Phonak Pico Fortes

[Guest guest]

At 07:19 AM 10/23/99 -0000, you wrote:

>I am confused, I have one audiologist telling me the hearing aids he has

aren't powerful enough for him and another telling me that there aren't any

others any more powerful. I'm not sure who or what to believe? My son has

Pico Forte by phonak he is!

> bilaterally aided and has a profound loss. He doesn't use his residual

hearing well or hasn't got that much whichever. Anyhow anyone have any

thoughts? Michele

Hi Michele. What the second audiologist said is wrong, and I'd ask him/her

to reiterate his/her position again, clearly, and if s/he sticks to that

opinion, I'd seek a new audiologist, and not turn back.

Phonak Pico Forte hearing aids are excellent hearing aids. A few years ago,

my son was fitted with them...he was two months old. He learned how to

listen and speak with them...he has a severe hearing loss, and the volume

wheel was set at 2 on one side, and 2.5 on the other.

I went for " second opinions " from a bajillion audiologists, and most were

very diplomatic. When I asked if there were BETTER hearing aids available

for my son's loss, they would always say that these were excellent hearing aids.

That said, there are definitely hearing aids that are more powerful than the

Pico Forte...the Phonak EProm is one example. I think the Novo Forte might

be stronger, too (Chris?). The Pico Forte is older technology...linear

analog, so it's not programmable. Phonak has hearing aids with newer, more

customizable technology, even for folks with profound hearing losses. Also,

Widex has two Senso models for high-gain needs...the P38 is a very powerful

digital programmable hearing aid. There are also other digital and

non-digital programmable hearing aids that could match most profound losses.

We're currently using Phonak SonoForte AudioZoom aids. We've found that we

need less overall gain (and thus get less feedback) because the aids are

programmable. One other major difference for us was the frequencies that the

different aids were able to amplify. The new aids amplify sounds up to 6000

hz. The Pico Fortes didn't have quite as wide a range. The day we got the

new aids, my son heard/said the " ssss " sound for the first time. Before, he

said " top! " , but that night, he said, " shtop! " . Now he says " stop! " , but his

" s " is still a little bit lateralized (meaning his tongue is flat and wide

in his mouth when he says it...we're working on it, but he's only 2...)

So, you're not doing him a disservice with Pico Fortes, IF they work. If

they're not working well enough for him, there are quite a few other options

to try. You get at LEAST a 30-day trial with any new hearing aids, so it

might be worth it to try something else, if it would make you more comfortable.

--kerri