Mom is hard of hearing - what happens if hearing aids cannot correct this?

Mostly she risks to lose social interactions.

But even with only 49% hearing aid can do something... if your mom accepts to wear them (now mom doesn’t but she has moderate dementia).

Try to convince her to have a hearing test and see from there what will happen.

God bless you and her!

Tough one. I know so many people have trouble with hearing aids and the background noise and don't even end up wearing them, unfortunately. I'm sure it is isolating but not sure what can be done. I would give it a try.

RitaDenise, when my own Mom was in her 90's, was told by audiologist that her hearing could no longer be corrected with hearing aids. But my Mom was determine to find a hearing aid that would get her hearing back.

Thousands of dollars later, and running all over God's creation, she never found a hearing aid that would give her that type of hearing. Mom could hear some things while in the audiologist's office, but the next day nothing. It was human error as Mom kept messing with the control buttons, etc. Honestly, she might have done better using an old fashioned "ear horn".

Thus my Mom was pretty much deaf. And any time the nurse tried to clean Mom's ears using that hot water solution but Mom would have the nurse stop. Thus, Mom's ears never got completely clean. Too much ear wax can block the canal.

And Mom didn't want to interact with new people. She always had this confused look on her face as she was trying to figure out what the person was saying. And when she would start talking, it wasn't the subject at hand. Many times I had to let people know that Mom wasn't dealing with dementia [not that there is anything wrong if she was], she just couldn't hear.

Take her to an ENT specialist. The office will be able to clean her ears thoroughly wizthout the water solution and do a much better cleaning. The office generally has an affiliated certified audiologist to do the testing. Audiologist can recommend the type and style of hearing aid that will be best.

Hate to be a downer but the elderly do not do well with hearing aides. The little wheels used for turning on and volume are hard for them to master. My DH has been extremely hard of hearing and never could get his 90 yr old Aunt to understand how to use a hearing aid and she didn't have a Dementia.

To do the testing Mom needs to be able to take instruction. They use sound and ask the person to tell them when they hear the sound. Then its repeating words back. Dementia can effect hearing and eyesight too. Then its adjusting the digital aides. Mom would have to be able to tell if the sound was loud enough. Words clear enough.

If Mom becomes deaf there is not much that can be done. With Dementia there is no way she could learn the simplest signs in sign language.

There are so many hearing aids and they cost thousands of dollars and the technology is obsolete in less than a year.

I would not buy them from the audiologist, huge mark ups. my husband has the hardest time with all the adjustments and he isn't dealing with other challenges. You can buy ones that are more of an amplifier.

We are going to try MDHearingAid when he needs new ones.

They give you a free trial and cost less than 200.00.

www.TryMDHearingAid200.com

1-800-846-0408

Use offer code HY38 to get free batteries.

Hopefully she will not go completely deaf and something will help improve her hearing.

If she has lost her hearing gradually, she probably reads lips without even being aware she does it. Try it and see, stand in front of her and say something, then get out of her line of vision and say something. Her understanding will tell you if she is doing this.

Let us know how it turns out.

I don't know sometime if she doesn't understand what I am saying if it is due to dementia or just not hearing. sometimes after I get her to paid better attention, it seems like she understood me.
Its especially difficult with her as I think she has been confused most of her life. I am aware that she has never had a time-line, she would talk about events as if they were yesterday not 10-20 years ago.

She has the 1 piece hearing aids that fit in the ears. She has been saying the left one hurts and is too large.

My brother, unfortunately, took her to a new place to get these hearing aids. I want him to deal with the outcome. Of course, it is now been a bit of time, maybe even a year since she got them.

I think he doesn't want to take her there is she is into blaming the woman for making it incorrectly and is loud with us about it.

I don't want to have to deal with this, but I might have to as my brother has serious issues of his own.

and to continue, he says the new place will not/cannot adjust the hearing aids, she would need new ones - Heck I say, spend the money!!!!

Did she ever go back for follow up appointments? I know that the fit for mom's HA had to be tweaked a little, and they also did hearing checks and could change the settings if needed.

This may be stating the obvious but are you sure the HA is working properly> Is the battery fresh? Are the wax guards free of build up? (If it is working it should squeal when you cup it in your hand)

next time I go there, I will have to check them out. I have the over the ear hearing aids and I am not sure that she would like this type any better. there is a tiny piece that fits inside the ear and I would be willing to bet, it would drive her crazy.

Another thing...the mold maybe too large. See if the audiologist can trim it down. They just did that to my husbands new mold.

In my husbands case, he was able to go back to have his hearing aide tweeked. He got 10 pks of hearing aides for free. My husband didn't like the in ear ones because he sweats and they would short out before he was able to get another set. His insurance pays for new ones every three years. He still has his analog over the ear and the one he wears now is just 3 yrs old and still OK. He has it looked at once a year. Molds shrink so you tend to get buzzing. Tubing can need replacing but you don't need a whole knew hearing aide. The aides come with tools to keep then cleaned up. Really, a little tiny ball of wax in the tubing can cause problems. DH was given a little rubber thing that sucks the wax out.