Accessories for NHS Hearing Aids?

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Peter, is it possible to fix this delay somehow?

see my post above please.

Cheers, Martin

[Andrew EntwistleParticipant @andrewentwistle]

Hi Martin,

The delay is also present in my mother's setup, unfortunately it is inherent in most Bluetooth connections. There is a lower latency variant of Bluetooth (APTX) but this is not used for these streamers. I don't know about connection reliability yet, but I expect it will be a problem as I often experience them with my Bluetooth devices.

Andrew.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Further to my posting at the start of this thread I have just installed a new device for streaming Bluetooth sound from our tv, it is made by Phonak and is called “Roger” . I installed it yesterday and the setup procedure is the same as the Compilot that I previously used, it came as a free piece of equipment when my wife was fitted with an enhanced Cochlear Implant Processor, she has had the implant for twelve years now and the latest processor gives a better clearer sound. With both the Compilot and the Roger device there is no delay in the signal receipt. You can have the sound on for normal listening and use the Roger or Compilot and both sound sources are in sync, the reason that the equipment performs better may well be down to price, the Roger device retails at over £600, I am not sure that I would have paid that much for a device but it came free with my wife’s implant upgrade so no problem. Dave W

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Speaking on a purely personal basis ha ha, ie I've had a quick look through the chemo thingy mentioned above and soon lost interest (doesn't say much for me does it), anyway…

2000, I suspect, but certainly 2005, I developed Menieres in the right ear. This resulted in the application of an anti-biotic, gentamycin, which has known oto-toxic properties. This was applied whilst under a general anaesthetic, the idea being as I understand it, to kill the little hairs in the semi-circular canals and thus prevent any signals from reaching the brain, thus (what a lot of thus's) preventing the nastagmus and dizziness associated with Menieres. This worked, and althoug I lost a lot, well ok, most, of my hearing in that ear, at least I no longer suffered from nastagnus & dizziness. A small price to pay!

2015 I had a minor (is there such a thing?) heart attack. Two stents later and I'm on quite a few drugs.

2019 I was diagnosed with lung cancer and placed on targetted drug therapy, the drug concerned being Afatinib aka Giotrif which has had the effect of shrinking the cancer.

Now, last year, I think it was – time flies when you're having fun (not), I had a hearing test. Right ear about nil, or perhaps slightly better than nil. Left ear not good, but better (better? Yay!) than the previous test 3 years before. And so I ended up with TWO hearing aids supplied by the NHS. One was the most powerful they supply and that was for the right ear whilst the left ear, well I suppose it does give a boost.

Cutting through the drivel, then, I find it interesting that the ear that failed first, the right ear, was one that I used to ill-treat as a young man by listening to very loud sounds via a single earpiece headset. Was that the original cause of my hearing loss? It certainly makes me wonder. The left ear, well, I hadn't noticed anything amiss until Easter 2017, so I presume that any deterioraton up to then was gradual and age related. At Easter 2017, I was taking part in a concert as a choral singer, something I had done for the last 50 years or so, when something happened to the left ear – I lost low frequency response. Over the next 18 months or so, the ear apparently recovered, hence the test indicating a better response, but still not right. Or was it perhaps two different people doing tests with different equipment in two different buildings? Actually, I don't think so because my own perception is that the hearing has recovered somewhat. Now, why did it recover? And why did it take 18 months or so? Was it perhaps something to do with the brain acclimatising itself to new conditions? I don't know, but what I do know now is that I'm rather more carefull about sounds and I've fully retired from choral singing.

So, I have had an oto-toxic antibiotic used on me to stop the negative aspects of a problem which may, or may not, have been self inflicted all those many years ago. Plus I'm on various medications which may, or may not, have had an effect from which I have partially recovered on the other ear.

Hmmm,

Peter G. Shaw

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