Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

A question for those who use hearing aids.

Posted on 12/11/2024 5:44:59 AM PST by LouAvul

Who to consult for preliminary considerations? The guys at Costco? Or a licensed ENT? I seem to recall some specific hi-tech test for best results.

Which type hearing aid is best? In the ear canal? Outside?

Cons? Short battery life? Don't do the job?

My situation is I like the tv louder than my wife; can't always hear her; miss dialogue in Bible class at church; etc.

thanks


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: hearing; hearingaids
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last
To: LouAvul

I got mine at the VA. Excellent service and product.


61 posted on 12/11/2024 7:21:47 AM PST by Redleg Duke (“Time to Play Cowboys and Snowflakes!”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Yes, it is strange. As often happens, when a new company enters the market, they produce something with extraordinary quality to establish their reputation. I think that’s what Ziljidian did.


62 posted on 12/11/2024 7:22:30 AM PST by PUGACHEV
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

Bump


63 posted on 12/11/2024 7:39:20 AM PST by Bob434
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

My Miraclear hearing aids work ok but cost $6000. Can hook them up to my Apple smartphone and streaming music which is nice. Still can’t hear in the higher frequencies. Little kids are another problem.


64 posted on 12/11/2024 7:43:08 AM PST by JeanLM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul
I got mine through the Medicare/Medicade UHC Insurance. Zero copay/office visit and zero cost from My pocket. (IIRC they are $1200 each.) Full 1 year warranty and I can get a new set yearly.

They fit behind the ear lobe and have a tube in ear canal. They are barely visible when wearing them. They have an APP for Your Phone for different adjustments. They are also Bluetooth enabled for linking to the phone and other devices like the TV.

IMG-9256

IMG-9257

IMG-9260

IMG-9262

IMG-9265

Size comparison with a Lifesaver's Candy.

They are very comfortable. I just have to get used to wearing them is My only complaint and that's just Me.

65 posted on 12/11/2024 7:47:07 AM PST by mabarker1 ( (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

Depends on the cause of hearing loss. My right ear nerve is fine but the guts of that ear have been removed so I qualified for an Osia Baha device that attaches via magnet to the back of my head. An ethical ENT should be able to let you know if you need something as complicated as what I have vs. over the counter. I have a microphone that hangs on the back of our TV so I can hear via Bluetooth and not blast my wife. Best of luck.


66 posted on 12/11/2024 7:54:21 AM PST by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

Go to an ENT\Audiologist clinic if you can afford it.
I just got new ones. They made a cast of my auditory canal to form a plastic acoustic coupler. I can now hear a gnat fart. In fact, I now hear almost too much. It took some time to get used it.

OTC hearing aids are a crap shoot.


67 posted on 12/11/2024 8:01:31 AM PST by Reily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sit-rep

Scraping of chairs on the floor... crumpling of paper... these make me jump with hearing aids.


68 posted on 12/11/2024 8:22:18 AM PST by Demiurge2 (Define your terms!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

Don’t waste your money. Just go online and order a pair of Audien hearing aids for $80. They work just as well as $4,000 hearing aids. They have 3-4 adjustment levels.

I got a paIr for my 96 year old mother because she wouldn’t admit to a hearing problem but had the TV at defcon 4 and you had to yell at her when trying to speak to her. They worked great until she died 2 years later. She loved them once we strong armed her into trying them on.


69 posted on 12/11/2024 8:22:41 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

Mine are rechargeable. Highly recommend that feature.

Hard to say if behind-the-ear is right for you because your issues may be different, but that is what I have. Very small, sits behind my ear at the top with a cable connected to a piece that goes into my ear canal.

I got my hearing aids after visiting an audiologist who wrote the prescription and sold them to me. But it was not that long after that the rules changed allowing you to get much cheaper units without a prescription.

A brother-in-law had a terrible time with his non rechargeable hearing aids. He was all too frequently needing to replace the batteries, which were so tiny and easy to drop. Now, he is much happier with the rechargeables.

He got his, BTW, at Costco and was happy with the price.


70 posted on 12/11/2024 8:31:30 AM PST by Bigg Red (Trump will be sworn in under a shower of confetti made from the tattered remains of the Rat Party.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Georgia Girl 2

The Audien hearing aids are rechargeable and filter out background noise. I just checked their website and the price has increased to $189 for a pair but still a fantastic deal.


