Your question is not a simple one to answer. Many people have difficulty adjusting to hearing aids. I have worn them since the late 80’s when I suffered a head injury in a car crash. You will never have natural hearing again, aids augment your hearing but can’t restore it. In-the-ear aids prevent you from appearing disabled, but the behind-the-ear aids will generally function better.
After I get new aids, which only last about 5 years, it usually takes me several visits over several months to get them working in a way that assists me, rather than annoy me.
On price, it is like anything else, you get what you pay for. New high end aids are supposed to provide better directional support (I can’t wait to try a pair). You also get Bluetooth capability, which for me is a must for talking on the phone. High end aids offer better electronics which improves their performance, like I said, they don’t restore your hearing.
Get the best you can afford, and accept the fact it may take several months to get them performing in a way you are comfortable. The other issue is, since your audiologist isn’t deaf, he/she doesn’t understand what you are experiencing. You can pretend to be blind, or disabled, but you can’t experience what it is like to be deaf, or to suffer from hearing loss.
I have a pair of ReSound HA’s. they have Bluetooth and a sound generator for the tinnitus, and I can control the programs and volume from my cell phone.
I also have 3 programs in them. 1) All Around, it picks up sound from multiple directions and it also has the tinnitus generator with it. The tinnitus generator makes a white noise that helps muffle the loud ringing. 2) Restaurant, this one dims the noise around you and focuses on the sound coming from directly in front of you, it works really well, I can talk to my wife w/o saying WHAT, or having to lean across the table to hear her. 3) Outdoor, this one has Omni direction sound pick up but I can also cut down on the wind noise by decreasing the sensitivity of the hearing aide.
The batteries last about 7-10 days, depending on how long I wear them. most times I forget that I have them in my ears.
I am hearing things I have not heard in years, I love them. they are small and behind the ear HA’s and are not noticeable unless you are looking for them.
Get a pair, you won’t be sorry.
(P.S. I got mind from the VA, really good folks there too.)
I know because I'm having that same problem. :-)
I have a siemens brand.
They tune it specific to your hearing test.
It hangs over the ear, with tiny plastic tube going in the ear.
It has noise cancellation.
It’s comfortable.
I got a black one. People probably think it’s a part of my blue tooth ear bud.
My wife has some fancy digital ones that are constantly giving her trouble. When they stop working she goes back to her analog ones until they are fixed (again). Don’t be fooled into the most expensive are the best. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion).
I lost about 30% of my hearing in one ear about 10 years ago.
I got by by cheating. Learned to read lips. Kind of fun at large gatherings. Last year I was nearly run over by a truck because I could not hear what direction sounds were coming from. It was time.
I am using the ReSound brand, the type that you can control from an app on a smartphone. They are expensive, but it is worth it. Had to borrow from a buddy and paid him back over a couple of months.
Results have been awesome!!. I am hearing things I haven’t heard in many years. I like to listen to the classic rock stations now because I am now hearing instruments I didn’t know where in the songs and can now understand the words.
The first few weeks are difficult in that your brain is having to adjust to sounds it doesn’t recognize. Over time your brain adjusts and then you can hear like a teenager.
If you don’t mind looking like a teenager listening to music, I suggest you try an iPod touch (the cheapest model) with the free Ear Machine software. This has worked well for my dad for the last two years, better than the sequence of hearing aids that he spent $8,000 on.
For less than $200, you have something that you can compare the more expensive solutions to.
I did extensive research and concluded Phonak was the best. And you can get it at Costco for 1/2 the cost of a regular audiologist.
No one has mentioned the Personal Sound Amplifiers for a couple of hundred bucks. I thinking of trying them. I have two of those 4000 jobs from Oticon and after a dozen or so ‘adjustments’ I still can’t hear my wife [she has a weak voice].
Haven’t tried the VA. I’m 90 from WW II so that seems like a good idea.
Thanks to all. This site is one of the reasons I like Freeping.
I just got mine less than two weeks ago, and still am not quite accustomed to them. They are helpful in that I miss fewer words than I used to, especially without contexts.
I told Mrs. JimRed that since I can no longer pretend not to hear her, she’d better get ready to be offended by honest answers!
I see a couple mentions of tinnitis. I have had severe tinnitis for 48 years from blast damage along with some levels of hearing loss in all ranges. The VA told me 20 years ago that hearing aids would be no help so they gave me 10% service connection rating for the tinnitis and 0% for hearing loss. Have they come out with tinnitis aids now that won’t muffle whats left of the hearing and is it worth another try with the VA ?
I’m not over the hill but i can see the valley below.