Tom
I've got recent experience with this, I got mine last year. I have mild
hearing loss, at both ends of the range, moderate at the extreme end of the
upper range. (They only test to 8 kHz).
Yes, if you get the right kind of hearing aid, the audiologist can create
different programs - for instance, I have one for noisy environments like
restaurants and parties, as well as the normal setting. It helps some.
Some things to be aware of.
1. Hearing aids are designed for human speech and as such typically only
have a range up to 8 kHz - a lot of higher frequency bird calls go above
that. That said, it does help me - Parulas now sound like the way I
learned them rather than like Chipping Sparrows.
2. Because they are designed for human speech, they only work at close
range. That means when you are birding with a young hot shot, even with
hearing aids you will not be able to hear the birds they can hear at
distance.
3. If you get a program that enhances the higher frequencies much more
than is usual for human speech, be aware that there are many common
background noises that will drive you crazy. Things like rustling paper,
people blowing their noses.
4. If you have had hearing loss for a while, and it's gotten into the more
moderate range, it will take you a while to relearn "how to hear". Mine
wasn't that bad because I dealt with it early. But my audiologist said
that we have hearing memory and it's use it or lose it, the brain forgets
when the ear is no longer sending signal. It's a lot of the reason why
people who let their hearing loss get bad and then say they can't "get on"
with hearing aids.
When I worked with the audiologist, I printed out some spectrograms of
common species from Xeno-canto as examples of what I was aiming for.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Wendy Ealding
Midlothian
On Tue, Mar 21, 2017 at 11:11 AM, Tom Thomas <tomtom218@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Looking for assistance/recommendations from birders regarding
selecting a hearing aid. A few years back there was a discussion on
Birdchat regarding this, but I understand that technology has improved and
wonder if any of the posters here could point me in the right direction.
My wife has been gently (sometimes not so gently) urging me to get a
hearing aid for normal conversation, watching TV, etc. - the normal stuff.
Over the last few years I've noticed that when I go birding with others,
I'm missing the songs and call notes that others are clearly hearing.
I've heard (!) that some of the newer aids can be programmed back and
forth for specific uses, i.e. high frequency, for birds.
Before I start going to audiologists and getting sales pitches, I'd
thought I'd start here.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Tom Thomas
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