arnieb
I have been wearing hearing aids for many years. They will not restore hearing to your original high level. However, they are a great help. I wear infrared earphones and hearing aids when watching TV. This combo helps me tremendously. Like you...the most frustrating thing for me is my speech. Sometimes I sound OK to myself. Other times I am not sure whether I am talking too loudly or too softly. I have my wife check me out before I attend dinner, etc. with others. And sometimes I sound to me as if I am talking from the bottom of a barrel. In other words, my speech to me sounds very varied from day to day and from situation to situation. And through it all my wife and friends tell me that I sound just fine. Frustrating to say the least. But hang in there and eventually you will begin to accept these varying conditions as normal for you.