As of this moment, I've had over 430 unique visitors to this site. It’s great to see all of you stopping by whether lurking or posting comments. It's exceeded my expectations. Feel free to leave me some feedback or send me questions and I’ll try to get you a quick reply. Since I’m visiting with my Audiologist Wednesday, this is a good time for the hard questions that I can pass on to her.
I’m still planning on getting a final summary put together in the next few days for those visitors looking for a quick and consolidated review of my experience with the Lyrics.Best regards.
Dane
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13 comments:
Hi Dane,Great blog! I have a couple of questions, first, how are these working out on the phone? Do you find your having to adjust the volume on the phone a lot and does the sound quality sound mechanical like you mentioned it did with ear phones? Second, you mentioned occlusion on your first day, do you still feel occluded? Thanks, Tom
Hi Tom. Thanks for the feedback and questions.
Phone use has been great with the Lyrics. Instead of having to "acoustically couple" the phone to the microphone on my BTE's, these work like your normal ear. It took me a few days to get used to holding the phone over my ear again instead of above my ear though. I even have my cell phone turned down a couple of notches over max and still hear great. Sound quality has been excellent with no mechanical type sound. I think my comprehension is a little better as well.
Occlusion is a different animal though. There are several attributes to the occlusion, some better than others. I'm not audiologist, so I hope I'm using the right terms.
I got over the plugged up feeling in just a couple of days. I'm not sure if you wear hearing aids or not, but it was a similar experience to when I first got hearings aids several years ago. Your voice sounds a little different, etc. Again, this went away for me after just a few days and is not an issue for me at all.
The other attribute of occlusion for me is the kind of thumping, hollow sound you get as you walk around or chew food. You can experience this to a much larger degree if you just put earplugs in and walk around the house or eat something crunchy. The Lyrics aren't nearly that bad though. In my experience, all hearing aids generate this to some degree, but I think the Lyrics amplify this issue a little more due to the fact that they truly are an ear plug whereas others have some venting options.
99% of the time, I don't even notice this issue. But once in a while I'll be walking around on a hard surface when it is really quiet and I'll notice it. Same thing when I'm chewing something and my daughter will say something and I'll completely miss it.
It's a little bit of a trade off for sure, but the occlusion is also a side effect of what really makes the Lyrics great.
The 30 day trial is a good thing in this case as it is sufficient time to adjust and see if it is going to be a problem for you or not.
HTH
Dane
Thanks for the detailed reply Dane, very helpful. My first HA’s where CIC and the occlusion effect drove me nuts. Now I have open fit BTE with very little occlusion, but my problem now is sweat keeps killing them. I’ve tried sweat covers, but they make the sound muffled. I never had a problem with my CIC’s and sweat, so it seems like the Lyrics would solve the sweat problem plus provide enhanced telephone usage. I just dread having to get used to a new set of HA’s, it creates a lot of stress. BTW, did you ever use the removal tool? Thanks, Tom
Tom,
Have you tried the Ear Gear neoprene covers for your BTE's? I finally got a pair for mine this year and they are awesome! www.gearforears.com These are far superior to the Hearing Aid Sweatbands if that is what you have used. They're not perfect and I was able to eventually soak them, but they worked great for most of my regular outdoor activities.
I did get to try the removal tool during my last visit, (which I still need to get posted on). We were replacing my right one and I asked if I could practice using the tool. It took me less than a minute to get the hang of grabbing the little wire loops and getting them pulled out. Very easy and no discomfort at all.
With regards to the occlusion concerns, I'd say that the only way to really know if it is a problem is to try them out. It can be frustrating at times during the initial transition, but I was amazed how fast it went.
Hi Dane,
I searched and searched to find a log of someone who had the lyric hearing aid. I literally just got it today. It is the first hearing aid I've ever had and it feels VERY weird in my ear and all plugged up. I read one of your comments saying that you get over the plugged up feeling in a couple days...I was just wondering if there is something different with mine or if this is something that I should just ride out? Also, I went to a crowded and noisy restaurant right after and experienced a very weird thing happen when I spoke. My voice was all muffled; yet my friend's voice was crystal clear and he said my voice sounded fine. Given that you bought the lyric and seems as if you love it, I would so appreciate your advice.
Cheers,
Elisa
Hi Elisa. Glad you found my blog.
The plugged up feeling for me lasted a few days and pretty much went away over time. I'd just try to ride it out at this point and see how long it takes your brain to get used to the sound. Hopefully it won't take too long.
The muffled speech may seem a little odd, but in my experience it's normal. When you get into those really noisy environments, hearing aids basically try to turn down the volume on things so that they don't seem as loud. As they try to filter out the background noise, they invariably filter out some sounds you're used to such as your own voice.
