Paul Stickney

Paul Stickney has had a hearing loss since birth. As a child, he wore hearing aids and an FM system in the classroom. As a young adult, he rarely wore his hearing aids. He found them uncomfortable, too noticeable, and ineffective in a lot of situations.

Paul Stickney, age 24, binaural Indigo CIC wearer

When he wasn’t wearing his hearing aids, Paul would have to ask others to repeat themselves. He would guess at what others were saying and try to piece together missed conversations. When watching movies with his friends, he wouldn’t hear all of the dialogue, and the sound would have to be much louder than was comfortable for his friends. When looking back, Paul realizes that he missed a lot of what his high-school teachers taught, and when attending lectures in university, he tried to compensate by sitting at the front of lecture halls. Having to adapt his life to his hearing loss became increasingly frustrating, especially when straining to hear conversations.

Paul decided to try Indigo™ Completely-In-the-Canal (CIC) hearing instruments. He had heard how digital hearing instruments were becoming more sophisticated. He also wanted a hearing aid that would adapt to his active lifestyle, and be as discreet as possible.

“I was interested in something small and discreet, but it was also important to me to have a hearing aid that just worked and that I didn’t have to worry about,” explains Paul. “Sort of like out of sight, out of mind.”

After wearing his Indigo™ CICs for three months, Paul cannot believe how much he was missing.

Paul’s audiogram depicting his mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss bilaterally.

“It’s very neat to hear things that I haven’t heard in a long time. I especially appreciate not having to ask others to repeat what they’ve said. I catch what others are saying the first time, and I just experience less strain overall when listening to conversations.”

Paul works as a teller in a bank so face-to-face conversations are a constant part of his daily experience. With his Indigo hearing aids, he notices that he can discriminate consonants more easily, and sounds are crisper and clearer. When watching television with his friends, they sometimes ask him to turn up the television volume now, which he finds a nice change.

Paul also finds Indigo’s automatic program very convenient:

“The Indigo hearing aids adapt automatically as I go through my day so I don’t have to worry about anything. They do the work for me, and just do what hearing aids should do.”

As Paul describes it, “It is sort of like a digital camera taking the best quality picture for you automatically. The Indigo hearing aids automatically adapt so I get the best picture for my ears all the time.”

When listening to music, Paul notices that he can hear the singers and tones in the background whereas before it just seemed like filler noise. He was also surprised he could hear a ticking sound in his car, something his girlfriend told him about before, but he could never hear.

Paul recommends Indigo CIC hearing aids to others with hearing loss. He recently talked to his grandfather about the benefits he has experienced, and highly encouraged him to try Indigo hearing aids.

“I am definitely happy. They have boosted everything to a whole new level. Most of all, I just like not having to ask others to repeat themselves over and over. It is way less frustrating and really nice.”