Some audiologists have equipment that tests if the patient is really processing what is said. It is inserted at each ear and a vibrating sound is heard, so it is not invasive. Part of owning hearing aids also includes changing out parts and an awareness that the wax guards are plugged up
my mother is extremely hearing impaired. Right now she has an ear infection and wax buildup that an ENT will need to wash out and is not wearing her hearing aids. I’m not even sure how much they help these days.
My mother has an iPad, we carried a full on conversation yesterday despite her not having her hearing aids in. She asked questions and I texted the answers back. It worked really well. I think I am going to continue doing this. It’s easier than shouting and her reading lips. And by doing this I am sure she knows what I actually said.
There are voice amplifiers. Teachers use them all the time or anyone else who speaks in front of large groups. They are sold on Amazon for a reasonable price.
I wish that I had tried an amplifier when my mom was living. It would have saved me from screaming so much.
My mom had awful wax buildup in her ears. I had to clean out the buildup on a weekly basis for her to somewhat hear.
Wishing you all the best. It’s a frustrating issue. There were times when I was exhausted from yelling and would write messages for mom to read.
My mother did get pretty good at lip reading. If I faced her and spoke slowly she could read my lips. If I turned my head the other way she would get upset because she couldn’t hear nor read my lips.
My MIL has had hearing loss since I’ve known her. Over the years she’s had repeated evaluations and numerous sets of hearing aids, some quite expensive, all resulting in the title of this post, she says they don’t work. The family has given up. Most of us refuse to yell, my FIL acts as her informer on what’s been said. It’s sad that she’s missing out so much. I hope you can find a solution, just know for a few, it’s unsolvable
My DH got the most techie expensive aids on the market. ($6K+).
He refuses to wear them.
Kids ask me all the time if dad is showing early signs of dementia. Nope, he can't hear. It does make him look 'checked out'.
A lot of friends wear the Costco ones and love them. Plus they can have Costco check and clean them while you're there anyway. With the pricey ones, he has to make an appt and go and he's not going to do that.
I just talk extremely loud and when we're with a group, he kind of checks out.
A lot of hills I'm willing to die on, the hearing aid one? Nope, not going there. He misses 75% of what's being said.
My DH is 76 and has worn hearing aides since he was 5. He has adjusted to all the new stuff and he is computer illiterate.
If the aides are new, you always have to go back for a tweek. I sat in on one of my husbands sessions. He went from analog to digital and never liked the digital. We had a new provider and she explained why he did not like digital. Because analog you heard the persons actual voice, digital its more mechanical and takes the brain a couple of weeks to get used to.
Another thing is, they do need cleaning. A small piece of wax in the tubing can keep the person from hearing. A tube not fitting correctly or a mold not fitting correctly can effect the hearing. Batteries die. Wax in her ears will cause a problem. If the aids are older, she may have lost some of her hearing and they need to be adjusted. When digitals are adjusted, its only for so high and so low. If Moms hearing has worsened, this levels will need adjusting.
Make an appointment with her Audiologist and see what the problem is. If Dementia is involved, it may be part of the problem.
@Alvadeer - this is for you: My LO's hearing aids are great and work well. He bought them at Costco and the brand is Bernafon. They instructed how to use them. Not difficult. Can't even see that he's wearing them because the earpiece behind the ear is small and slender, and a clear plastic wire runs into his ear where the little knob that delivers sound sits in his ear canal. He has to touch them to find out if he's wearing them
His smartphone has a control and alerts when battery is about to run out. Volume adjusts from smart phone, and it also automatically adjusts volume for various conditions, such as In a Group, Watching TV, etc. He hears phone calls directly through his hearing aids, and that works well.
I am the one who maintains them. I don't much like it, but he can't do it anymore. The smartphone makes it possible for me to know when to change the batteries before they are dead. Also I can control the volume from his phone when it seems he isn't hearing well enough.
His doctor instructed that he must have the best hearing aids money can buy in order to avoid loss of cognition. He has that.
Check that the wax guards aren't plugged. And that she is able to charge them properly (or insert the batteries properly if they have those) Also she may need her ears checked for wax too, the ear canals of people who wear HA's tend to plug up easily.
There is a lot to be said about just cleaning them. I just went through that with my husband after taking them back to Costco when they didn’t work only to be told they just cleaned them. So now I make sure they are cleaned and so far problem solved.
Like vacuum cleaners, hoses, some other things, it is difficult to hear someone say "I have just the BEST hearing aids". The new ones are quite sophisticated, but they demand a 19 year old techie to deal with adjusting them and cost a mint when they get flushed down the toilet. The old ones are what they are and we all know about them. Hearing is such a delicate process. I hope someone will come here and say "I LOVE my hearing aids" and tell us the brand, but I doubt it. As an 81 year old with quite limited hearing in my right ear I continue to avoid aids by telling my doc "I hear a good deal more than I want to". My partner, 83, has had all sorts and has gone from expensive/sophisticated backward to "less sophisticated", and has come to a sort of peace with them, wears them mostly to watch TV or do computer work. So there's a good deal of "W-h-a-t????" that goes on here. Alas.
