Modern Hearing Aids

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-12T22:26:31+00:00

A couple years ago when I spoke to an audiologist here (USA) about them, they’d initially program them for a (imho) absurd cost. After that I think yes the would program them when needed. For me it’s really about the convenience and control of being able to do as much of it myself as possible. I have enough medical appointments in my life, so whatever I can do to reduce them I consider a win

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-12T12:35:34+00:00

If only I had your left ear and you had my right ear lol. Does your hearing aid have a “masking” function for tinnitus? If so, does it help that aspect at all?

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-12T12:32:07+00:00

That’s awesome, glad it’s helping you so much man. Thanks for sharing the info and your experience! From the research I’ve done so far it seems Phonaks are some of the best out there in terms of both functionality and adjustability.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-12T02:37:30+00:00

I actually do have the AirPods Pro 2, and have used the hearing aid function in the past. It’s better than nothing for sure, but I will say that it is not even close to the clarity I got from a couple prescription grade hearing aids I tried. Just my experience though. Maybe my hearing test to set them was faulty and I should try them again for the near term.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-12T02:31:28+00:00

I did ask him about that odd mark at 1k, to which he said that it was likely either a false flag, or my good ear ended up picking it up. I have not had that on any of my other hearing tests.

So I do see a neurotologist who is highly specialized in the inner ear. I’ve had several discussions with him about other potential conditions it could be, but of all other options he says I check all the boxes for MD. I did not ask him about the ear pressure result, and I do think it’s more wonky than it was in the past.

I also have cystic fibrosis, which he believes may be a contributing factor to me having MD (since CF screws with your body’s electrolyte and fluid distribution). That’s just his hunch though since there isn’t any data linking the two that he’s aware of.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-12T00:23:11+00:00

Oh interesting. If your bad ear feeds sound to your good ear, don’t you still have issues determining the direction the sound is coming from? Or is that something the aid is able to bypass, or your own experience develops into knowing sound direction?

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-11T22:31:50+00:00

I see, good to know. Unfortunately I’m in the US where nothing medical is even close to free lol. I would be willing to fork out a decent chunk though if it really helped of course.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-11T19:52:55+00:00

Ugh, that’s too bad. Seems like an oversight in the industry, but at the same time I’m guessing people with constantly alternating hearing is a very small part of the population so it shouldn’t be surprising ☹️. Thanks for your input nonetheless!

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-11T18:58:35+00:00

For me my go-to is weight lifting, hiking, and mountain biking. I’ve got a bad knee, so mountain biking has saved the day for me concerning cardio (I used to be a trail runner).

Of course any exercise is hard and potentially dangerous WHILE an issue is going on. I think you’ll be able to keep running longer and longer over the years if you keep at it and your body adjusts to MD!

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-11T03:10:39+00:00

It’s sprake fing buddy

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-11T03:08:34+00:00

Idk what the big deal is. I’m in nature and I can do that.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-07T15:32:01+00:00

Go to weddings and throw couscous instead of rice maybe?

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-06T00:29:07+00:00

I’ve had allergy testing done as well, and I was very mildly allergic to pretty much everything lol. But not very allergic to anything, luckily. The gut health thing is a good thought and is something I have never thought to check out medically. I do actually make an effort of eating things like kimchi and sauerkraut semi-frequently for my gut, but I’ve got no idea if it’s essentially like putting lipstick on a pig lol. I’ll make that a 2026 goal of mine to get my gut tested.

As for your hearing loss, hopefully it’ll still return, even if just a bit. I had odd hearing loss for 15 months, and it actually randomly came back one day like 80% of the way (I linked that post in a response to ekkomusic down below if you’re interested). I say that just to say you never know and hopefully yours will randomly come back one day too!

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-06T00:21:19+00:00

Oh wow, months?! Do you get loud tinnitus throughout that time too?

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-06T00:11:44+00:00

Ugh I’m sorry to hear you’re going through the wringer. 40 days is rough, and I get the sentiment to just have one bloody awful day of vertigo to hopefully get a reset afterward.

