, or indirect through a remote control that clips onto clothing which does have a microphone. An iPhone connects directly through a proprietary protocol called MFI. The iPhone's microphone is used with MFI.

I've used Costco to purchase my last two pairs of hearing aids, and I highly recommend them. They test your hearing and then find out what your specific needs are before recommending any of several brands they carry along with the appropriate technology for the receivers (speakers). Calls that go directly through my hearing aids are much easier to understand, so most people know not to use my land line to talk with me. I'm due for my free 6 month checkup of my current hearing aids at Costco tomorrow.

If you've found that conversing with a masked individual is much harder than when they're unmasked, you've been lip-reading and should definitely get your hearing tested. Even with my hearing aids, I still tend to lip-read for verification. To aid in comprehension lip-readers visually pick up the fricatives that they can no longer hear.

As for playing my tubas with hearing aids is concerned, I initially used open-dome receivers which allow the lower frequencies to pass through. Now that the volume has to be cranked up so that feedback (squealing) is a constant threat, I'm using ear molds with a generous air-hole that lets some of the lower frequencies pass through, but don't easily succumb to feedback. MP3's and such when played on my iPhone go directly to my hearing aids, and those around me don't realize that I'm listening to music. The bass reproduction isn't the greatest through the aids, but the bass when listening to live or high-fidelity music is just fine.

[scottw]

What GWWilk said.
I do not have blue-tooth aids, so it's only through talking with others that I grasp that concept--maybe my next set?
As to playing with the aids: Mostly I need them not so much for hearing the music [although soft, low-range flute/oboe/ etc. is a challenge] but to hear the CONDUCTOR. Most mumble to the first row, seldom address the back row. Mine have various digital settings that I still experiment with, but generally I don't change the settings from what I use walking around. I do need to make sure they are fully inserted at all times, as it drives players next to me crazy hearing the squeal.
As to the phone: This to me is a tough one. Most phones are not able to get loud enough except when I put it on speaker and hold that to my ear--not a lot of privacy that way, though. In a noisy environment, forget about it, but in a quiet room, I seldom miss the conversation. I suspect blue-tooth would help most on the phone.
The absolute worst, however, is people all talking at the same time or other extraneous noise going on at the same time as a conversation. That is probably where your wife gets the most upset!
Bottom line: Better to have them and put up with their limitations than to go on without them. You will never again have "normal" hearing, so get used to it. Get a good audiologist/provider, one close to home and someone who will take the extra time to compensate for making music easier. Good luck!
Scott

[ronr]

I’ve worn hearing aids for 20 years. Have always had Bluetooth capability and always leave them in when I play. If you get a good pair they will make any ear buds you’ve ever used pale in comparison. The other thing a good pair of hearing aids will do is mask the sound when it gets overwhelming, for example at a football game. Of course I’ve been a MN Gopher fan all my life, so the opportunities for overwhelming crowd noise have been extremely limited over the past 60 years or so.

Like others have mentioned I have hearing aids because my bride was sick of saying everything twice, which is still an ugly habit I battle with all the time. I attribute my need for aids to sitting in front of the timpani for 30+ years.

[acemorgan]

Yes, my wife told me for years that I have a hearing problem. So I got the MD non-digital (i.e., cheap) models. Later I got digital ones from Costco. My hearing loss is in the high register, so I don't always understand the auditory hash that passes for human speech.

I could hear my tuba and euphonium just fine. In fact, I would always remove the hearing aids while playing, especially the non-digital ones, because mine would disproportionately amplify the highs which makes low brass overtones sound weird. I didn't have that problem with the digital ones--as much.

But, I wear them less frequently in general now, because I cannot pull off my mask without launching my hearing aids like little projectiles. Launching expensive gray hearing aids in an asphalt parking lot can really get one agitated.

[bort2.0]

I’ve been a MN Gopher fan all my life, so the opportunities for overwhelming crowd noise have been extremely limited over the past 60 years or so.

^ Just about any Minnesota sports team, actually. I've only lived here for 5 years, but I "get it." My wife (who grew up here) still fondly remembers 1991. To which I respond, at least you were old enough to remember it (1983 Orioles ... young Bort was 3 years old). I bet young Mr. Ripken didn't think that was his only victory lap, eh?

CJK -- sorry that you need something so soon, young man, but I guess it is what it is. If not the ears first, then what? At least now, when your wife/kids ask you something that you don't want to do, "damn, batteries are out on my hearing aids again."

