Skip to main content

I Got A Hearing Aid!

Last summer I went to get my hearing checked after a couple of years, and it turned out my left ear had gone worse. It had happened so gradually I hadn't even noticed. I had my doubts, but never really believed it until I saw my audiogram on paper. I've now lost the high pitched noises, like bird singing, and struggle to hear people in crowds. After the results last summer I went to see an ENT, and told him I need a hearing aid. He, at first, said I was a borderline case, and doubted whether I needed a hearing aid since my right ear was perfectly fine. But then he took a look at my previous audiograms and figured if my hearing continued to deteriorate at this speed, it's better to get a hearing aid sooner rather than later, and so he put me down for one. Since I wasn't an acute case, I needed to wait about six months to get to my actual hearing aid appointment.

That appointment was on the last day of January. Since I still had an infection in both of my ears, we were unable to test my hearing and make a mould of my ear canal, but I did get to pick a color for my hearing aid and it was ordered for me. My appointment for a hearing test and mould making was moved to the following week, this week, and fortunately my ear infection had ceased from my left ear. My audiogram showed little to no change to last summer, and I was also pleasantly surprised that my hearing aid had already arrived! I'm now wearing it with a receiver in my ear, a very basic one, until I get my own personalised ear piece in about a month.


The first time I tried it on everything, including my own voice, sounded like talking to a microphone. With a few adjustments we were able to minimise that. And then I started noticing how I can pick up consonants better than before, especially the S's sounded sharp and clear. I put all my new documents and things to a plastic bag and it ruffled so loud. Did they always make that much noise?

I now have a month to get adjusted to living with my new piece of accessory before I get the final receiver. So far I'm liking this thing. It's way smaller than I thought, practically invisible. I wouldn't have minded a bigger one, either, but granted, this one is pretty sweet. I'll update you guys later with more experience.

Before I left my audiologist's office, she played me bird singing from her computer with the hearing aid off and on. When it was on, I could hear the birds :)


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Others React To My Meniere's Disease

I had never heard of Meniere's disease before I found out I have it, so it wasn't really realistic for me to expect others to know what was going on with me. When I started telling people I have MD, the most common replies were: "Okayyy..?" "What's that?" "Neverheard" "A what disease?" "Ooh, what a cool name!" Yep. My chronic illness does have a cool name, I do agree. It's sad how Meniere's is so little known. My friends were interested in learning about it, but since my disease is pretty well under control and it doesn't have a direct affect on anyone besides myself, they tend to forget about it. They'll ask things like: "What was the name of that condition you have, again?" "You had some ear thing, right?" "Are your ears all better now?" I don't take it personally if someone I know forgets the name of my disease or if someone remembers the name but doesn&

Who Am I?

Launching a new blog is always exciting. I love blogging, and have been doing it since late 2010. If you want to check out my lifestyle/travel blog, click here . I have shared thoughts about my Meniere's disease over there, too, but decided creating a new blog dedicated to the subject made more sense, because I have a lot of thoughts and things to say. I'm excited about this blog, and looking forward to really getting it started. So, naturally, I want you guys to get to know me. My name is Iira, and I'm a 27-year-old business student from Finland. I'm on my last year of studies, and to be honest, I have no idea what I will do after graduation. I'm pretty good at winging it... eyeliner, and life. I currently work as a personal assistant and hope to move abroad at some point. I love traveling and writing. Simple things make me happy. Besides my business studies I've taken on Finnish sign language classes, and I love it! I'm also independently studying Am

What I Want You to Know About Me and My Life with Meniere's Disease

If you know someone with Meniere's disease, you should read this. If you know me, and are a part of my life, then you should definitely read this. 1. It's completely fine to ask me about anything related to my condition! I would rather have you ask than make assumptions. MD is not a sensitive subject to me, and I'm happy to fill in the gaps! 2. My condition is permanent. My hearing loss is permanent. Please don't ask me a year from now if my ear is all better - it won't be. There's no cure for MD, and this is something I'm stuck with until there is one. 3. If/when I say I can't hear you, I mean it. Please accommodate to that, and speak up, or write or type what you need to say to me. Or, if you know Finnish or American sign language, you can sign to me ;) 4. When I have vertigo, please know that it's quite debilitating. If I ask you to drive, it literally means my world is spinning out of control and you do not want me operating heavy mach