CA has been coming to the Zephyrhills office of Gardner Audiology for many years. He as a very severe hearing loss and has great difficulty understanding conversation. He and his wife are very social, active people and his impairment causes great frustration for him. His most recent behind the ear hearing aids were about 3 ½ years old.
A month ago CA and his wife came in about a study we were running wanting to know if I thought newer hearing aids would help him communicate better. I offered to let him trial a set of Starkey X110 RIC hearing aids for a month. These new aids have Spectral IQ to help make high pitch sounds audible to him. His hearing loss in the high pitches is profound, making him unable to hear sounds such as “s”, “th”, “sh”, and “f”. He was fitted and began his trial.
He returned in one week and stated he heard much better, but was hesitant to spend the money to replace is old hearing aids that were still working. He returned two weeks later with his wife who stated she could see a significant improvement with his understanding in all listening situations. Again, he was hesitant. I recommended he use his old hearing aid for a few days and compare. When he returned today, it was to purchase the hearing aids. He shared that he wore his old aids to church on Sunday, where he was unable to understand anyone at all. He realized how much clearer the new aids were making conversation and he purchased them today!
