@samssa - you mean you could try In The Canal hearing aids? That's what I have for headphone listening; these are not OTC. I used to buy $6K - $8K hearing aids from various manufacturers, including Widex, and I'm just as happy with the $1500 Jabras from Costco. My local Costco also has a very experienced audiologist; some others, not so much.
Sudden Hearing Loss and Impact on Music Enjoyment
This post is partly a cautionary tale and partly me looking for advice from fellow audiophiles who might have been through something similar.
At the end of January this year, I had a sinus infection that seemed to affect my left ear. One morning I woke up and noticed that my ear felt muffled and my hearing wasn’t quite right. At first, I assumed it was just my sinuses acting up. I tried wax-removal drops and even did some irrigation, but nothing improved. My doctor then prescribed a course of steroids, thinking it might be related to fluid buildup.
Unfortunately, things got worse. I gradually lost almost all hearing in that ear, and there was a lot of distortion as well.
I eventually saw an ENT specialist and an audiologist, and that’s when I learned that this was most likely Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL). Apparently, if the correct treatment is started within about 72 hours, there’s a chance the hearing can be saved. After that short window closes, the loss is often permanent. I really wish I had known that earlier when I first contacted my doctor.
So if anyone reading this ever experiences sudden changes in hearing, please don’t wait—get to an ENT immediately. The treatment window is extremely short.
Now that I’m starting to come to terms with this, I’ve begun researching options like hearing aids and cochlear implants. That leads me to my question for anyone here who has experience with either.
As audiophiles, we tend to listen to music a bit differently—we focus on details, tone, timbre, soundstage, and all those subtle nuances. For those of you using hearing aids or who have undergone cochlear implant surgery, how has it affected your ability to enjoy music? Does music sound very different? Were you able to reconnect with it in a meaningful way? As you can imagine, this is both stressful and sad that I won't be able to enjoy the one hobby that has become such an important part of my life.
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Feel free to share here, or send me a DM if you’d rather keep it private.
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You've received a number of useful suggestions. Having suffered from progressive hearing loss over the last 15 years or so, I have several suggestions. First, get a second opinion from an ENT at a renowned center. As an example, I got better advice from Massachusetts Eye and Ear, an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital and from the University of Rhode Island Speech and Hearing Center than from my local ENT and associated audiologist. There's no harm in doing this and it may clarify your options. Second, shopping for hearing aids is like shopping for audio speakers. They are all transducers of one sort or another. Try more than one. I had Widex hearing aids for several years and was pleased with them. Eventually they failed and the cost to repair them was excessive. I replaced them with Opticon units, which to me were better for the human voice, while the Widex were marginally better for music. Phonak is another highly regarded brand recommended by audiologists. And there's no harm to trying the Jabra or similar OTC units to save money. Act sooner rather than later. My Widex units failed slowly over several months and I took too long to realize the degradation. The audiologist at URI explained that the longer your auditory nerve and brain are not required to process frequencies, the longer it takes to relearn how to process them. My new hearing aids were too bright, too sibilant on voices to start. As several have noted, equalization can and will likely need to be changed over time. I have moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears in the frequencies at 2,000 Hz and above. Initially the audiologist set the hearing aids to fully resolve the loss shown in my hearing test. I couldn't tolerate the harshness and sibilance of those tones. She reduced the volume of the higher frequencies and over time I am having her raise them as my ability to process them improves. While there is equalization in the phone app for the hearing aids, it is only low, mid and high, which is not sufficiently detailed. The Oticon computer program the audiologist uses is far more detailed. I also used the equalization built into Roon to help. I wish you well in your effort to cope with the circumstances you face. It is not easy, but with patience and expert assistance you can hopefully recover a good deal of what you've lost. I enjoy music today and am thankful for the expert assistance and technology that has helped so much.
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@sameyers1 - Jabra OTC (or any other OTC) are not the same as the Jabras you get at Costco for $1500 (and which I currently happily use), where you have sessions with an audiologist who can fine tune and EQ them to close to your liking over a number of iterations. I also believe that the technology in these hearing aids is superior to that of OTC's. The current Jabra hearing aids are the previous year's TOTL made by GN, who make ReSound and Beltone hearing aids, among others. I used to go to non-Costco audiologists and paid $6K for hearing aids; the main benefit was the ease in getting an appointment for followups. |
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