A Question For BigLouie

[jrbsr]

I have been to a Audiologist and had my
hearing checked a week ago and
He said that I have hearing loss at high hi frequencys.

My left ear drops off at 3000 dbs
My right ear drops off at 4000 dbs

In the woods,
I noticed that I had some trouble detecting direction
of where sounds were coming from.
And ever now and then I have some ringing in my left ear.
And sounds behind me drive me crazzy.

And if the animals are making soft sounds that might be why
I have trouble hearing a realy soft yelp from a turkey.

Then again they might just be not making any.

The audiologist said I could hear the voice of a man
But children and women fall in the higher frequency range.
And that is where I have a problem hearing.
Them 10 years or so working in a knitting mill and shooting
Without hearing protection is probbly what caused it.
When I found out about ear plugs I started wearing tham.
But the damage was allready there.

Im thinking that some animals fall in the high frequency range also.
And is why I have trouble hearing them.

So BigLouie what would be a good way to remedy this ?

Thank You

[jrbsr]

Bump so BigLouie can seemy question.

[BigLouie]

That is a tough hearing loss to deal with. There is no doubt you are slightly disadvantaged in the woods because of it. Bet you probably have trouble hearing in the presence of background noise too? Turkey yelps, clucks, purrs, etc to me sound more like a mid frequency sound, 2-3000 Hertz. Can't say for sure cause I've never actually measured them. But they aren't pure tones so you have formants of these sounds in the higher frequencies that help you hear them. When you say your hearing drops off at 3K Hz and 4K Hz in your left and right ears respectively, are you implying it is normal thorugh those frequencies, then falls off? The only way I would ever consider trying to fit someone with a hearing aid with a loss like that would be to use the newer "open ear BTE" type hearing aid. They are a miniature Behind the Ear (BTE) hearing aid with a small tube that runs to your ear canal with a very non-occluding type ear piece on it. What it does is allow the frequencies you hear normally to come in naturally right through the small holes in the ear piece. Only the hi frequencies which you are missing are amplified and channeled to your ears through the hearing aid. Gives you a more natural sound and also makes your voice sound natural. Plug your ears with your fingers and talk once, this is similar to how it sounds when you wear a traditional hearing aid. The open ear style aid reduces this "occlusion effect". In Wisconsin, the law states you get a 30 day trial period with hearing aids, we give 60 because I really think you need all 60 days to help decide in some cases. The problem with the open ear style BTE is that they are pretty expensive (like most hearing aids). Do you want to spend $3000+ to hear the turkeys better? Unless you are really having problems hearing on a day to day basis too?

[jrbsr]

The problem with the open ear style BTE is that they are pretty expensive (like most hearing aids). Do you want to spend $3000+ to hear the turkeys better? Unless you are really having problems hearing on a day to day basis too?

The other audiologist said it would be around $4000.00
He said I could get a programable hearing aid.
Oh well I gues I will just do with what hearing I have.
I gues I could get a pair of the ear plugs that let the normal,
Sound in untile you shoot and it stops the sound.

Thanks for the answer