BigStewMan Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 PRAISE GOD that my CAT scan and MRI both came back normal--no tumor in the brain or ear canal, no sign of vascular problem either. Getting that good news definately makes having to get a hearing aid in each ear seem trivial. Do any of you smart folks know what impact a hearing aid will have on the sound quality when I'm listening to tunes? I'm wondering if the music will sound artificial or will it sound the same and I just won't have to crank it up so loud? thank you everyone for your well wishes. Amy--please let me know if Klipsch Hearing Aids are in production Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Generally speaking, the traditional generic hearing aids amplify a narrow band signal in order to augment the intelligibiity of speech anywhere in the region of ~800-2500Hz, perhaps as high as 5000Hz. While yours may vary, I suspect that the general affect will be an apparent re-equalization of the sound. Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lo123 Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Check threads within the last month or two with inputs from CustomSteve (pretty sure) and DWI Lawyer trading experiences on high end hearing aids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 That's Great news Stew ....... Tumors are bad business....Hearing Aid seems good considering your choices......ROCK ON BIG STEW !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 That's Great news Stew ....... Tumors are bad business....Hearing Aid seems good considering your choices......ROCK ON BIG STEW !!!!!! Thanks again. I told my wife that instead of a little hearing aid stuck in my ear, I wanted one of those big old horn things that you hold up to your ear--the type you see in old movies. Not sure what they are called--but, they are "Horns." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted September 7, 2007 Moderators Share Posted September 7, 2007 Hey Steve, Glad that the tests came back normal. Definitely a relief! We could slap a Klipsch logo on the side of one of these contraptions for you, perhaps [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 We could slap a Klipsch logo on the side of one of these contraptions for you, perhaps [] Yeah, see if you can get one that looks like what Beethoven used in his later years. Poor guy! lo123 gave a great suggestion -- dwilawyer went into this very thoroughly, tried 3 different grades of a particular high-quality brand of hearing aid. I think he ended up with the highest grade because the frequency response could be tailored the most and would have been best for music. Back to Beethoven -- read his Heiligenstadt Testament, as agonized a cry of inner pain as one will ever see. It was written to his brothers, but there is doubt that they or anyone else ever read it during his lifetime. It was found in his belongings after his death. Selected passages: "Ah how could I possibly admit such an infirmity in the one sense which should have been more perfect in me than in others, a sense which I once possessed in highest perfection, a perfection such as few surely in my profession enjoy or have enjoyed " "what a humiliation when one stood beside me and heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard the shepherd singing and again I heard nothing, such incidents brought me to the verge of despair, but little more and I would have put an end to my life - only art it was that withheld me, ah it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce, and so I endured this wretched existence - truly wretched, an excitable body which a sudden change can throw from the best into the worst state - Patience - it is said that I must now choose for my guide," Beethoven apparently had an unsurpassed "mind's ear" for how to write for instruments and voices and how they would sound in combination, and he retained it to the end of his life -- as witnessed by his Ninth Symphony and last quartets, written almost twenty years after the Testament marked the beginning of his not being able to hear what he wrote. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 Hey Steve, Glad that the tests came back normal. Definitely a relief! We could slap a Klipsch logo on the side of one of these contraptions for you, perhaps [] That is great! When I opened that link and saw exactly was I talking about--an ear trumpet (now I know what they are called) I had a good laugh. Good enough for Grandpa--Good enough for me. The best part will be getting the hearing aids and NOT telling my co-workers then being able to hear what they are "really" saying about me. Maybe it will be like that commercial for the "miracle ear" or whatever it is called. The guy is working out at the gym and two ladies are on the opposite side of the gym saying, "look at that guy. he looks like he takes real good care of himself" unbeknownst to them that he can now hear what they're saying. yeah, it will be just like that for me (my wife disagrees). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 You might want to try the new 4 channel Zoom H2 handheld recorder ($200.00). The earphones just hang on your ear lobes without the jamo-jamo stuff. Mom grabbed mine and I can't get it back. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 What is the nature of your hearing problems that would have caused someone to conduct those types of scans? Have you had an audiology exam? That's the one where they stick you in the booth and send tones to you, etc..... They should have been able to rule out a number of pathologies with those scans including multiple sclerosis. MS can impact just the senses (vision, hearing) as an initial presentation. But the changes are usually very profound like a total loss of hearing, or sight or grossly impaired functions of either. They can present unilateral (one sided) also. Hearing assessments are usually just an audiology test and away you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 What is the nature of your hearing problems that would have caused someone to conduct those types of scans? Have you had an audiology exam? That's the one where they stick you in the booth and send tones to you, etc..... They should have been able to rule out a number of pathologies with those scans including multiple sclerosis. MS can impact just the senses (vision, hearing) as an initial presentation. But the changes are usually very profound like a total loss of hearing, or sight or grossly impaired functions of either. They can present unilateral (one sided) also. Hearing assessments are usually just an audiology test and away you go. I am having bilateral hearing loss and pulsatile tinnitus. I sat in the booth and heard (or didn't hear) the tones, had speech recognition tests, and Acoustic immitance testing (tympanometry and acoustic reflex testing). This 2- to 3-minute test measures how well the middle ear relays sound. The ENT said that my hearing in both ears was below the "serviceable" hearing range. Because the