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Before You Buy: What You Need to Know About Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids
cnet ^ | 04/06/2023

Posted on 04/08/2023 6:03:09 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Are there any risks with OTC hearing aids? Yes, as with any medical device, there are risks. If you do not have a hearing test performed by a doctor prior to buying OTC, you may be unprepared to use them properly. The max output on the devices may cause hearing loss if you do not require a high level (a doctor can tell you your max output level via a test).

Additionally, OTC hearing aids may pose a risk to minors. Creed adds, "I worry about kids getting them. The FDA is not requiring an ID to purchase." She says that these devices won't be locked up in stores and pharmacies, so theoretically, anyone can get their hands on them. The max output on these devices can cause hearing loss in minors.

OTC hearing aids aren't for everyone. You may need to see a physician or get a prescription.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: bighearing; bighearingaides; hearingaids; theyknowbest
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1 posted on 04/08/2023 6:03:09 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin
"OTC hearing aids aren't for everyone. You may need to see a physician or get a prescription."

Then they fail to meet the definition of OTC.

2 posted on 04/08/2023 6:09:19 PM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: BenLurkin

I’m in Florida. Florida has a law that if your hearing differs by 30dB between ears then you must be referred for an MRI. That’s how I found out I had a brain tumor. (You’d think my GP would have referred me after I completely lost my balance and had to learn to walk using my eyes for balance. But, noooooo. He sent me for balance therapy. )

The medical doctor had a subcontractor who performed the hearing test and they tried to sell me a set of hearing aids at three grand each. I got the very same ones, programmed the same way from Costco for $1500 total.


3 posted on 04/08/2023 6:16:12 PM PDT by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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To: BenLurkin

4 posted on 04/08/2023 6:17:19 PM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: BenLurkin

eally glad to get this advice.

From the same experts that gave us advice on the wu-flu clot shots (and still are pushing them).


5 posted on 04/08/2023 6:22:47 PM PDT by old curmudgeon (There is no situation so bad that the federal government can not make worse.)
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To: Larry Lucido

I just use a long oil funnel these days


6 posted on 04/08/2023 6:26:42 PM PDT by digger48
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To: BenLurkin

I have a Bone Anchored Hearing Aide. You can’t just stick it in your ear, you have to have a post drilled into your skull.

For the first time since I was a child, I heard real stero!


7 posted on 04/08/2023 6:27:23 PM PDT by Conan the Librarian (Conan the Sailing Librarian)
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To: Gen.Blather

I get a letter in the mail from at least one of the major hearing aid providers trying to get me to come in for this freebie or that freebie and get a comprehensive test. They prey on seniors because of the additional coverages (i.e., for hearing aids) under Medicare Advantage. IMO, they are fantastically overpriced.


8 posted on 04/08/2023 6:34:17 PM PDT by Gaffer
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To: digger48

just use a long oil funnel these days

WHAAAT?

For real, i have a great pair of Resound hearing aids. Changed my life.

But truth be told, there is just only so much everyday crap i can tolerate listening to, so i may take them out for a holiday day off. Especially if my mother-in-law is gak coughing about. (Sounds like spitting in my ear.)

WHAAAAT?


9 posted on 04/08/2023 6:36:12 PM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL . )
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To: Conan the Librarian

Wow, I bet getting charged up in the morning is a lot easier.

Every hearing aid I have had all did the same thing, made everything louder, enough so speech was still lost in the racket.


10 posted on 04/08/2023 6:38:58 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
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To: drSteve78

A friend turns his off during the sermon. He and the pastor are good friends but I don’t think the pastor knows! :>)


11 posted on 04/08/2023 6:39:04 PM PDT by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of feelings, not thoughts.)
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To: BenLurkin

I’ve bought at least five or six, because my insurance doesn’t cover hearing aids. None of them worked.


12 posted on 04/08/2023 6:40:36 PM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan
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To: BenLurkin

13 posted on 04/08/2023 6:41:41 PM PDT by Kenny Bania (Ovaltine? Why not call it Roundtine?)
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To: Conan the Librarian

“For the first time since I was a child, I heard real stereo!”

One ear is mostly gone from a scuba middle ear trauma.
The loss of directional hearing is the pits. My wife will call me and I have no idea where the sound it coming from.

Than God my eyes are still doing great.


14 posted on 04/08/2023 6:42:08 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
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To: digger48

No batteries to change!


15 posted on 04/08/2023 6:46:58 PM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: BenLurkin

If you have real hearing loss, you need a good audiologist and hearing aids that can do more than amplify.

For years I was told there was no point in hearing aids because I have a loss of discrimination. Making things louder doesn’t help. A few years ago an ENT said technology had progressed to where it would help me. He also said the audiologist at Sam’s could do just as much as anywhere & cost me a lot less (true). Mine have 96 individual frequencies that can each be adjusted independently for the areas that have the greatest loss.

My next pair will have bluetooth which will measurably improve my ability to use my cell phone. My audiologist who has worse hearing loss than I uses those and says they are nice. His hearing aids adjust 126 individual frequencies.

After 5 years I can say that buying a retail hearing aid that amplifies is of little value to most people with hearing loss. Just make sure you explore the supplier options. Sams or Costco will cost a LOT less than most others and they have all the equipment for proper testing.


16 posted on 04/08/2023 6:48:57 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ( If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there..)
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To: Conan the Librarian

That is amazing.


17 posted on 04/08/2023 6:50:21 PM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a conspiracy theory in ‘20 is now fact. Land of the sheep, home of the knaves)
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To: Gen.Blather
I'd go with the Lee Majors Bionic Ear. How could you go wrong?


18 posted on 04/08/2023 6:54:28 PM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: BenLurkin

Eh?


19 posted on 04/08/2023 6:57:29 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Gaffer
>> I have been getting those letters for years.

May have something to do with my FR handle.

20 posted on 04/08/2023 6:59:03 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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