Re: help with new hearing aids

July 5, 2006

There is always some adjustment time to getting the aids. Just think how you

would like it if all of a sudden you had something stuck in your ear all the

time!

When my daughter first got them, we gradually worked our way into wearing

them. We would start with an hour and then took a break for nap time.

Eventually she got to a point where she didn't notice them and would keep them

in for most of the day.

It's also very cyclical. We're in a good cycle right now, where she is

keeping them in for most of the day. But then, there are weeks, where she takes

them out for most of the day...and you just have to let that be that...and try

again later that afternoon or the next day.

Congratulations! Remember to celebrate today as their " hearing birthday! "

Amy

Mom to Lucy, 14 months mild/moderate loss and 3 normal hearing

---------------------------------

Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates

starting at 1¢/min.

July 5, 2006

I believe that there is an adjustment period because of the the ear mold

being in the ear now and the sound being different to the child. Our son

wore them with no problems for the entire day the first two weeks, then he

began hiding them. Luckily he didn't know how to turn them off at first so

we would be searching around the house by listening to the feedback

(whistling). Once he put them into shoes, in the closet and closed the

closet door. We finally convinced him that he couldn't just hide them, he

had to give them to mom or dad when he took them out. He said he didn't

like them and they hurt. We think that he started processing noise and he

didn't like it. There were no indication of infections or any other reason

to say they hurt. But, we convinced him he had to wear them at school all

day and as soon as he got off the bus and in the house out they came and he

signed quite loudly that he didn't like them. It took us 3 years to get him

to wear them at home most of the day... now he wears them everyday most

waking hours whether at school or at home. He will have days at home that

he doesn't want them though.

this summer while working with the D/HOH class at our school. One of the

little girls (profound loss) kept turning her hearing aid off in one ear.

She said it wasn't working or it hurt. We figure she is finally processing

sound from that side and that she doesn't like it much. Her mom notices it

as well. She will always leave the other side alone.

I wish you luck and finding what works for your family and child in

establishing wearing of the hearing aids. And hope it doesn't take you as

long as it took us.

kim in FL (mom to three, two hearing and one profound/severe loss)

>From: nashcann96@...

>Reply-To: Listen-Up

>To: Listen-Up

>Subject: help with new hearing aids

>Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 16:38:28 EDT

>

>My children just got their hearing aids this morning and my 2 yr old keeps

>taking them out saying they hurt. Is this normal or is there something

>wrong

>with them? Is there a normal adjustment period?

>

> (http://www.tickercentral.com/)

>

July 5, 2006

I think, as with anything new, there is an adjustment period. A few months ago

I was at a parents meeting where they had a panel of young adults who answered

some of our questions. One parent did ask if new molds hurt and I remember one

of the young adults answering that the first week with new molds was

uncomfortable. But then she would get use to them and be fine.

Although we never had any problems when first started wearing aids at

almost 3, you may need to take a slower approach. Maybe start with them wearing

them for one hour, then increase it each day. Once they realize they can hear

more things, they may be prompted to wear them more. This is a suggestion I

usually see for younger toddlers, but when the aids are in, do fun noisy things.

Listen to music, dance, sing, etc and then when the aids are out, do quieter,

less enjoyable things like sorting socks (sorry it's late and it's all I could

come up with).

Hope that helps.

Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 3, hearing

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were

and ask why not. G.B Shaw

---------------------------------

Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.Try it free.

July 6, 2006

In a message dated 7/5/2006 4:39:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

nashcann96@... writes:

My children just got their hearing aids this morning and my 2 yr old keeps

taking them out saying they hurt. Is this normal or is there something wrong

with them? Is there a normal adjustment period?

Yes, there is definitely a period of adjustment. Ian was older (almost 9)

when aided. He started out by wearing his for a few hours at a time and

increased that until he had them in all day. He was actually impatient to be

able to

wear them every waking moment -- he loves his aids. However, his ears did

get tired and pink when he first got them. I think it was from him pushing at

the ear mold and wiggling it around, not because it didn't fit properly. He

was just not use to having something stuck in his ear.

As for the " it hurts " part, that depends on if they really do hurt. They

shouldn't. When my kids were little like yours, they use to say their seat

belts

" hurt " because they wanted me to take them off. They didn't hurt at all,

they were in child seats with harnesses and they couldn't get out of them on

their own -- so they claimed to be in pain. At first I'd unbuckle and make sure

nothing was pinching them. There wasn't. Smart little devils. (grin)

And their sneakers " hurt " because they preferred to go barefoot (still do).

And my favorite, my daughter would take out barrettes claiming her hair

hurt, when in fact she was mad because she couldn't see the pretty barrettes.

(A

little hand mirror solved that one.)

