Audiologist for hearing loss, custom plugs

FancyGunz

FancyGunz

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I suspect I may have some hearing loss. I have also been getting some ringing in my ears which was not there before. Not sure the cause, I always wear both plugs and muffs at the range and at work, while mowing the lawn, etc.

Can anyone recommend a good (preferably pro-2A, so we can discuss the possible reasons) audiologist? I want to get my hearing checked and get some custom molded plugs. Cost is not a concern, I want something that works.
 
FancyGunz said:
I suspect I may have some hearing loss. I have also been getting some ringing in my ears which was not there before. Not sure the cause, I always wear both plugs and muffs at the range and at work, while mowing the lawn, etc.

Can anyone recommend a good (preferably pro-2A, so we can discuss the possible reasons) audiologist? I want to get my hearing checked and get some custom molded plugs. Cost is not a concern, I want something that works.
Click to expand...
Where do you live and how far do you want to travel? My guy is in North Andover. Not sure of his 2A stance, but he knows I shoot.
 
Even with plugs and muffs you get noise exposure through the connecting passages in your mouth, up your nose, and to a lesser extent transmitted through your soft tissue/bones. It's another reason why shooting outdoor rather than in confined spaces is preferable.

Custom fitted plugs will help a bit more than standard plugs to minimize exposure. I'd also recommend gel ear pads for your muffs to provide a tighter more reliable seal.
 
This may not help you if you are not a vet.

For the vets reading this thread - the VA has the best audiologist and hearing aid folks.

The have great units and do a great job with fitting them.

They also have great service as the parts wear out every few months and they do a great job replacing parts.

I'm sure one day I will need hearing aids even though I have great hearing now.

I am not a vet, though so I'll be in the same boat as you.

I hope to find as good as a place as the VA.
 
They make a "mould your own" ear plugs kit...

 
I had a sudden unexplained hearing loss of my right ear last year, most likely unrelated to shooting. Probably an immune response to an infection, maybe covid, though I was never tested at that time. This is not uncommon for people over 40 or so, but most people get their hearing back, however, I did not. I am now mostly deaf in my right ear and have pretty loud tinnitus.

My audiogram showed pre-existing unexplained hearing loss (also unrelated to the sudden hearing loss in my right ear) in my left ear as well. When my audiologist heard I was a shooter, she said it was likely from that. I am usually careful with hearing Pro. I usually double up when indoors with muffs and plugs. I have also used molded plugs made by Steve at Ear Safety systems (see above post).

I did have an incident in a match in 2018 when I had forgotten to double up and my hearing protection got pushed as I shot a group in quick succession indoors. Not sure if that's what caused it or not.

Plenty of people have been exposed to gunfire and not had immediate hearing loss but who knows. My brother who has been a shooter and musician his whole life has almost perfect hearing at 54 yrs old as he had an audiogram done last year as well because of a minor sudden hearing loss which came back fully.

Anyway, though my ENT doctor is out of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Burlington, I went to Mass Eye and Ear in Stoneham for hearing aid fitting as I have a relative who is a retired audiologist from ME&E and she recommended that office as she considers a former colleague there to be one of the best. I would recommend ME&E to anyone. The current ENT I have out of HVMA in Burlington, I would also recommend but I initially saw another doctor out of the Quincy office during Covid and I did not care for that Dr. or the office in general.

I think you would be hard pressed to find an ENT doctor who would be pro shooting but they must exist I guess.

I do recommend anyone that shoots gets hearing checks at least once every couple of years by an audiologist. The checks your PCP might do with tuning forks is basically useless as my doctor checked my hearing in 2019 and said it was perfect but I already had some severe hearing loss by then as I came to find out later.

It sucks to have hearing loss so protect those ears!
 
vickers said:
I had a sudden unexplained hearing loss of my right ear last year, most likely unrelated to shooting. Probably an immune response to an infection, maybe covid, though I was never tested at that time. This is not uncommon for people over 40 or so, but most people get their hearing back, however, I did not. I am now mostly deaf in my right ear and have pretty loud tinnitus.

My audiogram showed pre-existing unexplained hearing loss (also unrelated to the sudden hearing loss in my right ear) in my left ear as well. When my audiologist heard I was a shooter, she said it was likely from that. I am usually careful with hearing Pro. I usually double up when indoors with muffs and plugs. I have also used molded plugs made by Steve at Ear Safety systems (see above post).

I did have an incident in a match in 2018 when I had forgotten to double up and my hearing protection got pushed as I shot a group in quick succession indoors. Not sure if that's what caused it or not.

Plenty of people have been exposed to gunfire and not had immediate hearing loss but who knows. My brother who has been a shooter and musician his whole life has almost perfect hearing at 54 yrs old as he had an audiogram done last year as well because of a minor sudden hearing loss which came back fully.

