My New Digital Hearing Aids

Outside of Tinnitus my problem had been my inability to understand speech. If two individuals were having a conversation 30 feet away from each other and I were standing next to one of them I wouldn't be able to understand either of them. I could hear, but speech sounded muffled.(Like my ears were stopped up). And it was difficult to discern between consonants.

I recently picked up some digital hearing aids(StarKey Destiny 200 MC). And for the last couple of weeks have tried using them on and off and have been having some difficulty.

When I was first given them I seemed to be able hear the voice of the audiologist relatively clearly, which hadn't been the case for me in many years, but things went down hill from there and I was wondering if there was something I was doing wrong. Especially since the hearing aids are difficult to put in and can get extremely uncomfortable.

Though I've not really been out in public since, I've tried watching DVDs movies, but find myself still having to use the subtitle option.

I tried manipulating the volume of the hearing aids, and even when everything else was way too loud.(ie: squeaky computer chair, closing door, water running, my foot steps, etc.). I'd still have difficultly understanding speech from the speakers.(They're really cheap computer speakers).

If I put the hearing aids in briefly, even for only 5 minutes, when I remove them my hearing problem (and the feeling of my ears being stopped up) seem to be significantly worse. Particularly in my left ear. But after about a half hour with them out this returns to *normal*. Not non-existent, but normal for me.

Being able to go to the movies or listen to music again is the least
of my problems, because I really need to get back to work, and my
problem has put me in a bad situation.(Long story).

It was a relative that stepped in and arranged for the hearing aids. But due to my financial situation I hadn't seen an ENT beforehand. Was this important?

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