So, my question would be, do the aids really hurt? Is his ear getting red or

pink from some part of the ear mold rubbing? Take a pen light and look into

the ear canal. See if there is irritation. Is he playing with the BTE part

and scratched his ear? Take a look for things that actually would hurt, and if

there's nothing, I'd chalk it up to getting use to wearing something new.

But remember that these things should NOT actually hurt. They shouldn't rub

and cause a raw spot. Our kids are not supposed to build up calluses on their

ears. If the molds seem a bit rigid (Ian's first molds were quite rigid) then

you can get them re-made in a softer material. We did because those first

one molds were actually rubbing just a bit. He, of course, made it worse by

playing with them. But unlike other kids in that situation, Ian wanted to keep

his aids in so he wasn't lobbying to take them out..

I can't imagine I'd have an easy time getting use to aids. When I first got

my glasses (at 14), they drove me nuts. I imagine hearing aids would be much

the same.

Best -- Jill

July 6, 2006

My apologies -- I was referring to the actual physical hearing aid and mold

-- not the sound sent into the ear. We have never had an issue with

recruitment because Ian has a conductive loss and it's not an issue with his

type of

loss. (From the article cited: " First, recruitment is always a by-product of a

sensorineural hearing loss. If you do not have a sensorineural hearing loss,

you cannot have recruitment. " )

However, I've always understood addressing recruitment to be an issue of

getting the settings adjusted appropriately. From what I've been told, it is why

they start with lower settings and turn them up gradually for the younger

kids. This sounds like an issue that only the audiologist can address or

confirm. (again from the article: When the compression is adjusted properly for

our

ears, these hearing aids can do a remarkable job of compensating for our

recruitment problems.)

I asked our audi why they did not go through those slower adjustment stages

for Ian's aids and the answer was that for his type of loss the solution is

the power to push the sound past his malfunctioning middle ear, not fine tuning

the settings.

Parents who've had this experience, please chime in since my experience is

only anecdotal -- I've been told about this but never dealt with it.

Janet: thanks for the link to the article ... it does a very good job of

explaining the issue! Much better than our audi did.

Best -- Jill

July 6, 2006

When Maggie was about 7 or 8 we tried to get my dad to wear hearing aids. Got

him to the audiologist and even gave him Maggie's first aids. We overheard her

telling him that when you first get hearing aids it feels like you stuck bubble

gum in both ears but you get used to it! ( I think that is called the occlusion

effect). NOw that she is trialing the open fitting aids, they don't have the

occlusion effect and she doesn't like that! But the " no occlusion " effect is

what most baby boomers like about the new open fitting aids. Its why they are

selling like hotcakes.

It took us a week or two to get to the point where she would leave the aids in

all day. She was almost 4 when she got her first HAs. But even the first night

she asked for them at bedtime when we always read a story! So during the day if

she wanted to take them out, we'd read a few books and keep them in a little

longer!

July 6, 2006

Yes there is an adjustment time but they can also really hurt. But it is hard

to figure out which is going on with a young child. It could hurt because the

sound is too loud, it can feel like their ear is plugged up or the ear mold

could actually be causing some discomfort. We had to have earmolds remade

several times at the beginning because within a day or so you could see a red

spot where they were making it hurt. Start by figuring out if it is both aids

or just one in particular.

July 6, 2006

Hold on!

Hearing aids can hurt, but the reason could have nothing to do with earmolds.

There's a

condition called recruitment that is very real and quite common. See

http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/recruitment.htm

The hearing aids could need adjustment.

Janet

July 6, 2006

This is just what the lady from Beginnings told me. She said if Sydney

resists wearing her aids, do NOT let her cut up the TV or music. Tell her

she has aids for that, and it hurts the rest of the family's ears when the

TV is so loud. Even talk a little lower maybe. She will eventually see

that the aids are beneficial to her and not protest as much.

>

> I think, as with anything new, there is an adjustment period. A few

> months ago I was at a parents meeting where they had a panel of young adults

> who answered some of our questions. One parent did ask if new molds hurt and

> I remember one of the young adults answering that the first week with new

> molds was uncomfortable. But then she would get use to them and be fine.

>

> Although we never had any problems when first started wearing aids

> at almost 3, you may need to take a slower approach. Maybe start with them

> wearing them for one hour, then increase it each day. Once they realize they

> can hear more things, they may be prompted to wear them more. This is a

> suggestion I usually see for younger toddlers, but when the aids are in, do

> fun noisy things. Listen to music, dance, sing, etc and then when the aids

> are out, do quieter, less enjoyable things like sorting socks (sorry it's

> late and it's all I could come up with).

>

> Hope that helps.