[gwwilk]

Many hearing aids now come with cell phone 'apps' that allow fine tuning and program selection. I find this to be much easier to use than pushing a button on the back of a small hearing aid to change the program. My current app even allows frequency boosts/cuts in selective ranges, and displays battery status.

I only remove my mask when I'm in my car in order to avoid any potential 'asphalt drop'.

[Jperry1466]

I've been wearing hearing aids for a couple of years since my wife started mumbling everything facing away from me 2 rooms away. My low hearing is good; my extreme high hearing not so much. Also have a bit of tinnitus which the aids help with. Now I can hear individual conversations in a room full of people (or at least until the pandemic) as well as those annoying squealing electronics that I hadn't been able to hear in years. I can still hear piccolos just fine, so I usually don't wear them when playing or judging band competitions, as they make the music sound "tinny" (even though these are the latest high-dollar aids). They are a Godsend, however, for daily life and conversation. I'm hearing sounds I hadn't heard in years, and my wife stopped mumbling.

[cjk]

So I got the Costco KS10 hearing aids about a month ago. Mrs CJK was certainly correct about my missing things. I haven't played the tuba with them yet. The controlling software and bluetooth definitely work better with iPhones than Android devices (per both my experience and the Costco tech's suggestions) so I went and got myself one of those.

I hear birds way more frequently than I ever did.
My keyboards and mice are much louder.
It's much more rare that I ask someone to repeat what they've said.
So really, the improvement in my day to day life has been pretty vast.
I'd highly recommend anyone to do the same.

I somewhat successfully convinced my children that I am now a cyborg and they better watch out.

I would also like to sincerely thank everyone who posted in this thread previously. Y'all have been a big help to me. Thanks a bunch!!!

[bloke]

Wow...
My understanding is that there is no cure for AIDS, and now you’re telling me there is “hearing AIDS”.

[royjohn]

Hey, cjk,
I've had aides since I was about 35 and that's about 40 years now. At first I had one aide and then a few years later the audiologist was astonished that I didn't have two. Stereo is definitely the thing for hearing loss. Yes, we tubists can hear the fundamental, but you will not hear all the overtones if you have a high frequency loss...you will hear speech, but not understand it because the high frequency consonants get lost. "I smell the meat" becomes "I smell your feet" and various other embarassments...

It's nice that you went to Costco and got one of their better models which gives you several programs so that you have a setting for speech in quiet rooms, speech in noise, music, etc. They are cheaper than anyone else and seem to give good service. And the Costco aides have a setting to use Bluetooth on your phone. We used to have a "voice coil" that picked up the electric (magnetic) field of the speaker on the phone, but the Bluetooth enabled aides which pick up the phone automatically are so much better. Sometimes it takes a few tries for the audiologist to set up the aides completely to your liking and usually this is included in the price of the aides, so don't be shy about going back and explaining what you don't like if something doesn't work completely right for you at first.

I guess they told you to keep your aides in a little drier canister at nights to dry them out, esp. in the summer. I sweat a lot outside, so I need aides which are water resistant and sometimes even use a special jacket on the aides as athletes use to keep the water out.

I think in time you will realize (think you already have) how much you were missing without the aides.
Best Wishes,
royjohn

[Mary Ann]

Wow...
My understanding is that there is no cure for AIDS, and now you’re telling me there is “hearing AIDS”.

Yes, that's why you need to wear condoms on your ears.

[bloke]

Wow...
My understanding is that there is no cure for AIDS, and now you’re telling me there is “hearing AIDS”.

Yes, that's why you need to wear condoms on your ears.

' sounds reasonable...unless I go to south Florida.

[Mary Ann]

As someone vaguely in the "wife" category....I have two close male friends to whom I have to D E L I N E A T E my words and speak MORE LOUDLY to. They miss a LOT that they are unaware of, and both developed the habit of pretending to hear so that they don't have to ask people to repeat themselves. This is not fair to the listener....if you think about it, it is really not respecting the person who is trying to communicate with you, and people eventually will quit trying. I find that pride is a factor for some (and will understand if it is a financial problem; those things are not cheap.) Like, "If I get hearing aids I admit I am now OLD, and not feeling old is more important to me than not forcing my loved ones to put unneeded extra effort into communicating with me."

So when my time comes, and I'm sure it will, I'm getting the things. I can still hear my feet hit the ground and my pants swish when I walk, so I figure it's not time yet.