Assymetrical Hearing Loss - Hearing aid possibility?

[pitch]

My 64 year old father is hard of hearing on his right ear for a long time. He originally had vertigo and tinnitus some 8 years ago and was treated with labrynthine sedatives. His tinnitus & vertigo stopped over the years. But he now has progressively worse hearing in his right ear. He claims he can hear fine through his left ear.

So when my dad paid me a visit, I took him to see an audiologist and he said my dad's right ear has severe to profound hearing loss and because it's assymmetrical hearing aids may not help. He said while there's some mild hearing loss in the left ear but he said it does not require hearing aids.

My dad speaks very little English and cannot fluently speak it as well. So I'm very skeptical about the speech recognition tests the audiologist conducted (which was in American English).

Here are the audio gram results:

Hz 250 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 6000 8000
L 33 30 40 25 70 80 35 50
R 65 80 95 85 120 120 105 95
Speech Recognition: L: 80%/50dB, R: 0%/90dB.

So now I have several questions:

1. Can his hearing on the right ear improve from hearing aids?
2. The audiologist mentioned that there are hearing aids which redirect sound from one ear to the other (in my dad's case, from the left to the ear). When my dad tried it, he seemed to hear better. I'm worried that it may affect his "directionality" of sound. Does anyone have any experience with such a hearing aid?
3. Is Costco the only place that offer the "free return policy" (no restocking fee) and "90 day trial policy" for hearing aids? Is it just for the Kirkland brand hearing aids or for all the brands they sell?
4. Audiologist said we need to go see a ENT specialist and get a "medical clearance" for fitting hearing aids. Any idea why that is? Is this so that acoustic neuroma is ruled out?

My dad has been generally sad and frustrated about his inability in engaging in social conversations so I would really like to help him improve his hearing.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[DocAudio]

1. Can his hearing on the right ear improve from hearing aids?
Hearing aids don't make hearing loss better...I think you mean will he hear better if he has a hearing aid on the right side??? The answer is...maybe. It depends on what his speech scores were during testing. Some people at this level have great speech recognition and do marvelously with hearing aids, others who have really poor clarity of speech don't do as well.

2. The audiologist mentioned that there are hearing aids which redirect sound from one ear to the other (in my dad's case, from the left to the ear). When my dad tried it, he seemed to hear better. I'm worried that it may affect his "directionality" of sound. Does anyone have any experience with such a hearing aid?
They are called CROS or Bi-CROS hearing aids. A CROS aid just takes the sound from the poorer ear and transmits it to the better ear and a Bi-CROS does the same but the receiver side is also a hearing aid. Although your dad has a mild loss in the better ear, it doesn't rule it out as an ear for wearing a hearing aid. He's kinda in a gray area so he could go either way with that side. As for directionality...he has very little hearing in the poorer ear so I doubt he's able to locate where sound are from as it stands now. In the big scheme of things it's more important for him to hear better...

3. Is Costco the only place that offer the "free return policy" (no restocking fee) and "90 day trial policy" for hearing aids? Is it just for the Kirkland brand hearing aids or for all the brands they sell?
Probably not...often times you can request a longer trial period, especially if you are in an area where there are other businesses doing a 90-day return time. The lack of a restocking fee may be harder to get around, but you have to remember that this "fee" is paying for the time and services of the pro you are seeing so if you go in for 2-4 appointments and don't keep the hearing aid, the pro should be able to be compensated at least for their time. I believe their policies apply to all hearing aids.

4. Audiologist said we need to go see a ENT specialist and get a "medical clearance" for fitting hearing aids. Any idea why that is? Is this so that acoustic neuroma is ruled out?
Basically, yes. Any time there is anything that is out of the norm, like an asymmetry, you need to make sure that something isn't in there causing the difference in hearing.

Hope that all helps!

[pitch]

Thanks for that detailed answer.

With regard to speech scores, I think my dad scored L: 80%/50dB, R: 0%/90dB. (or is that something else?)

I'm a little skeptical about these scores as my dad is not a native English speaker and can not understand accents. Is there another way to conduct these tests (like, using letters instead of words?)