On a more technical note, I think that this would be one advantage if the Lyric could move to a digital chip over the analog where it should be able to turn down more discrete frequencies instead of broad ones that also affect speech. My old Phonak Savia's did a better job of this because they could turn down some background noise without turning down or muffling the speech.
I hope this answers you questions. Feel free to follow-up with more and good luck with your trial.
Regards,
Dane
Hi Dane,
Thank you very much for writing back to me. I have a feeling adjusting to this will be a long path for me - not only having something in my ear but also all the differences that now will be happening in my life. No one told me (and I didn't ask nor do the research prior to getting the Lryic) that having a hearing aid would amplify my own voice in quiet situations and muffle it in noisy situations. This is certainly going to take some time for me to get used to. I feel as if I have a cold when I'm at a restaurant or bar! From your comment, I'm not sure if that "muffle sound" that I'm experiencing will go away or will I just learn that in those situations my voice will sound much softer? I have so many questions about this new lifestyle and am trying hard to see this as a positive change and one that will enhance my life...however, my life as I know it has fundamentally changed and having this thing in my ear that I can feel (and yes, the ear plug feeling hasn't gone away yet...but I did switch sizes so perhaps that will take some me some time to get used to) is that constant reminder. Appreciate reading your story - it is very inspiring.
Elisa
Hi Dane and All, I just went to check out the aids but did not yet commit... I'm a former Rock and roll drummer, but strangely enough, my cookie bite loss is hereditary, not from exposure to noise..
I have the same concerns that many have.. mostly, will it hurt when I first start hearing with it. and will the sound sound tiny, or uncomfortable.. there were some posts from people that never had aids before, and I was wondering after their trail date, how they did..I would be curious to know if anybody heard back from Elisa... I'd love to hear more of her story..
Dane, what you have stated here is wonderful.. your a good man..
ps, I see you like to rip it up in the mud with some quads and dirt bikes.. a man after my own muddy heart..
a quick question for you.. in your opinion.. have you heard if having these aids so close to your ear drums can cause more of a hearing loss.. and hurt you even more???
and have most on here that you have talked to.. who were first time users, who weren't comfortable at first, well, did they find their way and now happy??
I'm in a strange place.. I need something as "just pulling it off" has become very hard.. and being single in NYC. makes it hard as well with being in the bars, and the noise of the traffic.. I'm excited but very nervous at the same time...
any guidance would be huge...
so, thanks in advance...
my very best,
Danny
Hey Danny.
Welcome to the blog. I'm glad to hear that it has been useful. I haven't heard back from Elisa, so hopefully she's doing well. I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can.
1. Will it hurt? Yes. If you are used to wearing hearing aids already, you'll probably not notice anything. But getting used to a device in your ear takes probably a week for most people from what I can tell if you haven't ever worn hearing aids. One other difference seems to be if you are a side sleeper. Expect some discomfort for the first few nights. Remember, Advil is your friend!
2. Will it sound tiny or uncomfortable? Things just sound different, not bad. You'll be amazed how much your brain processes the new sounds and eventually maps them back to the familiar ones. I'm assuming with your background that you're a music lover and be prepared for things to sound a little different in that area at first. Shoot me an email if you want so examples or help in that area as I'm not sure everyone wants to hear us discuss the nuances of compression in Album mastering :)
3. Do these damage your ears further being so close? That's a big debate there in the industry in general. I worried a lot about it when I first started thinking I wanted to protect whatever I have left. My hearing loss continued to increase pretty dramatically for the first 3 or 4 years and has finally leveled off. It was pretty scary at the time, but pretty consistent with the other men in my family with the same genes. Now it's settled and hasn't changed in years. The bottom line was that the benefits were worth the risks. I can hear well today and I have a lot of faith in technology and medicine that it'll be able to keep up with any changes in my audiogram, even if I had to go to surgical implants.
Hopefully this helps out a little. Let me know if I can get you any additional info.
Oh, and as far as tearing it up in the dirt... let's go ride. Maybe we can start a deaf moto group!
Dane,
Great to hear back from you.. I've never posted on these types of places so wasn't sure I would hear back..
you said it's ok to email you?? how do I do that..
and thank you so much..
by the way, I talked to my ENT who is Also a very well respected surgeon at NY Presbyterian Hospital.. and he said that they won't make your hearing any worse.. so that was great to hear..
look forward to your response and THANK YOU.. if the others on here are like me.. and have never had Aids before, just the ability to talk to you and the others is amazingly comforting!!
so thank you again
Is the Lyric Hearing aid safe for patients that wear pacemakers? I am concerned about the magnet.
Hi Dane,
I just started my 30 day trial today. Thank you for your post about changing the lower end settings from 500 to 800 then finally to 1200. I may look into that as things progress because the road noise today was crazy.
I have started posting my experiences at my blog: http://boshearsbabble.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/lyric-log/
Thanks again for doing this
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