tympanometry revealed that too much sound wasn't making it to the eardrum, he did a CAT Scan to see what could be the cause of the interference That test came back normal; however, because of the pulsatile tinninus (loud whooshing sound plus very loud ringing in my ears) he wanted an MRI--among the things they were looking for were tumors or vascular irregularities. He also did this test with a tuning fork where he struck the fork and put it against the bone over my eyes. I could only hear the sound in my right ear, which made sense to him because he said the sound would be more pronounced in an area where there was more bone mass. I must have some bone calcification going on--and I'm only 47. When the volume was increased on the hearing tests, I was able to identify all spoken words and sounds. So, time for the Klipsch Ear Trumpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 From what I read the hearing loss is bilateral and level across all frequencies and you suffer tinnitus artifact in both ears. You state that "not too much sound wasn't making it to the eardrum". Of course the eardrum is the external element that mechanically translates motion to the inner ear which translates that into nerve signal. What could be impairing the motion of the eardrum or are sound waves actually not arriving at the eardrum? Inner ear infections can impair eardrums because they pressurize the middle ear with fluid and limit eardrum excursion from the inside. They put tubes in to drain the fluid and that helps with both. Eardrums can get scarred from prior infections, ruptures or acoustic damage. Scarred eardrums don't work well either. How are your eustachian tubes, the pathways that communicate from your nasopharynx to the middle ear? If they get plugged the middle ear becomes barometrically isolated. Soon the air that is trapped there has all its oxygen consumed by the surrounding tissues and a small vacuum actually develops in the middle ear. This pulls the eardrum in and limits its excursion and it also can cause that whooshing sound you describe. We have all experienced clearing the middle ear via these tubes when we go through abrupt changes in altitude (barometric pressure changes). A little positive back pressure usually will open one up that's slightly plugged. When they open the level of hearing is immediately and greatly improved. Have you had an upper respiratory infection recently? If your tubes are plugged you can try this. Get some Clariton "D". This is a very good antihistamine that won't make you drowsy and the "D" part is real pseudophedrine. It is sold over the counter but you'll have to request it at the store because of the ephedrine. The speed freaks buy it and make speed so now it's regulated and you'll need to show ID to buy it. The combination of the 2 make a good decongestant and may open your tubes, if they're blocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 OSCARSEAR--I think the ENT said he thinks I have Otosclerosis. I do have some pressure in the ears and have plugged my nose and blew (only momentary relief). The ENT said that my ear drum and canal looks perfectly fine. I have not had as much as a cold in over six years. I am getting a root canal in two weeks on a lower back molar. That tooth starting hurting real bad and when it hurts, i also get some pain in that ear. Don't know if that could cause this pressure feeling or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customsteve01 Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 Steve, Here is the thread I started about my hearing loss. I need to do some updateing to it but since your on right now take a look. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/900879.aspx Alsohere is the aids I have now and they work rrrreeeaaaalllllllyyyyy well. I also do have the streamer. I will go into more detail on that too. http://www.oticonusa.com/Oticon/Professionals/professional_products/Epoq.html Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 I did a little googling, came up with this: http://ezinearticles.com/?Pulsatile-Tinnitus---What-Causes-This-Tinnitus-Type?&id=442557 No doubt reflecting my basic ignorance in this subject, I couldn't understand why pulsatile tinnitus is being accompanied by hearing loss, unless it's a compromised blood supply. I truly hope a cause is found that can be corrected! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 OSCARSEAR--I think the ENT said he thinks I have Otosclerosis. I do have some pressure in the ears and have plugged my nose and blew (only momentary relief). The ENT said that my ear drum and canal looks perfectly fine. I have not had as much as a cold in over six years. I am getting a root canal in two weeks on a lower back molar. That tooth starting hurting real bad and when it hurts, i also get some pain in that ear. Don't know if that could cause this pressure feeling or not. The diagnosis of otosclerosis is likely correct. It presents exactly as you describe and tested. It is thought to be hereditary. If it is nominal the hearing aid is the treatment. If severe they can do surgery. But, if you do obtain some relief by clearing your eustachian tubes then they also are contributing to the problem. You can try the Clariton "D" and see if they remain open more easily. Yes, the tooth irritation or any inflammation in that area of the throat or the nasal pharynx can plug up a tube. Root canal....bummer. Hope things go well with everything. Getting old is a bit**. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 Steve, Here is the thread I started about my hearing loss. I need to do some updateing to it but since your on right now take a look. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/900879.aspx Alsohere is the aids I have now and they work rrrreeeaaaalllllllyyyyy well. I also do have the streamer. I will go into more detail on that too. http://www.oticonusa.com/Oticon/Professionals/professional_products/Epoq.html Steve Thanks for the info. Those things are pretty high-tech--amazing. I was very upset to learn that with two separate medical insurance plans, neither covers hearing aids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customsteve01 Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Steve, I'm with you on rhe insurance deal. I got lucky and mine covered $1000.00 ever three years. I paid $5,000.00 for the Deltas and the upgrade to the Epoq's was free (thankfully) I believe the ones I got with the streamer retail for around $9,000.00. OH, by the way you will find out that we live in a very noisy world. Good luck on your decision on what aids to get, I just sort of left it up to my audiologist to tell me what she thoughwas best for the type of loss that I have. I don't know if that was the best thing to do but I am happy with what I ended up with. If you want, shoot me your phone number in a PM would be glad to give you alittle more details if you want. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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