Educate me on hearing aides

[Dixie]

Educate me on hearing aides.

Beginning last year the FDA cleared hearing aides to be sold OTC. Sounds like a real money saver, but I know nothing about hearing aides. Do they need to be tuned to match your hearing loss? Are hearing aides only for severe hearing loss, or do they benefit moderate loss as well?

I'm pretty sure I've got some hearing loss. (Probably from too much AC/DC.) One reason, I feel like I'm talking really loud lately. Another reason is I took an online test and it indicates moderate loss.

[recycled sixtie]

First off I would check to make sure that you do not have a buildup of wax in the ears. That can contribute to loss of hearing. Ideally a doctor or nurse can remove the wax. Also there are various products sold in drug stores that can help remove wax.

Next you could consider buying hearing aids on line. They start off being quite cheap but are not as effective as the ones sold for instance in Costco where I got my last pair from.

The ones I got from Costco are pretty effective but the technician there fitted me with Phillips hearing aids. They go into the ear but have a flexible retaining plastic wire that wraps around the ear to stop it falling out.

Loss of hearing can contribute towards dementia. Good hearing is important to quality of life.

No regrets getting them.
Cheers, Guy

[Sooner or later]

What?

[rfuerst911sc]

Hearing aids run the gamut of cheap to stupid expensive . My MIL has hearing loss but is quite a bit older than you . Anyway my wife had her tested by a doctor and hearing aids were prescribed . A local company was called into the assisted living facility to take measurements. Hearing aids were manufactured and fitted/adjusted . Several adjustments have been made since the $4,000 dollar purchase . No limit on how many adjustments can be made . All included in the purchase price .

After every adjustment MIL says they are working great . Then she never wears them . They are small , easy to install and recharge . Nothing difficult at all . MIL now refuses to wear them . Not money well spent in her case . But I do believe local expertise is a valid purchase requirement to be able to " tune " for YOUR particular hearing loss . I say start with your physician and go from there .

[vash]

I feel you would be getting them for both yourself and the ones around you. my mom refuses to wear them, and talking to her is torture. I just watched her and my auntie have two different conversations because both of them are deaf.

1st. get checked by an ear doc. I thought I was losing my hearing but testing showed I am okay. I think I just choose to ignore people . oh, I had custom earplugs made at the time and they are sick!!

2nd: consider dark colored units. my youngass friend wears them. from birth. he said it was way better when he bought black ones because people can see them and understand he had difficulty hearing. made sense to me.

that's all I have. I'll be there someday.

[MBAtarga]

Dixie - search is your friend. We've already covered every possible topic on PPOT
Find a thread with the most related discussions and go from there.
My input as mentioned on at least one of these threads is go to Costco. No cost hearing test and 6 month no questions asked money back return if you purchase a hearing aid(s).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1137805-hearing-aid-questions.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1133952-do-you-wear-hearing-aid.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1128718-hearing-aids.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/943807-hearing-aids-tinnitus.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1106861-hearing-aids.html

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1167164-educate-me-hearing-aides.html

[MMiller]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

First off I would check to make sure that you do not have a buildup of wax in the ears. That can contribute to loss of hearing. Ideally a doctor or nurse can remove the wax. Also there are various products sold in drug stores that can help remove wax.

Next you could consider buying hearing aids on line. They start off being quite cheap but are not as effective as the ones sold for instance in Costco where I got my last pair from.

The ones I got from Costco are pretty effective but the technician there fitted me with Phillips hearing aids. They go into the ear but have a flexible retaining plastic wire that wraps around the ear to stop it falling out.

Loss of hearing can contribute towards dementia. Good hearing is important to quality of life.

No regrets getting them.
Cheers, Guy

This!

I'm also a Costco customer, Getting them changed my life, had no idea how much I was missing and making people around me miserable with asking them to repeat themselves and me talking so loud.

[HobieMarty]

Here ya go!!!

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Superman]

MBAtarga is right, so I will just add my anecdotal perspective. I got mine at Costco. The devices they sell are top notch, at a price far lower than you will find elsewhere. Also, the hearing analysis and fitting is free, as is the excellent ongoing cost-free service you always get at Costco. And when I say 'hearing analysis' I mean your hearing aids are custom programmed to address your personal unique hearing loss profile. Choice of colors. I picked a sort of silver because that is the color of my hair. My hair is longish and people never notice the devices.

My Costco guy recommended the Rexton devices. The app allows you to adjust some things. For example, at a restaurant you can tell the devices to ignore sounds coming from anywhere except right in front of you. You hear your dinner friend very clearly above the din. About $1600, as I recall. I couldn't be happier.

