Hearing Disability

[Cavman]

I was rated 10% tinnutis, like everyone else and granted a hearing disability at 0%. My hearing is really getting worse. Seeing my PA at the VA soon. How hard is it to get a hearing aid to try?

I have done an NOD on the hearing recently.

Cavman

Edited January 19, 2009 by Cavman

[broncovet]

Cavman

There is good news and bad news..if you want to "try" a hearing aid, my guess is that your hearing is not bad enough to be motivated enough to keep and use your hearing aid...they are a pain in the neck. Most Hard of hearing people (hoh) go for about ten years before getting hearing aids.

Since the average hoh person looses about 3-5% of their hearing per year, however, you will probably be frustrated enough to HAVE to have one soon enough.

However, if you want to "try" one there are private companies that often let you try one out for 30 days.

Can you "watch" TV without Close captioning? I cant..I havent seen a movie, without close captioning or hearing aids in about ten years. If you can watch TV/movie without CC, then be patient..as I said, your hearing will probably get about 5% worse per year.

My advice is to enjoy what hearing you have left. As I said, if you are desperate, and cant hear, (like me) then you will do whatever it takes to get hearing aids...JMHO

[rentalguy1]

If your hearing isn't bad enough for the VA to assign a rating percentage, then it probably isn't bad enough for a audiologist to prescribe you a hearing aid. For the ratings, the tables are pretty cut and dry, and your audiogram and speech recognition scores either line up with a rating, or they don't. If the audiologists doesn't think your hearing is bad enough for hearing aids they can give you a wireless listening device that hooks into your TV and amplifies the sound. They gave me one and it seems to work pretty good, even though I hardly ever watch TV.

[broncovet]

Rental guy..

Gee..here we go again. I have a zero percent rating for hearing loss, which is a 55 decibel

loss. Yes, my audiologist uses the word "moderately severe-severe" hearing loss (both ears are similar) to apply to my hearing loss, yet they pay for hearing aids, and have assigned me a 0% evaluation for hearing loss.

Of course, I dont know how bad cavmans hearing loss is.

I really do appreciate you rentalguy..even tho we dont agree on stuff..I highly suggest the Vets take your advice and not mine, because yours is much more likely to win their claim. I am much more of an "outcast" and the RO HATES outcasts..especially me...and they let me know that by denying four out of five of my claims.

The good part is that even if you are a BIG PAIN in the BUT, like me, you can still win your claim with persistentce, it is just that if you use rentalguys methods, you will get your benefits much faster.

[rentalguy1]

All the RO's are ate up. We all know this. There is also no surprise that there is a huge disconnect between the RO's and the VAMC's. They screwy part here is that I am actually rated at 10% for hearing loss (as well as another 10% for tinnitus), but the audiologist will not give me a hearing aid, even though I want one and the wife and I have both asked him to do so. They did give me the amplifying device, though. It's a crazy world the VA lives in...

Let me add to this, that even though we may have hearing loss that is bad enough to garner us a rating when applied to the rating tables, the individual audiologists at each VAMC may see it differently. Just like one primary care doc my willingly give you a narcotic for pain, and another down the hall may insist that all you need is naproxen.

Edited January 19, 2009 by rentalguy1

[broncovet]

Interesting Rental guy.. it is just what I have said in the past about the differences between RO's...yours give you 10% with No hearing aids, mine gives hearing aids with zero percent...

May I ask what is your average decibel loss, and speech differentation? I have appealed my zero percent evaluation TWICE and been denied twice.

However, I am SC for depression secondary to hearing loss at 30%.

[rentalguy1]

I'm not sure how to come up with a average dB loss, but my averages from the last &P were right: 26.25 dB, left:23.75 dB, and the speech recognition scores were right: 80, and left: 72. When applied to the rating tables in 38 CFR 4.85, you come up with a 10% rating. I pointed this out to the RO for sure. :P

When the averages above are applied to Table VI or 4.85 you come up with a III for the right ear and a IV for the left ear. Then when you apply those Roman Numerals to Table VII, you come up with a solid 10% rating.

The speech recognition scores seem to be what gets most vets I think. I can hear the puretone machine decently, but when I listen to people talk it sounds like they are mumbling. I have to look right at someone when they are talking to be able to understand them. That comes from 4 years of riding in helicopters.