Wish you good luck. IF you find a magic wand do let us know.
Very often when people get hearing aids after not being able to hear for so long they feel like they don't work. My grandmother was told that essentially people with hearing loss that is being corrected by hearing aids basically need to relearn words because it has been so long since they have heard them properly. In addition to which - often hearing aids need to be tweaked so that they aren't wide open - so if they are- they also really can't hear what YOU are saying if they can hear what EVERYONE around you is also saying, what is on the tv, every noise outside, every noise in the house, etc. Hearing aids can be tweaked to narrow down or adjust based on the environment so that they can exclude external noises and avoid that.
So my advice - try to narrow down what exactly she means. Can she literally hear nothing? Do they hurt her ears? Are they muffled? Does she hear too much? There may be things her doctor can do to help adjust them to work better.
But at the end of the day - my grandmother was told the more you wear them - the better they work. If you just throw them in on occasion - you aren't going to get a lot of benefit out of them, because your body isn't acclimated to them and doesn't respond very well to them and has to adjust every single time like it is the first time.
My daddy would not wear his either. I would put them in every morning and by mid morning they were out. I would put them back in and he would complain that they didn't work. I also had them on a lanyard so they would not get lost. He would just take them out and they would just dangle around his neck. All I know about hearing aids is that they magnify ALL sounds it does not soften sounds as we can do with our own hearing. Ex: when we are listening to the radio we focus on that yet a mower can be heard softly in the back ground. With hearing aids all sounds are the same level. This is what I understand but I have never used hearing aids. blessings
My mother has an iPad, we carried a full on conversation yesterday despite her not having her hearing aids in. She asked questions and I texted the answers back. It worked really well. I think I am going to continue doing this. It’s easier than shouting and her reading lips. And by doing this I am sure she knows what I actually said.
I wish that I had tried an amplifier when my mom was living. It would have saved me from screaming so much.
My mom had awful wax buildup in her ears. I had to clean out the buildup on a weekly basis for her to somewhat hear.
Wishing you all the best. It’s a frustrating issue. There were times when I was exhausted from yelling and would write messages for mom to read.
My mother did get pretty good at lip reading. If I faced her and spoke slowly she could read my lips. If I turned my head the other way she would get upset because she couldn’t hear nor read my lips.
He refuses to wear them.
Kids ask me all the time if dad is showing early signs of dementia. Nope, he can't hear. It does make him look 'checked out'.
A lot of friends wear the Costco ones and love them. Plus they can have Costco check and clean them while you're there anyway. With the pricey ones, he has to make an appt and go and he's not going to do that.
I just talk extremely loud and when we're with a group, he kind of checks out.
A lot of hills I'm willing to die on, the hearing aid one? Nope, not going there. He misses 75% of what's being said.
If the aides are new, you always have to go back for a tweek. I sat in on one of my husbands sessions. He went from analog to digital and never liked the digital. We had a new provider and she explained why he did not like digital. Because analog you heard the persons actual voice, digital its more mechanical and takes the brain a couple of weeks to get used to.
Another thing is, they do need cleaning. A small piece of wax in the tubing can keep the person from hearing. A tube not fitting correctly or a mold not fitting correctly can effect the hearing. Batteries die. Wax in her ears will cause a problem. If the aids are older, she may have lost some of her hearing and they need to be adjusted. When digitals are adjusted, its only for so high and so low. If Moms hearing has worsened, this levels will need adjusting.
Make an appointment with her Audiologist and see what the problem is. If Dementia is involved, it may be part of the problem.
His smartphone has a control and alerts when battery is about to run out. Volume adjusts from smart phone, and it also automatically adjusts volume for various conditions, such as In a Group, Watching TV, etc. He hears phone calls directly through his hearing aids, and that works well.
I am the one who maintains them. I don't much like it, but he can't do it anymore. The smartphone makes it possible for me to know when to change the batteries before they are dead. Also I can control the volume from his phone when it seems he isn't hearing well enough.
His doctor instructed that he must have the best hearing aids money can buy in order to avoid loss of cognition. He has that.
Also she may need her ears checked for wax too, the ear canals of people who wear HA's tend to plug up easily.
Wish you good luck. IF you find a magic wand do let us know.
So my advice - try to narrow down what exactly she means. Can she literally hear nothing? Do they hurt her ears? Are they muffled? Does she hear too much? There may be things her doctor can do to help adjust them to work better.
But at the end of the day - my grandmother was told the more you wear them - the better they work. If you just throw them in on occasion - you aren't going to get a lot of benefit out of them, because your body isn't acclimated to them and doesn't respond very well to them and has to adjust every single time like it is the first time.