On Medic Alert and Such...

[Bigun]

Hearing loss is brutal. The lost joy of music also sucks.

 

[berdie]

Hearing loss is brutal. The lost joy of music also sucks.

That would be the hardest for me...even though I have a juke box in my mind.

One of my good friend's mother was blind and started losing her hearing. She was terrified. I didn't blame her one bit. I would have been as well.

[libertybele]

Hearing loss is brutal. The lost joy of music also sucks.

Hearing loss is terrible....I was fitted for hearing aids and they wanted over $6,000.00 and then couldn't guarantee hearing in one ear because of some sort of bone chip in the canal.  Other option was surgery, but that still wouldn't improve my hearing all that much.  So, I opted out of surgery and I don't have that kind of $$$ for hearing aids.  As for music - I enjoy it with earbuds or headphones....so far so good.

[roamer_1]

Fair enough. I only made the switch to Apple maybe 18 months ago myself ... mainly because my Fitbit kept losing its connection to my phone, and my hearing is bad enough that I rely on that haptic buzz on my wrist to let me know when I have a call or a text coming in.

That's what my fitbit does too... It's a Versa 3 and can make calls from the wrist, which is what I got it for... well along with AFIB warning and heart monitoring stuff... but it became a fallback option for if I forgot to bring my phone with me and got in trouble. So long as I was in Bluetooth range to the phone, I could make a call.

But it keeps dropping the bluetooth.

And I don't like the buzz on my wrist. I always jump and swat at it because my brain thinks it's a bug. 

But the next one is going to be waterproof so I don;t have to take it off to shower, it has to be bulletproof with the bluetooth call from wrist, and it has to have Giggles onboard... Dunno what that's going to be yet.

I was always a Casio/GShock guy when I was working. Those watches are tough. Turns out they have smart watches now, so I want to look at that instead of the big brands. Like I said, dunno yet. 

[Polly Ticks]

I grieve over my hearing loss because I lose connection with loved ones and people in general.

True story. I've been taking online ASL classes, but unfortunately I can't get my husband to take them with me. 

[libertybele]

True story. I've been taking online ASL classes, but unfortunately I can't get my husband to take them with me.

That's a really good thing to learn...good for you.

[Polly Ticks]

That's a really good thing to learn...good for you.

Yes, I'm enjoying them very much.  It's a beautiful language.

[roamer_1]

Well, there.

I have a Samsung Galaxy 6 Classic smartwatch coming. It's an Amazon Refurb with an excellent rating. I have had pretty good luck with that, and it saved me some bucks... made it possible. Still more than I wanted to spend...

BUT, it rates right up there with the best of em for bluetooth reliability and should be far more robust in comparison to the Fitbit I use now. It is waterproof, so I can leave it on in the shower too. The only way it seems to suck is that it is power hungry. It will need charged far more often... like once a day or so. I'll have to work that into my breakfast routine.

I should have my first smart speaker by next weekend. I will try that out a while to determine if I am going the right direction, but once I get that decision made, I will begin a program to add another one every month until the whole house is rigged with em. That's an extra cost for some months, but about the same  or cheaper than I would be paying for a medic alert system, with a light at the end of the tunnel where I am  done paying... Sometime around summer, I should be done buying those.

That's the plan. Ima gonna circle back on this thread and drag y'all along with me as I kick the tires on all this crap.

If any of y'all have a similar trip, please conitnue to post it here.

[GtHawk]

Hearing loss is brutal. The lost joy of music also sucks.

At least now I have a legitimate excuse for mondegreen. Also it seems that what I lost in hearing I gained in tinnitus 

[DB]

At least now I have a legitimate excuse for mondegreen. Also it seems that what I lost in hearing I gained in tinnitus 

Tinnitus goes hand in hand with hearing loss... Apparently the brain/nervous system turns up the gain trying to compensate for the loss.

[GtHawk]

Tinnitus goes hand in hand with hearing loss... Apparently the brain/nervous system turns up the gain trying to compensate for the loss.

I know, I have had 42 years of the gain being turned up, won’t it just be a bitch if all I have left is that high pitched tone? As it is some sounds, like the high frequency alarm on my Wife’s Ventilator/CPAP has the effect of shutting my brain down….yes, for those seconds I become just like Joe Biden and that’s pretty scary888mouth

[Smokin Joe]

I sure as heck didn't make 8 seconds. 

 

Send in the clowns!

[Smokin Joe]

Tinnitus goes hand in hand with hearing loss... Apparently the brain/nervous system turns up the gain trying to compensate for the loss.

Well, that explains the jet engine in my right ear...

[roamer_1]

With all you half deaf folks running around in here, I have a question:

Does the passthrough sound setting (transparency, ambient mode) on modern buds work for a hearing aid? Can you get that much gain, to where it can be used that way?

[DB]

With all you half deaf folks running around in here, I have a question:

Does the passthrough sound setting (transparency, ambient mode) on modern buds work for a hearing aid? Can you get that much gain, to where it can be used that way?

