PB has been wearing a set of Starkey Destiny 1200 in the ear hearing aids for four years. She came to see me several weeks ago and reported having difficulty hearing in certain situations. She was mainly having difficultly in church and with the television. She wondered if new hearing aids would make a significant improvement in understanding in these situations.
PB opted to field study a set of Starkey X110 RIC hearing aids. While we discussed the wireless version, she was not interested in hooking anything up to her TV. She was concerned about making a style change from in the ear to behind the ear, but she wanted to try. She was fitted and wore them for two weeks.
After two weeks, PB returned the hearing aids. She saw slight improvement, but not enough to justify purchasing new hearing aids. She also had difficulty adjusting to the style change and preferred to stay with in the ear hearing aids. She was very grateful for the opportunity to trial the new aids, and now understands that the areas where she struggles are due to room acoustics and not her hearing aids!