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Dixie - search is your friend. We've already covered every possible topic on PPOT
[/url]

Thank ya kindly. You're 100% right; however, being able to interact in near real-time is the beauty of the forum.
If all we ever did in life is look things up, it would be a boring world

[wdfifteen]

My wife got Oticon hearing aides and hardly ever wore them. With the audiologist visits and hearing aides it cost about $2500. I tried them and I don't think they helped much. They come with a phone app that lets you tune them to your liking. I think that's better than going to an audiologist once in a while and having them adjust them. You can re-tune them depending on your situation.

[stevej37]

I'd be willing to pay for a good hearing aide. She would have to be in good shape and cute. If it didn't work out, I'd get a hearing aid.

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I'd be willing to pay for a good hearing aide. She would have to be in good shape and cute. If it didn't work out, I'd get a hearing aid.

Lol, okay. Autokorrect got me.

[jyl]

I was buying my dad hearing aids online, now we go to Costco and have been very happy with them.

But first have your ears checked for wax. I noticed growing hearing loss a year ago, went into the clinic, they removed a large amount of wax buildup, and my hearing was back to normal. Well, normal-ish. I'm 61 y/o and following conversations in crowded or loud environments is increasingly taxing.

[JackDidley]

I have been wearing an aid for 50 years. The main thing is getting it adjusted properly. If you get them with bluetooth you can do it yourself with an app on your phone. I tried getting them from the specialist and it was no better than just buying on line and learning to do it myself . +1 for Rexton.

[greglepore]

Apple's next gen airpods are going to have some self adjusting hearing aid functions.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Apple's next gen airpods are going to have some self adjusting hearing aid functions.

^^This^^

[fintstone]

I have very high-end hearing aids through an audiologist. They are small and you can barely see them if the choice of colors is correct (hair/skin color). People generally don't notice I have them unless I tell them. Silver/grey ones look great if your hair is greying slightly.

It is the second set for me. I replaced the first set after wearing them daily for 7 years because of slight improvements (rechargeable batteries, relocation of the tiny microphone to focus sound better, AI, etc.), but these are very similar and the same band (Widex). Buying them allowed me to work effectively 5 or 6 more years than I would have been able to do...as I had a great deal of difficulty understanding coworkers and spoke way too loud.

Blue Cross covered the first $2500...and allows me to get some new ones (and pay the difference myself) every 5 years. Of course, they preapprove the purchase based on the Audiologist's testing/diagnosis. I like that they are very customizable by the audiologist.

I really need them to watch TV. I also use the Bluetooth to listen to music from my Iphone. It was great when I rode the train for hours each day. It is also great when driving cross-country as I can play Sirius XM (phone app) and not bother my wife (who does not share my taste in music/news). The new ones have a dongle for my computer that goes in the USB port that allows me to hear audio very well. My speakers did not do the job....and I had great difficulty with videos. They also route my phone calls via blue tooth to my hearing aids. This allows privacy and I find it very hard to use a phone otherwise (without putting it on speaker on high volume).

I can see how some find it difficult to wear these as they are a little annoying at first...and if you don't wear them regularly, the added volume and crispness of sounds can give you a mild headache (like new glasses do for those that wear them). When I first get up, I wait until after my first cup of coffee to put them in as I like the dull sounds in the AM. Sometimes I forget and go somewhere and regret not having them.

Because they use AI to try to deliver the best sound...sometimes they just do not work perfectly.
For example, sometimes in a large, crowded restaurant, I can hear the couple way back in the corner while struggling with the person nearby...of the creaming baby is amplified over my server. Most of the time, they are great.

[wildthing]

I bought a Lexie B1 for a friend of mine. Can be tuned with an app. But this was after he was diagnosed, but the prescription ones were too expensive.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

They come with a phone app that lets you tune them to your liking. I think that's better than going to an audiologist once in a while and having them adjust them. You can re-tune them depending on your situation.

I don't think you can do that and I don't think your hearing profile changes with various 'situations.' Hearing loss happens at some frequencies more than others. And so, your specific hearing loss can be expressed as a graph showing what frequencies need boosting and how much. This is what the audiologist does. I suppose one's hearing loss profile probably changes over time, but probably slowly, and I just don't see how you could do the work of an audiologist yourself. My Rexton app allows adjustments, but reprogramming them according to a new hearing loss profile does not seem to be one of the available adjustments.

Originally Posted by JackDidley

I have been wearing an aid for 50 years. The main thing is getting it adjusted properly. If you get them with bluetooth you can do it yourself with an app on your phone. I tried getting them from the specialist and it was no better than just buying on line and learning to do it myself . +1 for Rexton.

Am I wrong, Jack? I've got the Rexton aids and the Rexton app. Can I reprogram the frequencies and boost profiles?

And yet, I'd also guess the Costco audiologist can re-test and re-analyze my hearing loss profile, then re-program the devices. For free.

Originally Posted by jyl

But first have your ears checked for wax.

That's the first thing Costco did. If my canals had wax then they'd have told me to go to a doctor to get them cleared out, but there was no wax. Just nice healthy pink eardrums.