Why are modern hearing aids worse than the older ones?
October 20, 2024 8:20 AM
The hearing aids my parent has used for more than 20 years have reached the end of their life but nothing modern seems to be suitable. If you use hearing aids, or have any experiences that might help us please share.
She's had hearing loss for decades and it's definitely gotten worse. But for most of the past 20 years she's used a specific in-ear Phonak device and, whilst not perfect, they provided reasonable hearing, sufficient to manage one-to-one and smallish group conversations. These devices can no longer be repaired. Only one side is working now and that side is not great.
Looking for new hearing aids has been a disaster. She's had many consultations, public and private, tried several models but nothing "sticks" - nothing provides her with a level of hearing that makes life bearable for her. We are all fully aware of the "your brain has to adapt to new devices" - but she's tried several models for more than a week each time and the audio has been so far from acceptable that she's felt nauseous at times. The devices have been tuned and adapted but eventually returned as unsuitable. She says voices are inaudible and background sounds like chairs scraping or paper rustling are painfully amplified. She cannot stand them and would prefer to use nothing.
Obviously her hearing has declined over the years (her diagnosis is profound hearing loss) but she insists that the remaining Phonak that more or less works is still much much better than the state of the art new devices she has tried. What gives?
Why would she perceive that the devices she had fitted more than 20 years ago are better than today's state of the art? What's changed? Have hearing aids actually gotten any better? Is it possible that there are some "older tech" versions that might suit her better?
We are at out wits' end and it's heart-breaking to see the isolation that this is causing her. If you know of anything that might help, please, please share.
She's had hearing loss for decades and it's definitely gotten worse. But for most of the past 20 years she's used a specific in-ear Phonak device and, whilst not perfect, they provided reasonable hearing, sufficient to manage one-to-one and smallish group conversations. These devices can no longer be repaired. Only one side is working now and that side is not great.
Looking for new hearing aids has been a disaster. She's had many consultations, public and private, tried several models but nothing "sticks" - nothing provides her with a level of hearing that makes life bearable for her. We are all fully aware of the "your brain has to adapt to new devices" - but she's tried several models for more than a week each time and the audio has been so far from acceptable that she's felt nauseous at times. The devices have been tuned and adapted but eventually returned as unsuitable. She says voices are inaudible and background sounds like chairs scraping or paper rustling are painfully amplified. She cannot stand them and would prefer to use nothing.
Obviously her hearing has declined over the years (her diagnosis is profound hearing loss) but she insists that the remaining Phonak that more or less works is still much much better than the state of the art new devices she has tried. What gives?
Why would she perceive that the devices she had fitted more than 20 years ago are better than today's state of the art? What's changed? Have hearing aids actually gotten any better? Is it possible that there are some "older tech" versions that might suit her better?
We are at out wits' end and it's heart-breaking to see the isolation that this is causing her. If you know of anything that might help, please, please share.
This sounds awful - I’m so sorry. My mom (“profound” loss in one ear and “severe and profound” in the other) has been using Starkey aids for a number of years. They are expensive, and my mom has limited means, but they have made her life infinitely better.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:55 AM on October 20
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:55 AM on October 20
Have you been able to ask this question of her audiologist? Phonak customer service?
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:19 AM on October 20
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:19 AM on October 20
This is second-hand, so I can't vouch for the accuracy, but I was told recently by a friend who had just gotten hearing aids that the technology has changed significantly in the last few decades. They said that it used to be that hearing aids simply took the sound and made it louder, allowing the person to hear based purely on volume. Now, they said, hearing aids are selective - taking what bands of sound a person has been identified as having the most limited hearing and selectively making that louder. Additionally, they told me that the goal behind modern hearing aids is to help the ear and brain's processing improve over time, somehow helping the person to ideally recover some of the ability to hear that has been lost. There are also apparently settings available through apps for doing things like feeding sound in from a phone.
Based on that description, it sounds like the wrong things are getting amplified for what she needs. I have no idea how it would be possible with multiple different calibrations though. Just spitballing an idea, are there settings in an app or something that might key in whether voices or background noises are being amplified?
posted by past unusual at 1:40 PM on October 20
Based on that description, it sounds like the wrong things are getting amplified for what she needs. I have no idea how it would be possible with multiple different calibrations though. Just spitballing an idea, are there settings in an app or something that might key in whether voices or background noises are being amplified?
posted by past unusual at 1:40 PM on October 20
I've had hearing aids for longer than 20 years. Even before I had hearing aids, my mum had them. (Genetics...) Hearing aids have definitely gotten better even just over the course of the timescale I've had mine, never mind over the timescale of my mum's.