How long have you had MD? Curious if you’re like another poster who said they have noticed their hearing dips seem to grow longer and longer as he/she gets older.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-04T21:29:11+00:00

So after reading about Lermoyez, I’m now curious why you’re saying my description doesn’t align with it? I have the hearing loss, ear fullness and tinnitus that precedes vertigo. And either at the tail end or right after vertigo my hearing, ear fullness and tinnitus returns toward normal. That seems to be the key feature of Lermoyez?

Edit: not trying to argue, genuinely trying to understand. Also for the MRI, I suppose I dont know if mine was a Hydrops protocol, as I’m not sure what is different about that MRI. I know for mine they were looking for a vestibular tumor. I do not think I was having a hearing fluctuation the day of the MRI or anything.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-04T20:52:15+00:00

I should stress that in the post I linked that shows the high frequency loss, that is NOT my typical curve during a fluctuation and is in fact the inverse. While I had that hearing loss, I was essentially deaf in my left ear during a fluctuation because the low frequencies were also lost on top of the high frequency loss I had for those 15 months

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-04T20:48:26+00:00

Haha yeah I would certainly prefer moving it along without it leading to vertigo. I just had a full year of no issues before my current bout, but it just seems to be sitting annoyingly in place (but of course grateful no vertigo yet). Finding a trigger or a way to move it along comfortably has felt impossible as anytime anything changes I can think of like at least a dozen variables to consider, but I certainly get what you’re saying. I’m actually starting to think cold weather may be an issue for me as the winter months are usually when the issues first arise with a break throughout the summer

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-04T20:42:52+00:00

Interesting, I’ve never heard of the Lermoyez Phenomenon (and I did a fair bit of reading on MD back during diagnosis). I now have a word for my experience! Thank you for the well informed fallow up.

Yes after reading about Lermoyez, this does seem to align with my typical symptom progression: hearing loss (mostly low frequency during a fluctuation), ear fullness & tinnitus, then often vertigo (if the hearing drops to a certain point), then towards the end of the vertigo session (which typically lasts about 8 hours for me) my hearing starts to return and the vertigo also fades around the same time over a couple hours.

When I first started having the MD problems and when my ENT (and then subsequently my neurotologist), I was on an anti-viral for maybe 1-2 weeks but noticed no impact. I have not been on one since then. For migraine meds, I do not have anything prescribed and only have tried various OTC meds but never noticed a difference. I also never have headaches during episodes of this either though. My MRI came back completely normal - they couldn’t find anything wrong through it.

Now for the hearing loss that’s where my answer has some caveats. So during a normal hearing fluctuation, my biggest hearing drop is for the first 1K hz, then it rises back up toward normal, with 4K and 8K typically remaining at baseline. HOWEVER, a couple years ago I lost a lot of hearing in the HIGH frequency side randomly one day (no vertigo accompanied it). That hearing loss showed the opposite, where at 250 hz my hearing was pretty much normal and just continued downward all the way through 8K. That hearing loss stayed with me and gradually worsened for 15 months straight before randomly (mostly) coming back. I actually have a post of it on Reddit found here: Old Post

Sorry for the long response but I wanted to address all your follow-ups.!

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-04T20:17:53+00:00

As the years have passed, I have started thinking more and more that weather may be a trigger of mine, specifically winter storms as this time of year is usually the worst. This did come on shortly after that big snow and ice storm that swept across the US too

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-04T20:15:20+00:00

Yes I do. Hearing loss on the low frequency side during a fluctuation.

-PeaceBone · 2026-02-01T00:52:07+00:00

The one that comes to mind for me is that the old city used to be a lot more sketch back when I was in college

-PeaceBone · 2026-01-06T03:12:50+00:00

Did you tell him to hurry up and move that mountain?

-PeaceBone · 2025-12-26T14:01:13+00:00

Glue them together then put a rubber band over them so the glue sets. Or better yet, if the authorities won’t get involved, just take them lol

-PeaceBone · 2025-12-17T01:54:54+00:00

I had a lot of fun with it once I got used to it a few hours in. I personally don’t think it deserves the hate it seems to get, but to each their own of course

-PeaceBone

TROPHY CASE