I don't know. Haven't tried it. The thing is, most people lose high frequencies first. A hearing aid can boost those frequencies dramatically, much more than any normal earbud or headphone equalizer can. Therefore a hearing aid that is tailored to your hearing loss is most affective.

[Smokin Joe]

With all you half deaf folks running around in here, I have a question:

Does the passthrough sound setting (transparency, ambient mode) on modern buds work for a hearing aid? Can you get that much gain, to where it can be used that way?

I don't know. the average earbud will NOT stay in my ear, so I don't use them. I did notice that when flying back East, there was a point during climb out that my ear popped and normal hearing returned for a couple of minutes. I suspect there is a pressure normalizing issue with my ear, likely something to do with the eustacian tubes. Back to the EENT.

[DB]

Well, that explains the jet engine in my right ear...

Are you essentially deaf in that ear? If you are, they potentially can sever the nerve to end the jet engine sound. You also might be able to get an implant with an electronic ear like Limbaugh did.

[DB]

I know, I have had 42 years of the gain being turned up, won’t it just be a bitch if all I have left is that high pitched tone? As it is some sounds, like the high frequency alarm on my Wife’s Ventilator/CPAP has the effect of shutting my brain down….yes, for those seconds I become just like Joe Biden and that’s pretty scary888mouth

That's pretty scary... What if you were driving or doing something else critical and a cell phone or the like made that sound?

[roamer_1]

I don't know. the average earbud will NOT stay in my ear, so I don't use them. I did notice that when flying back East, there was a point during climb out that my ear popped and normal hearing returned for a couple of minutes. I suspect there is a pressure normalizing issue with my ear, likely something to do with the eustacian tubes. Back to the EENT.

I don't like buds because they mess with my balance, believe it or not. I knew that before my current dilemma because I noticed that I tracked leftward hiking with one bud in my right ear... So it messed with me back then - but now it is muy malo. I have a real hard time finding balance anyway.

But it's interesting that you can get to normal hearing under some conditions. That means it's still there. Maybe that can be fixed. 

[roamer_1]

I don't know. Haven't tried it. The thing is, most people lose high frequencies first. A hearing aid can boost those frequencies dramatically, much more than any normal earbud or headphone equalizer can. Therefore a hearing aid that is tailored to your hearing loss is most affective.

Just wondering. I have been around guns, machining, and heavy machinery all my life, so my hearing is marginal, but not bad enough to warrant hearing aids yet. But I was thinking of 'ambient mode' on earbuds as a reasonable redneck solution...  hearing aids are crazy money.

[libertybele]

Just wondering. I have been around guns, machining, and heavy machinery all my life, so my hearing is marginal, but not bad enough to warrant hearing aids yet. But I was thinking of 'ambient mode' on earbuds as a reasonable redneck solution...  hearing aids are crazy money.

Yes, hearing aids are ridiculously priced and in talking to others they have problems with them off and on. In conversation, people get frustrated with me and I explain I'm hard of hearing and then when they come back with, why don't you get hearing aids, I tell them the price and inform them that neither insurance or Medicare covers the cost. That usually curbs the frustration.

[Polly Ticks]

With all you half deaf folks running around in here, I have a question:

Does the passthrough sound setting (transparency, ambient mode) on modern buds work for a hearing aid? Can you get that much gain, to where it can be used that way?

I haven't tried them, but I am curious about them, as well. 

[Sighlass]

I have some electronic gun range earmuff that stop loud bangs but amplify talking range... so for 50-60 dollars I might be looking like I am either stuck in the 80s or perpetually going to the firing line...

[Smokin Joe]

Are you essentially deaf in that ear? If you are, they potentially can sever the nerve to end the jet engine sound. You also might be able to get an implant with an electronic ear like Limbaugh did.

I am, sort of... Everything sounds muffled, like having my ear full of water.
The jet engine changes in pitch occasionally, and intensity, sometimes hardly noticeable, others annoyingly loud. I have taught myself to generally ignore it. But my experience on the planes (it happened more than once) with normal hearing returning for a little bit (a few minutes at most) makes me think there is a pressure problem in the ear causing the trouble. If it was nerve damage, normal hearing would not have returned for those few minutes.

[DB]

I am, sort of... Everything sounds muffled, like having my ear full of water.
The jet engine changes in pitch occasionally, and intensity, sometimes hardly noticeable, others annoyingly loud. I have taught myself to generally ignore it. But my experience on the planes (it happened more than once) with normal hearing returning for a little bit (a few minutes at most) makes me think there is a pressure problem in the ear causing the trouble. If it was nerve damage, normal hearing would not have returned for those few minutes.

If hearing improves even briefly then I'd say your theory is correct. A good specialist may be able to treat it. You can't go to an ENT guy and get much from them. I assume your ear canal is clear and there's no sign of liquid behind your ear drum. Have you tried less salt (or more) and/or more potassium (or less). Both of those play a significant role in pressure balance inside the inner ear.