Will go see the ENT and report back what he says.

[Um bongo]

Originally Posted by pitch

Thanks for that detailed answer.

With regard to speech scores, I think my dad scored L: 80%/50dB, R: 0%/90dB. (or is that something else?)

I'm a little skeptical about these scores as my dad is not a native English speaker and can not understand accents. Is there another way to conduct these tests (like, using letters instead of words?)

Will go see the ENT and report back what he says.

The point about the scoring is that it's equally good or bad for both ears: it shows the relative performance difference between the ears.

If you look at the figures above, the score on the Left ear is acceptable at a low level, while there's no recognition on the Right at all. This would indicate that intervention via the Left ear is likely to offer the best performance for your father.

[pitch]

You do have a point there.

Assuming the results are accurate, would he need a CROS or a BiCROS hearing aid? And what are the best CROS/BiCROS hearing aids that Costco sells? How much do they cost?

Thanks again for your time and answers.

[Um bongo]

Originally Posted by pitch

You do have a point there.

Assuming the results are accurate, would he need a CROS or a BiCROS hearing aid? And what are the best CROS/BiCROS hearing aids that Costco sells? How much do they cost?

Thanks again for your time and answers.

I'm not sure they do sell CROS systems or deal with more complex cases like this; but I'm not based in the US so I cannot tell you for definite.

[DocAudio]

I doubt that Costco/Sam's will have a CROS or Bi-CROS option. Not to imply that the professionals that they employ are not qualified to fit them, but it's a bit of an advanced fitting and it might not be something they would want to shoulder their employees with as a company. As far as which device to select, I'd consider a Bi-CROS even though the HL on the good side is minimal.

[CallunaVulgaris]

Yes, CROS/BiCROS hearing aids are more specialized and are therefore more difficult to find. The only two brands I know of that are in the CROS market right now are Phonak and Unitron. To my knowledge Costco/Sam's Club do not carry those brands, although they are available through an audiologist. The Phonak CROS works pretty well for me. Everyone's experience is different, but I have not had problems with it.

[pitch]

So, I got the MRI done for my father and it came back clean and they are now trying to fit him with Phonak Wireless Bi-CROS hearing aids. We ordered them with "middle" option (what does that mean?). I have several questions:

1. What's the life time of Phonak hearing aids?
2. Do they come with warranty and if so, what does it cover?
3. How often do the batteries need to be replaced? And where can I find cheap batteries.
4. Does it need re-calibration over time? Can my father do the re-calibration himself?
5. What, if any, accessories he might need?
6. Are there any questions that he/I should ask for, during the fitting & the trial period? Do we need to try in particular scenarios?

Thanks in advance.

[DocAudio]

Originally Posted by pitch

So, I got the MRI done for my father and it came back clean and they are now trying to fit him with Phonak Wireless Bi-CROS hearing aids. We ordered them with "middle" option (what does that mean?). I have several questions:

1. What's the life time of Phonak hearing aids?
2. Do they come with warranty and if so, what does it cover?
3. How often do the batteries need to be replaced? And where can I find cheap batteries.
4. Does it need re-calibration over time? Can my father do the re-calibration himself?
5. What, if any, accessories he might need?
6. Are there any questions that he/I should ask for, during the fitting & the trial period? Do we need to try in particular scenarios?

Thanks in advance.

1. Average life of any hearing aid is 4-6 years. This is not because it no longer works but because people update tech around year 5. Some manufacturers don't guarantee repairs after year 5 as well.
2. Yes. Depends. Ask the dispenser/pro when you get the hearing aid.
3. Depends on which model. Probably every 2-5 days. This is something the pro should cover when you get the devices.
4. Hearing aids don't need "re-calibrating" but they will need adjusting as he acclimates to the settings and if his hearing changes over time. This is not something he does himself.
5. Accessories are pretty individualized. Again, something to ask the pro when you get the HA's.
6. Wear them in as many environments as possible. Don't expect your dad to have "normal" hearing. A good question to ask is "what is it realistic to expect from these given his hearing loss and age".

HTH