Anyway, though my ENT doctor is out of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Burlington, I went to Mass Eye and Ear in Stoneham for hearing aid fitting as I have a relative who is a retired audiologist from ME&E and she recommended that office as she considers a former colleague there to be one of the best. I would recommend ME&E to anyone. The current ENT I have out of HVMA in Burlington, I would also recommend but I initially saw another doctor out of the Quincy office during Covid and I did not care for that Dr. or the office in general.

I think you would be hard pressed to find an ENT doctor who would be pro shooting but they must exist I guess.

I do recommend anyone that shoots gets hearing checks at least once every couple of years by an audiologist. The checks your PCP might do with tuning forks is basically useless as my doctor checked my hearing in 2019 and said it was perfect but I already had some severe hearing loss by then as I came to find out later.

It sucks to have hearing loss so protect those ears!
Click to expand...

Interesting the first week of june my right ear took a noticeable difference. Things sounded weird when I talked, like my voice to me sounded more bass and very loud. When others talked i could hardly hear em on my right side. The tv i could hear ok it did need to be a couple numbers higher. Imstead lf 11 i needed 13 to hear it clearly. 2 weeks later tv i could hear back at 10, my voice sounded more normal to me. However still trouble with other people speaking on my right side. I have had tons of ear infections my drums are 100 percent all scar tissue as a result. Might be time to have a test done.
 
Coastal hearing clinic sandwich ma. 774-473-5023. They were awesome to me. Had no idea how bad my hearing was till I went there. Night and day difference when I got hearing aids. I can hear again.
 
Talon3 said:
Interesting the first week of june my right ear took a noticeable difference. Things sounded weird when I talked, like my voice to me sounded more bass and very loud. When others talked i could hardly hear em on my right side. The tv i could hear ok it did need to be a couple numbers higher. Imstead lf 11 i needed 13 to hear it clearly. 2 weeks later tv i could hear back at 10, my voice sounded more normal to me. However still trouble with other people speaking on my right side. I have had tons of ear infections my drums are 100 percent all scar tissue as a result. Might be time to have a test done.
Click to expand...

My hearing loss happened on June 1st of last year. Was watching TV late that night and started to notice that high-pitched voices started to sound cartoony and crackely from my right ear. I had some seasonal allergy symptoms so though it was something to do with that as I felt like I had to clear my ear. I took bendryl and went to bed. The next morning I was stone deaf in that ear and called the Doc right away. They had me seen that day in Quincy due to Covid and that being the only office open for ENT stuff that day. Treatment was high doses of prednisone for 10 days with another 5 days of weaning down off of it. I got some hearing back but not enough in the mid ranges needed to understand speech. I can here higher pitched and lower pitched noises if they are loud enough. A hearing aid in that ear doesn't work very well as it just sounds like static for the most part. So i wear a hearing aid on the left and a "cros" (Contralateral Routing of Signal) unit on the right which sends sounds to the hearing aid on the left side via bluetooth.

Many people experience sudden hearing loss and don't seek medical attention. For most people it comes back by itself. The worse the initial hearing loss is the less likely it may be to gain it all back.

What you experienced is like what my brother had last fall. He had some diminished hearing and some weird modulation of tones that lasted for about 10-14 days but got progressively better and fully recovered.

Rob
 
FancyGunz said:
I suspect I may have some hearing loss. I have also been getting some ringing in my ears which was not there before. Not sure the cause, I always wear both plugs and muffs at the range and at work, while mowing the lawn, etc.

Can anyone recommend a good (preferably pro-2A, so we can discuss the possible reasons) audiologist? I want to get my hearing checked and get some custom molded plugs. Cost is not a concern, I want something that works.
Click to expand...
Get checked for Tinnitus as you mentioned the ringing.
 
Talon3 said:
Interesting the first week of june my right ear took a noticeable difference. Things sounded weird when I talked, like my voice to me sounded more bass and very loud. When others talked i could hardly hear em on my right side. The tv i could hear ok it did need to be a couple numbers higher. Imstead lf 11 i needed 13 to hear it clearly. 2 weeks later tv i could hear back at 10, my voice sounded more normal to me. However still trouble with other people speaking on my right side. I have had tons of ear infections my drums are 100 percent all scar tissue as a result. Might be time to have a test done.
Click to expand...

If you are still having an issue it wouldn't hurt to get checked out.
 
DarkJoker33 said:
I wish there was a fix for this shit.
Im essentially close to deaf in one ear( woohoo stupid young me 8 years out of 12 being a mechanic and no ear protection worn)

I was told by where i went there was no fix for it
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My mom has had it for about 2 years now. Although she was never around any occupational hazards that had constant loud noise.
 
Got my hearing aids last August after a few decades of progressive hearing loss. I didn’t shoot at all between my youth in Iowa and 20yr later in NH, and had lost hearing in between, so it wasn’t shooting that contributed. No exceptionally noisy stuff in between either. Congenital hearing loss, they call it - those bad Irish genes. We’re supposed to die by 50 from smoking and drinking too much.