Honestly, reading what you write makes me angry on your parent's behalf. I'd almost question the competence of the prescribing audiologist but you say there have been many consultations, both public and private, which to me sounds like multiple audiologists.
Is it possible there's a lack of clarity or misunderstanding in terms of what your parent wants, versus what the audiologist thinks she wants, and that's what leading to the mistuning?
I ask this because my hearing aids - both the Phonak brand I was using some years back and the brand I'm using now (Amplifon) - can have multiple different programmes, and I sat with my audiologist and we fine-tuned them exactly to my needs. Of relevance - I have a "restaurant" programme, which boosts conversation directionally (where I'm facing) and does its level best to dampen everything else, not just the general noise but also irrelevant conversations happening behind me.
Which leads me to my point: even if you're not getting top of the line, and even leaving aside directionality, any audiologist worth their salt should be able to get "makes conversation comprehensible, even if you gotta dampen other sounds" out of modern hearing aids. That is the entire point of hearing aids!
I'm sorry I don't have specific hearing aid recommendations; it's been my experience that in general, modern hearing aids work very well. I would go back to an audiologist and make absolutely sure they understand what your parent is after.
posted by sailoreagle at 1:40 PM on October 20
Honestly, reading what you write makes me angry on your parent's behalf. I'd almost question the competence of the prescribing audiologist but you say there have been many consultations, both public and private, which to me sounds like multiple audiologists.
Is it possible there's a lack of clarity or misunderstanding in terms of what your parent wants, versus what the audiologist thinks she wants, and that's what leading to the mistuning?
I ask this because my hearing aids - both the Phonak brand I was using some years back and the brand I'm using now (Amplifon) - can have multiple different programmes, and I sat with my audiologist and we fine-tuned them exactly to my needs. Of relevance - I have a "restaurant" programme, which boosts conversation directionally (where I'm facing) and does its level best to dampen everything else, not just the general noise but also irrelevant conversations happening behind me.
Which leads me to my point: even if you're not getting top of the line, and even leaving aside directionality, any audiologist worth their salt should be able to get "makes conversation comprehensible, even if you gotta dampen other sounds" out of modern hearing aids. That is the entire point of hearing aids!
I'm sorry I don't have specific hearing aid recommendations; it's been my experience that in general, modern hearing aids work very well. I would go back to an audiologist and make absolutely sure they understand what your parent is after.
posted by sailoreagle at 1:40 PM on October 20
it used to be that hearing aids simply took the sound and made it louder, allowing the person to hear based purely on volumeCorrect.
hearing aids are selective - taking what bands of sound a person has been identified as having the most limited hearing and selectively making that louderCorrect. In some cases, hearing aids can even take pitches you absolutely can't hear, and re-pitch them to ranges you can. (I specifically have a "music" programme on my hearing aids that I can switch to that removes all of this re-pitching, because if I'm at a concert, I'd rather not hear a note, than hear a wrong one...)
There are also apparently settings available through apps for doing things like feeding sound in from a phoneThere are, but not nearly as finely as you think. The hearing aids do connect to modern smartphones (so for instance you get phonecalls directly into the hearing aids), and you can switch programmes, adjust volume, etc from an app; but any fine-tuning in terms of what gets amplified or muted, pitch ranges, etc, is done by the audiologist, unfortunately.
it sounds like the wrong things are getting amplified for what she needsExactly why I'm thinking a severe misunderstanding / communication breakdown might be at fault here. :(
posted by sailoreagle at 1:47 PM on October 20
I have hearing aids (Phonak). I got them within the last 5 years. It took me about a week to adjust them for my ears/hearing loss. They came with software that has, essentially, an equalizer like you would get on a stereo. I can adjust them for more bass, less treble, etc. They have some presets too like "restaurant", etc. Did your mom's aids have software to adjust them that she may (or may not) have seen or been trained on?