71 posted on 12/11/2024 8:39:25 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul

I did not have access to a Costco, or time to find a good local audiologist, so I went online and took every hearing test I could find. Laughs, lemme tell you, I have tinnitus and some of the tests are tricky... is that a tone? am I still hearing the tone? LOL

Anyway, got a general consensus and then started figuring out which companies seemed to have the best customer service. I finally went with Jabra and have been VERY pleased. They have a 100 day free trial, and a GREAT team for first time folks like myself. They program your hearing aids using the online testing, and they ask all kinds of questions.

As it turned out, the audiologist called me from Jabra and recommended strongly that I see an ENT due to some ear fullness I was having. After that appointment resolved the fullness, I had a hearing test done in the office, and Jabra adjusted my hearing aids again, much like an update on my phone.

Amazing. And as someone upthread said, I don’t have to keep asking folks to repeat themselves, Thank You Lord!

Tatt


72 posted on 12/11/2024 9:21:24 AM PST by thesearethetimes... (Had I brought Christ with me, the outcome would have been different. Dr.Eric Cunningham)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LouAvul
Who to consult for preliminary considerations? The guys at Costco? Or a licensed ENT? I seem to recall some specific hi-tech test for best results. Which type hearing aid is best? In the ear canal? Outside? Cons? Short battery life? Don't do the job? My situation is I like the tv louder than my wife; can't always hear her; miss dialogue in Bible class at church; etc.

I wear (expensive) hearing aids provided to me by the VA, but a good friend went to Costco to get replacements and he's very happy with them.

The type that's best are the ones most comfortable to YOU.

Battery life is a few days each if you wear them all the time. Many hearing aids today are rechargeable, so you don't have to worry about replacing batteries, but the technology of those seem to be a bit less than the older types - for now.

My hearing aids have built-in Bluetooth. I can connect to my phone which helps me A LOT. Also, I have a gizmo that connects to my TV and then broadcasts the sound directly into my hearing aids. The TV volume can be set to zero and I can watch TV that way.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

73 posted on 12/11/2024 9:21:26 AM PST by libertylover (Our biggest problem, by far, is that almost all of big media is AGENDA-DRIVEN, not-truth driven.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mad_as_he$$

What kind of phone do you have? I have Costco hearing aids...Phillips....newest ones and they are rechargeable. What they have at Costco is top line. Great warranties and free filters and ear inserts. If you have an apple phone, life will be easier with Bluetooth. With android, the phones don’t have the same useability features.


74 posted on 12/11/2024 9:28:03 AM PST by Michigan Bowhunter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Demiurge2; telescope115

I used to buy the expensive ones. but lost too many pair out drinking on the boat in the summers... get to drinkin, forget you have them in and then jump in the water or in the pool... the last amplified thing you here is white noise and then silence lol...


75 posted on 12/11/2024 9:32:23 AM PST by sit-rep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Well think about it! Sells loud cymbals... hearing loss... sells hearing aids too...

This my FRiend is the power of a marketing degree at work!!!


76 posted on 12/11/2024 9:43:59 AM PST by Nervous Tick (Wipe the stain of Islam off of the face of the earth!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: sit-rep

I lost a pair in the washing machine, forgot I had them in my jeans pocket… luckily, they were cheapies.


77 posted on 12/11/2024 9:44:59 AM PST by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: DCPatriot

My hearing aids come with a phone ap that I can adjust them volume wise as needed and even situational.
When I first got them I was freaking out walking on dry leaves and hearing all the noise.


78 posted on 12/11/2024 10:15:49 AM PST by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

following....


79 posted on 12/11/2024 10:25:17 AM PST by Faith65 (Isaiah 40:31 )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: telescope115
My Otocons came with a free three-year loss or damage replacement policy, which I have paid $150 per year to extend after it expired. They were replaced once when they malfunctioned, and I've come close to losing them several times, especially when I take them off and put them in my shirt pocket.

I find that hearing aids are hard to get used to in daily life. You really do hear everything, and much more than you usually want to. They are wonderful under certain circumstances, but I have lived almost fifty with bad hearing, so I am mostly adapted to it. In my early 20s I was playing around with a Ruger Red Hawk in an abandoned railroad cut without ear protection and paid the price. It was sad at first, because I enjoyed my better-than-average hearing. I recall sometimes laying out in a country field at twilight, closing my eyes and just taking in all the sounds. As I settled in, it seemed as if my consciousness expanded over the cleared acres and into the nearby forest. I could hear everything. Oh well, you live and learn, if you're lucky.

80 posted on 12/11/2024 10:37:40 AM PST by PUGACHEV
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson