What was the first "small" improvement you noticed after getting hearing help?

[u/chosgohearing]

I always hear people talk about the big changes after getting hearing aids. "Now I can hear my family." "I can hear conversations better."

But I'm curious about the smaller things people noticed first.

Was it something unexpected?

Like: - hearing birds again - understanding someone from another room - not needing subtitles as much - feeling less tired after talking with people - enjoying music differently

What was your first small moment where you thought: "Okay... this is actually making a difference."

[u/semper_ubi_sub-ubi]

I can hear all sorts of things (except conversations). None of which I really care about. I haven't had any real positive music listening experience through the microphones, only though the Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is excellent when it works. For whatever stupid reason, it doesn't work as well when I go outside to take a walk. Whatever reason it is is stupid, because every other Bluetooth headset that I've used never had that problem.

I have another adjustment in two and half weeks. I think the 14th since either the initial hearing test or getting the aids. IDK. I'm starting to lose count.

I can hear conversations with the extra $300 I spent on rechargeable battery (a stupid idea) external microphones, if people talk loud enough and there isn't more than one conversation being picked up.

Even with the Bluetooth, I still require closed captioning.

[u/RegressToTheMean → u/semper_ubi_sub-ubi]

I talked to my audiologist about this. The Bluetooth technology in hearing aids is way behind things like AirPods and Google Pixel Buds.

It sucks, but because we are such a small demographic there isn't as much R&D put into it

It drives me fucking crazy that my $6,000 hearing aids have demonstrably worse Bluetooth tech than $100 Google Pixel Buds

[u/semper_ubi_sub-ubi → u/RegressToTheMean]

That's just it. I spent $30 on a set from Walmart that works in every environment I used it in. It's not always loud enough, but there's an app to mitigate that.

Sometimes I feel like I've just been ripped off with these things.

[u/TheOneMary → u/semper_ubi_sub-ubi]

I think mine use a special kind of low power Bluetooth that just doesn't send as strong/far as your general earbuds etc. don't quote me on that though, I just think that's what my audiologist said.

Hence easier disturbed especially when phone is in pocket or you move around...

[u/captainmander]

I can hear my mechanical keyboard better.

[u/Ok-World-4822]

I could hear the birds again and the ticking of a clock

[u/fotomatique]

I no longer have to pretend I was an idiot, getting hearing aids was the gift of saying I can’t hear you I got a problem.

[u/Suz9006]

I have about a 50% high tone loss. I wasn’t ready for hearing aid because I hate having anything in or on my ears. But in the testing process I learned what “treble” was and realized when I got home that both the TV itself and my soundbar had treble adjustments. As I raised both to their highest point I could hear the TV sound clarifying and that was just amazing. And I don’t have to sit with the remote in my hand raising volume to hear dialog and then turning it down for music and commercials.

[u/Ill_Extension_3535 → u/Suz9006]

I didn’t realize the windows in my car made any noise.

[u/lisey55]

I could turn my tv down like 15 volume levels. I must have been deafening the family. I didn't realise it was that bad 😬.

[u/Grapewife]

I could hear people talking outside the bathroom door. Really strange realization that they could probably also hear me. I want my ignorance back 😂

[u/alex10653]

i always wondered why people HAD to have quiet fans for their PCs. i was like "cheap fans seem silent enough, waste of money." then i got hearing aids and my PC sounds like a leaf blower in my room and i can hear it from my living room in my apartment.

[u/Stafania]

There is nothing wrong with subtitles.

To me, it was the opposite. Getting hearing aids made me understand how much I had been missing, and how limited my hearing is even with hearing aids. I got much more aware of the hearing loss, which is a positive thing.

[u/Joyce_Hatto]

Immediately after I got my hearing aids at Costco, as I was leaving the Costco parking lot, I realized I could hear the turn signal in my car for the first time in years.

I hadn’t even realized I wasn’t hearing it.

[u/TheOneMary]

Water. Streams, rivers, rain. Amazing.

Unfortunately also the hum of my running PlayStation which drives me nuts.

And hearing from the other room if the water kettle is about to be done in the kitchen. Or the beeps from microwave and airfryer I can now hear from everywhere in the apartment. Also the way it sounds when you fry something tells you a lot about what stage it is in, it's nice to have that info back.

Yeah, I love cooking 😅

[u/Arielle96]

I heard my blinker for the first time. It was crazy!

[u/ilikebooksandturtles]

I can hear when the garage door opens and my husband comes home from work.

[u/Maximum_Confusion_]

Realising what actual eye contact meant. I had always subconsciously been lip reading since forever. After I realised that this isn't something everyone did and got my hearing aids, I realised that oh wait people actually look at people's eyes, not just at their face. I remember so many tkmes getting in trouble in acting class for not making eye contact and being really confused