I also have a pair of NuHeara, iQBuds, that are essentially both Bluetooth ear buds and hearing aids. Similar to the Apple ear buds mentioned above. I have had them for 4 years. They have even more software features than my Phonaks. They have all sorts of presets too. Ones that you can set to be outside, to only amplify sounds from in front of you (be in a theater for example), also a restaurant setting, and many more. I can customize what sounds I want to amplify and when. Also, when using them as ear buds to listen to my phone or my TV, I can turn off outside sounds and make them noise cancelling.
The new category of hearing aids just approved are ones that are much less expensive, can be purchased over the counter and usually use software to adjust the sounds amplified. I do not know which ones are covered by insurance. Most of them first run a hearing test on the user and then suggest settings that will help, but can be adjusted further by the user.
My 88 year old "FIL" (my gf's father), has profound hearing loss and is not very technically inclined. but he just got new Phonaks and had my gf help him set them up to equalize them as he wanted and to connect to his iPad so he can watch TV without blasting out the house and the neighbors.
I would look into it further. It could be that your mom just did not know, or could not use, the software. Fwiw, once you set the software, it should stay set that way, but I would write down the settings or take screenshots of the settings so that she can recreate them if she wants.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:14 PM on October 20
I also have a pair of NuHeara, iQBuds, that are essentially both Bluetooth ear buds and hearing aids. Similar to the Apple ear buds mentioned above. I have had them for 4 years. They have even more software features than my Phonaks. They have all sorts of presets too. Ones that you can set to be outside, to only amplify sounds from in front of you (be in a theater for example), also a restaurant setting, and many more. I can customize what sounds I want to amplify and when. Also, when using them as ear buds to listen to my phone or my TV, I can turn off outside sounds and make them noise cancelling.
The new category of hearing aids just approved are ones that are much less expensive, can be purchased over the counter and usually use software to adjust the sounds amplified. I do not know which ones are covered by insurance. Most of them first run a hearing test on the user and then suggest settings that will help, but can be adjusted further by the user.
My 88 year old "FIL" (my gf's father), has profound hearing loss and is not very technically inclined. but he just got new Phonaks and had my gf help him set them up to equalize them as he wanted and to connect to his iPad so he can watch TV without blasting out the house and the neighbors.
I would look into it further. It could be that your mom just did not know, or could not use, the software. Fwiw, once you set the software, it should stay set that way, but I would write down the settings or take screenshots of the settings so that she can recreate them if she wants.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:14 PM on October 20
Her experience sounds like the complaint of someone with mild hearing loss trying hearing aids for the first time. For first time users it typically takes weeks of consistent full-time use to retrain your brain to ignore sounds that you couldn't previously hear, and for everything to sound like normal speech rather than a godawful tinny electronic voice, and to get used to the very loud volume.
It makes me wonder whether her hearing loss has increased significantly while she has had the current set, and so the correction that is being applied now feels like it's too much. If she had a hearing test with the Phonaks in, then an audiologist should probably be able to broadly mimic the hearing profile she gets at the moment. Which may be significantly different than compensating completely for the hearing loss, and perhaps she would prefer something in between the two.
The other thing I wondered was whether her existing hearings aids are analogue, as switching from analogue to digital is a known issue, but is considered worth it because digital hearings aids are much more flexible.
Generally speaking hearing aid technology improves significantly over a 5-year period. And except right at the cutting edge there's not much to choose between different manufacturers. I think she would be best served by finding an audiologist who is prepared to work with her, and customising what she wants in the way of sound from a mid-range pair suitable for profound hearing loss from whatever manufacturer that audiologist uses.
posted by plonkee at 6:34 AM on October 21
It makes me wonder whether her hearing loss has increased significantly while she has had the current set, and so the correction that is being applied now feels like it's too much. If she had a hearing test with the Phonaks in, then an audiologist should probably be able to broadly mimic the hearing profile she gets at the moment. Which may be significantly different than compensating completely for the hearing loss, and perhaps she would prefer something in between the two.
The other thing I wondered was whether her existing hearings aids are analogue, as switching from analogue to digital is a known issue, but is considered worth it because digital hearings aids are much more flexible.
Generally speaking hearing aid technology improves significantly over a 5-year period. And except right at the cutting edge there's not much to choose between different manufacturers. I think she would be best served by finding an audiologist who is prepared to work with her, and customising what she wants in the way of sound from a mid-range pair suitable for profound hearing loss from whatever manufacturer that audiologist uses.
posted by plonkee at 6:34 AM on October 21
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posted by dobbs at 10:42 AM on October 20