Daily Life with a Hearing Aid

In the Morning

In the morning, the last thing I do when getting dressed is "put in my ears." Often, I forget to put them in and I have to trundle back to get them.

They are so comfortable, I have to really remember to NOT wear them into the shower – which would be disastrous (moisture will cause damage).

At Work

I put in “my ears” and use them all day. I need them to understanding speech. I usually don’t change the microphone level unless I go into a restaurant.

I used to work at an advertising agency. The first time I ever wore two hearing aids at the same time I was giving a client presentation and could not understanding all the new sounds—looked and felt incredibly stupid. But, got over that with time.

On the telephone, my Dad (who also has hearing loss) speaks too loudly. I will take one aid out to avoid the blast—then lose it in the sofa cushions or floor.

At the hair dresser, I always take them out and stow them in my pocket or purse. I feel embarrassed about wearing them—I’m especially bothered by the appalling “flesh” color—but I’m not willing to miss out on anything for the sake of appearance.

In Public

Before getting my hearing aids, I spent a lot of time leaning toward people and trying to guess what they were saying. Conversations were difficult—consonants impossible (Did she say hat? cat? bat? sat?)—which only added to my already anxious manner. I developed the habit of pretending to understand what people say when I didn’t.

My first hearing aids (non-programmable) simply made ALL noises louder—so restaurants were impossible. I would take out my aid to be comfortable and then feel totally isolated. It was especially hard meeting new people at cocktail parties—it was easier to not attend.

My new programmable hearing aids make me feel bionic! I discovered new sounds—like water running in the bathroom next door and birds singing in the morning.

My aids have a button on the back (over the ear) which I press for different programs. Two beeps confirm the second program—for noisy settings like restaurants. This is unbelievably helpful; cuts the clatter, but let’s me hear the conversation at my table. By the way, bone conduction sounds—like chewing food—can be quite loud.

There is a third program (there can be four) which my hearing specialist and I are working on to help me understand British television programs and films since I find the pronunciations and accent particularly hard to understand.

At Bedtime

At night there is a “dance”—should I take my hearing aids out to relax, or keep them in to hear late news and weather? If I take them out, I sometimes turn the TV up so loud it pains my husband.

Fortunately, my husband is VERY supportive of my wearing my hearing aids. He is excited for me about how well I can hear with them.

At night, I take them off and put my aids in a small coffin-like thing that removes moisture. The storage device costs about $200 and has replaceable drying "bricks." I take the batteries out separately and put them in a ring holder dish.

Maintenance

My hearing aids are over-the-ear style with microphones on top.

Unfortunately—possibly because of my "mixed connective tissue disease"—my ear canals are extremely sensitive. I cannot wear the very small invisible hearing aids that hide in the ear canal. They go in too far and hurt.

Hearing aids are extremely expensive. and often needed in an age group with limited resources. My current pair are digital, programmable and cost about $5000 for the pair (not covered by insurance).

The maker says they should last “many years” which I’m guessing should be at least five years.

Repairs and Replacement

I am lucky to live near a great hearing center: With my initial pair of aids, I had to make many, many, many trips to have them adjusted. Often, you cannot really tell if they are working properly, until you wear them out in the "real world. "

Once they were properly adjusted they were fine. But you have to be patient.

Often older people have a very difficult time adjusting to them. I have one relative whose hearing aids have never worked properly. He is not able to cope with repeated visits for adjustments. As a result, he doesn’t hear much better with them and often chooses to not wear them at all. It is a shame, because he misses so much.