Severe hearing loss. My father's hearing aids don’t seem to help, they only add to frustration. How do we deal with tv and phone?

I have hearing loss and have dealt with difficulty hearing television for the last couple of decades.

I had TV Ears at one point but found them to be both uncomfortable and unreliable.

But then I found Sennheiser.

Sennheiser makes amazing headsets for television. They have an older discontinued model that’s still available with some retailers and can often be found for under $50. It’s the Sennheiser SET 840. I’ve been using one of these for a decade now. And just bought a second set for a second television.

My guy had these hearing aids he adjusted with his smart phone. He did well for a while, but they were frustrating. After the foster dog did in one of them he opted for the more old fashioned type and is happier with them.

I myself have little hearing in the right ear, but "enough". Or as I say to the doctor," I hear much more than I want to ".

Long and short of it, as a nurse, was I never saw a patient with a hearing aid he or she didn't have a problem with. They virtually used to whistle and sing A Capella. Like vacuum cleaners, it is so hard to find hearing aids one can love. I sure wish you luck. And if it happens I sure hope you post them here!

Try one more time. Go to Costco and get fitted for their Kirkland best. You have a long trial period (years) and can return them for a full refund. Suggest staying away from smart phones and the like. Have the Costco hearing specialist work their magic in the booth so when Dad comes home all he has to do is change the batteries every 5 days. Wishing you and Dad all the best.

My DH is 76 and has worn hearing aides since about 4 yrs old.

How long has Dad had his hearing aides? Has he been back for adjustments? When my husband has to switch to Digital from analog it was very hard. It was only a few years back we found out why. Analog sounds like the person who is talking, digital sound is more mechanical. My husbands hearing is caused by damage to the ear not hearing loss as we age. So this mechanical sound was not good for him. They found a digital one close to analog.

Digital hearing aid's volume is set by computer. So there is the baseline the person hears normally and then up or down but in a certain range. So, if that baseline needs to be adjusted so does the up and down. The analogs you could turn as high and low as needed. Not so with digital. They are set to go only so high or so low.

Then its the mold, does it fit right? They have had to shave some of my husbands off for the mold to fit comfortably. If he doesn't like the mold, there are little tubes that go in the ear.

Cleaning, little beads of wax can get caught in tubing. This will effect hearing. Wax in the ear too can cause problems. Seniors tend to want things immediate. Doesn't happen with these digital aids. Your need to go back to have things tweaked. My husband is deaf in one ear and maybe 20 or 30% in the other and that's with an aid in. If completely deaf, an aid will not help. TV he needs closed captioning. There are TV ears and headsets that can be used if he hears at all. Telephone, my husbands lights up when ringing. Dad may like the Captel that shows on a screen what the person at the other end is saying. The phone is free but u pay for the service.

Call your County Disabilities dept and see what is available for the deaf. But I suggest you take Dad back to his Audiologist to find out why his aids are not working for him.

My mom could never wear hearing aids(not exactly sure why). Her hearing has dropped significantly. To solve the tv problem we put a small speaker, a Wonderboom, by her chair. It seems to be working and I don’t get blasted out but by the volume.

For the last couple months we thought my 91 year old dad was losing his hearing. Turned out to be wax. Sooooo relieved. Just a thought.

I don' t know if anyone mentioned already....could you hook up the tv to bluetooth and he could wear earbuds?

also, there are call centers that can translate words into type so he could read messages on a phone (an old fashioned type phone, not a smartphone)
...I don't remember the names of any of them right off the top of my head.

Try a personal amplifier, i.e. Ultra Personal Sound Amplifier Duo Pack System, one example:

https://www.parentgiving.com/shop/williams-sound-pocketalker-ultra-personal-sound-amplifier-duo-pack-system-6796/p/13851/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=pmax&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwtWgBhDhARIsAEMcxeCWgypjcGBHBw4Bbwpr3JHQva-ubjqMZqe5cXFYFbxzKW77VIME-PEaAtJtEALw_wcB

My husband loves his TV Ears. They really work!

My understanding is that when someone waits too long to get hearing aids, they become unaccustomed to background noises they haven't heard for several years. The brain doesn't like all the "extra" noise and it makes using the aids difficult. People are advised to wear the aids for limited amounts of time at first and to keep increasing the amount of time until they can wear the aids as long as they need. My father was never able to wear his aids for longer than about 15 minutes, but maybe it had something to do with his vascular dementia starting.

I have hearing issues from childhood but since my speech was not effected doctors believe the problem started around age 5 when I had several ear infections and ruptured ear drums. I was taught lip reading in elementary school. Today when an audiologist tunes the volume perfectly (as part of most recent hearing test) I can correctly identify 89% of the words spoken. Because I can catch some words from lip reading and my mind is quick enough to interpret the "missing" words, I generally do okay, although if someone faces away from me while speaking I will probably ask them to repeat. I wear my hearing aids every single day from waking to midday (at least) and from after school to bedtime. I find the aids become uncomfortable in my ears after several hours. When I am alone I often turn the volume on the TV louder (about 20%) and when watching TV with the kids without the aids I turn on the closed captioning. I have found a simple hack can be helpful: a baby monitor placed close to the TV with the receiving monitor placed on a bedside table helps a lot when I don't want to wear the aids or have the TV loud. I have an electronic grand piano that I can wear headphones when playing where the "noise" is inconsiderate of others. Other times you may be blasted by the sounds from my 120+ year old vertical grand piano or my 60+ year old "modern" console or maybe even my antique pump organ... my mother used to love to listen to my playing, even practices.