Some hearing aid dispensers (Costco, etc.) are minimally trained in audiology - they just need a PhD Audiologist on staff who might not even see patients but just signs off on reports. Skip those places and get an established practice with a PhD Audiologist in a joint ENT practice.

NH mandates all insurers cover $1500 per hearing aid ($3000 for a pair) every 5 years. So, I could get some top-shelf Phonak Behind-the-Ear Audeo Marvel aids for only $1500 out of pocket, including f/u visits for a year. A new audiology exam yearly is covered by insurance and if the analysis changes, another year of f/u visits is covered to adjust the aids. In MA, mandatory coverage is only for under 21yr age, so you’re out of luck - sorry. 😕

I got custom molded plugs by a guy who travels to gun shows and gun shops. They’re great. Indoors, I plug and muff, like you do.
 
I lost a chunk of my hearing four years ago during Chemo treatment (a known side effect of the chemo I was taking). Went to the local audiologist after about a year, cost me $6K not covered by insurance. I know you can get them for around half that at Costco but after what I went through I wasn't going to Costco. Also, hearing aids aren't just for amplification, they're also for enhancement and you want someone who knows what they're doing. Thankfully, for the $6k I get unlimited office visits/adjustments and even got a new pair due to warranty. My guy knows I shoot but I don't know (or care) what his 2A opinion is, it hasn't been an issue.
 
Sounds like you have Tinnitus. Or maybe it's your wife or GF? :rolleyes: I have had it in my left ear since a whiplash accident 20 years ago, sometimes the right ear chimes in, like just now. Itcan sound like you're listening to a sea shell, or remember one of those broken phone booth telephones, and you will notice it more at night during quiet, but you will get used to it. I have some hearing loss but still manage. Easy to say , but "ignore" it and it may ignore you. Although if it just started maybe a great chiropractor may find your "Atlas bone" is out of whack. My friend says that's what happened to him. Google hearing test and you might find the tone at 8 KHZ as the "one" you are missing. Mine just ramped up reading your post. I got the 34 db muffs at Cabela's made by "Walker"? They work pretty good. A good fit is everything. You will find certain foods and drinks will tweak it now and then. Again, IGNORE it as best you can. I'm not ready for "appliances".
 
The ringing is mostly in my right ear, I find if I open my jaw a certain way it gets better or worse as I adjust how much or how little I unclench my jaw. We weren't as careful, or forewarned about wearing ear plugs as much as we probably should have been , around the shock waves from blasting. Pile driving , lots and lots of noises on a large multifacted Const. site
 
If youre near Hopkinton, I had Darcy at Bay State Audiology fit me with custom plugs. I told her exactly what they were for and she said she had a friend who also got some for shotgun sports.
 
The proper tests can be very expensive and insurance is not good for this. Costco is the largest seller of hearing aids in the country and have a good testing program.
Rather than shell out the $700 I was quoted for a test, I paid $60 for a Costco membership and then had free hearing tests for me and my wife.
 
Mellen10 said:
Mass Eye and Ear is the best audiology care you will get in all of New England. I say this as an audiologist myself who worked at MEEI and now I’m a cochlear implant audiologist working with every major audiology clinic in New England.

Protect your hearing, you’ll miss it more than you realize.
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Which location though.
Theres like 10.
I want to go again when i get insurance that is actually insurance. Which is soon.

Since my last test 5 years ago probably, its definatly worse. I can tell.

I did buy into a kickstarter for crowd funded hearing aids.
Yes i expect to be laughed at.
But the reviews of the first gen ones were really good.

I also use samsung buds as mini hearing aids as well.

The walker electric ear muffs for the range work amazing for acting as hearing aids.
The first time i slapped em on my eyes got all huge.
I could hear shit way off in the distance for the first time in a long while.

Side note, my right ear is perfect hearing per my last test. But i do get that intermittent tinnitus in it as well
 
The concussive energy is what kills hearing I believe. Packing ear pro with gel is making things worse. Just guessing based on my own experience.
Do you think a firecracker lit off in a large space feels the same as lighting on off a few feet from your ear? It is the air space volume of ear pro that insulates you from the pressure of a concussive event that helps. Flight deck ear pro tend to be larger in size as they want as much air between the ear and the environment.
RR1 may be able to shed some light on the subject.
I think a lot of hearing problems are genetic so take it with a grain of salt.
 
rep308 said:
The proper tests can be very expensive and insurance is not good for this. Costco is the largest seller of hearing aids in the country and have a good testing program.
Rather than shell out the $700 I was quoted for a test, I paid $60 for a Costco membership and then had free hearing tests for me and my wife.
Click to expand...
The problem is that hearing aids need to be re-calibrated regularly and hearing also needs to be re-tested periodically. I had my hearing tested a couple of times, they gave me the hearing aids but they needed to be adjusted quite a bit until they got it right.

The low cost providers will allow you to bring a test performed elsewhere and give you a set of hearing aids based on that. If that works, great but if they don’t then what? I want a pro testing me and doing the follow up, not a place that’ll just amplify what I already can’t hear clearly.
 

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