>

> Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 3, hearing

>

> Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that

> never were and ask why not. G.B Shaw

>

> ---------------------------------

> Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.Try it free.

>

July 6, 2006

> do NOT let her cut up the TV or music. Tell her

> she has aids for that, and it hurts the rest of the family's ears

>when the TV is so loud. Even talk a little lower maybe. She will

>eventually see that the aids are beneficial to her and not protest >as

much.

>

I did the same thing with my son - I'd turn on his favorite video on

mute - then put in his aids, and turn up the sound - he eventually got

the hint, and kept them in.

My husband said I was being mean - but it worked!!

-

Mom of Miri - 7 1/2 - hearing

Abigail - 5 - hearing

- 2 1/2 - mild/moderate SNHL

July 6, 2006

Regarding recruitment and pain, etc.

My 9 year old is a new hearing aid wearer with both conductive and

sensineural (I know that is spelled wrong, but can't quite get it

right) Any hoo...When he first got his aids, he would literally

pull them out of his ears at cerain sounds. (His 3 year old brother

squealing, paper crumbling, pots and pans clanking) We had to go

back for fine tune adjusting quite a few times and it turns out that

his compression window is really quite small. I think it is a great

idea to start out with minimal amplification, especially if they are

complaining. The ear molds do take some getting used to. Checking

for sore spots is a great idea. We had to actually cut off the end

of my sons, as they were too long and irritating his ear (I did this

at home myself with the kitchen knife after I had waited for two

days for a call back and then found out it would be another 10 days

before we could get in for an appointment) The audiologist also has

a grinder in house that she uses to remove any irritating portions

of the earmold. (My modifications were approved later by the

audiologist, who was impressed with my inovative solution. ( I

would do anything to get the aids on my son))

The one thing to remember is that hearing aid fitting is not one

size fits all. (They (some audiologists) sort of like to imply that

it is!) They should be willing to work with you at finding what is

going to work for your child. If it is wearing them for an hour on

and then an hour off, until she is used to them, then great. If it

is having her wear them all day, and distract and reinforce, then

great. I think the point is to keep trying until you find the

method that works for her. And your audiologist should support your

efforts and keep working on trying different adjustments to see if

that helps.

I eventually found another pediatric audiologist that was closer to

home that would work with us on the adjustments, as the original one

that dispensed our hearing aids was 45 minutes one way and really

busy. This has worked fine for us.

Please feel free to ask any more questions. I will try to answer.

July 6, 2006

Thank you all for the feedback on the new hearing aids. It seems as if it is

a real hurting issue. We cant even get them to be in for 15 minutes without

her complaining. The audi purposely set hers lower than my son with the same

loss so that we could gradually increase the sound and make the adjustment

easier on her. I called the audiologist about it and he will see her next wed

to " smooth out " the part that seems to be bothering her. Thanks again!

July 6, 2006

Recruitment amplifies sound, which seems counter-intuitive for someone

with a hearing loss. People with recruitment cannot tolerate loudness

of sound past a certain point at a given frequency. This has no

relation to the loss of hearing at that frequency, so it is possible,

at a given frequency to have a very narrow window (or even none) of

tolerable sound. This is a difficult problem to resolve because many

kids are too young or unfamiliar with what things should sound like to

describe what's happening (beyond saying something like " it hurts " ),

and audiologists don't always think about it. Recruitment is more

common than people realize. There is no audiogram for recruitment, so

it doesn't have a programmable template. Also, it may flucuate.

Neal Beauman's article describes it well. Reminding an audiologist

about the possibility of recruitment is probably a good idea.

________________________________________________________________________

Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email

and IM. All on demand. Always Free.

July 6, 2006

Here's that article:

http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/?cat=20

Neal Bauman is awesome. He's a great source for any questions on ototoxic

drugs, too!

Robin T. in NC

>

> Recruitment amplifies sound, which seems counter-intuitive for someone

> with a hearing loss. People with recruitment cannot tolerate loudness

> of sound past a certain point at a given frequency. This has no

> relation to the loss of hearing at that frequency, so it is possible,

> at a given frequency to have a very narrow window (or even none) of

> tolerable sound. This is a difficult problem to resolve because many

> kids are too young or unfamiliar with what things should sound like to

> describe what's happening (beyond saying something like " it hurts " ),

> and audiologists don't always think about it. Recruitment is more

> common than people realize. There is no audiogram for recruitment, so

> it doesn't have a programmable template. Also, it may flucuate.

>

> Neal Beauman's article describes it well. Reminding an audiologist

> about the possibility of recruitment is probably a good idea.

>

> __________________________________________________________

> Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email

> and IM. All on demand. Always Free.

>

--

Robin Tomlinson

thetomlinsons@...

July 6, 2006