Technology Is Incredible.

[Rick]

As most of you know I have a very profound hearing loss. From about 3000 Hertz up I'm completely deaf, which means I can only hear about half of human speech. No sounds like music (only hear half of it), birds, smoke alarms, a woman's voice, etc.

Recently, hearing assist devices have been created that not only can reallocate human speech from those upper ranges into the lower ranges but does so by octaves so something like music can be heard in a natural way. They are also capable of bluetooth streaming not only from another source such as a cell phone but from music devices and between each other. I upgraded my hearing aids earlier this week and, for the first time in nearly two decades, I was able to hear music in it's entirety. It was a pretty incredible and moving experience. I had forgotten how beautiful music is. My comprehension of spoken words has also improved and will continue to improve as I become more acclimated to the devices.

I can now talk on my cell phone using only my hearing aids, which is matched to my hearing. My aids bluetooth connect to the cell phone so both transmit and receive are done are my hearing aids. I had my first cell phone conversation with my wife this week in which I understood everything she said. It's pretty incredible.

For any of you out there that wear hearing assist devices but have trouble with either comprehension or with select frequencies I would urge you to take a look at what can be done for you. It's opened up a whole new world for me. If you have any questions just let me know. I'll be happy to share what I know on them.

[welderguy]

Awesome!!!

[nell67]

That is awesome Rick,so happy for you!

[Sarge47]

Huh? What did you say?...

[hunter63]

Good to know....30+ years in a noisy factory has taken a toll over the years....
Thanks for posting.

[WolfVanZandt]

We have audiologists at the rehab center and they stay excited about all the breakthroughs that keep coming out. It's evidently a very good time to be an audiologist.

[Ken]

That's fantastic, Rick! I'm happy that you can once again enjoy something as important as your hearing.

I'm sure that it's going to take a bit of time before it all sinks in. Once it does, feel free to give me a call and I'll be happy to sing a few songs over the phone. I'll even play Wamma Jamma on my harmonica and Motorboat to Mars AND Wipeout on my drums for you!

[Ken]

[Rick]

You are a truly sick puppy. Funny but sick.

It's evidently a very good time to be an audiologist.

I think if I were just starting my career this would the the field to get into. I see all these folks walking about with ear buds stick in their ears and all these kids with their car stereos turned up so loud they rattle windows blocks away and think there will be a line at the audiologists office in 20 years. Yeah, definitely the right field.

[crashdive123]

Awesome! Happy for you.

[Rick]

I thought I would share a little bit with ya'll on how the brain works. At least mine. I find it totally fascinating and that's the reason I'm posting. Plus it might give you some insights into some issues others might have.

I have not heard a bird whistle in 15 years, perhaps longer. Most are above 3000 htz so their call was beyond my hearing range. Now, with the new hearing devices those frequencies are transposed into sound below 3000 htz so I can hear it. It's just at a lower octave than you would hear it at. Here's the crazy part. It's been so long since I've heard a Robin or Cardinal that my brain no longer knows what the sound is. When I hear a Cardinal I hear the sound of someone tapping a paper sack because that's all my brain can come up with to assign to that sound. I'm spending a bit of time each day on the Audibon web site listening to common bird calls to retrain my brain so a Cardinal sounds like a Cardinal.

It's no big deal one way or the other I just thought it was fascinating how we form associations in hearing or other senses I guess. You can hear something and your brain tells you it's something completely different. Probably why witness testimony is not considered reliable or we see shadows moving in the woods late at night. As the little baby on the mime commercial says, "Freeeaky".

[welderguy]

I wonder if the same would be true for, smells or taste , Interesting.

[crashdive123]

That is interesting. Glad it's working for you.

[2dumb2kwit]

That's great, Rick!

Technology is awesome. You can hear most things and at the flip of a switch, turn off women's voices?!?!
And when in trouble, for not doing what Mrs. Rick says, you can use the "Didn't hear ya. My battery must be going dead." excuse. You are truly a blessed man.

[2dumb2kwit]

I thought I would share a little bit with ya'll on how the brain works. At least mine. I find it totally fascinating and that's the reason I'm posting. Plus it might give you some insights into some issues others might have.

I have not heard a bird whistle in 15 years, perhaps longer. Most are above 3000 htz so their call was beyond my hearing range. Now, with the new hearing devices those frequencies are transposed into sound below 3000 htz so I can hear it. It's just at a lower octave than you would hear it at. Here's the crazy part. It's been so long since I've heard a Robin or Cardinal that my brain no longer knows what the sound is. When I hear a Cardinal I hear the sound of someone tapping a paper sack because that's all my brain can come up with to assign to that sound. I'm spending a bit of time each day on the Audibon web site listening to common bird calls to retrain my brain so a Cardinal sounds like a Cardinal.

It's no big deal one way or the other I just thought it was fascinating how we form associations in hearing or other senses I guess. You can hear something and your brain tells you it's something completely different. Probably why witness testimony is not considered reliable or we see shadows moving in the woods late at night. As the little baby on the mime commercial says, "Freeeaky".

Just don't tell Mrs. Rick, that when she talks to you, you now hear Halle Berry.

[Rick]

When I had my first audiology test done the audiologist said, "Wow, your hearing loss is about the same frequencies as a woman's voice. Do you have trouble hearing you wife?" I said give me a copy of that report. I took it home, handed it to her and said, "I do too listen. I just can't hear."

I've been in like Flynn ever since.

[senna]

the neat part is, with hearing aids, you can turn down the "gain" and just nod at what you think are the appropriate times, when the wife is talking. :-)

[2dumb2kwit]

The fact that you can now hear the Byrds, is pretty.....groovy. LOL

[2dumb2kwit]

[2dumb2kwit]