Anyone Wear a Hearing Aid?

[joeychitwood]

Over the last few years, my hearing has diminished markedly. It's getting to the point where I'm having trouble hearing conversations, TV and movies, public speakers, etc. I also have constant tinnitus in both ears. I'm considering a hearing aid. I've talked to a couple of friends about their experience, and both say they should have caved in and bought them sooner.

Do any of you use hearing aids? I'd appreciate your impressions and recommendations for specific aids.

[Dr.Brian]

My father finally caved in early this year at 90!
He should have had them 10+ years ago.
He said it is amazingly different and he wears them all the time. Life changing. I figured he wouldn’t wear them as he was used to significant hearing loss for a long time.
His are power ones from Oticon. My wife used to work for a division of their company and she always said they are the best. The Rolex of hearing aids. Her mother uses Oticon hearing aids as well for a long time now. Her hearing loss is near cochlear implant level.
They are expensive, but you get what you pay for.
Good luck!

(Note- Not affiliated with Oticon any more, nor a stock holder.)


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[24 nights]

Huh?

[Fencer]

I am somewhat in the same boat, difficulty hearing conversations, etc. I fight some of it by using headphones with the TV, but roomful of people is a problem. So checked out the aids, and decided to wait. I don't like the fact I would need to wear it full time - I was hoping I could put it in just on an "as needed" basis - but no luck. The constant battery change is another problem. And then I do a lot of shooting, and wear ear plugs, so I know they begin to get uncomfortable after 2-3 hours - I am afraid an aid would also do that.

All told, I am still without it, even though I have substantial hearing loss. So I would delay that step for as long as you can.

BTW... my father, who is now 102, and went through four years of war, with all the shots and explosions around him, has wonderful hearing. So go figure...

[jmsjabb]

I have one, and I’m 46. I had sudden hearing loss in one ear. I went private and had one made that slips away in the canal. It is impossible to see front on.
It has different settings and overall I am pleased with it.
However, it depends what you want it to do. In quiet situations, talking in small groups etc it’s brilliant. At parties or areas with a lot of background noise, it is less useful as it amplifies all sounds, not just voices. You use a computer to tailor it to the required frequencies you need to boost.


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[rootbeer7]

Originally Posted by 24 nights

Huh?

Not particularly funny

[swils8610]

My father does. He spent over 5k on them. He didn’t like them and didn’t wear them. He recently had a friend purchase then from Costco. Loved them. My dad went to Costco and purchased them also. Night and day. He wears them daily now. Couldn’t be happier.


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[77T]

My Mom had them and the expensive ones that disappear in-ear. Her experience was not good. The sidetone level was hard to balance ear-to-ear.


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[THC]

My brother needed them and insurance does not help pay, which I think is criminal. He got them but 10k out of pocket

[Brew]

I have tinnitus in both ears, they ring CONSTANTLY. The audiologist said it was from hearing loss. Hearing aides were not recommended.

[jmsjabb]

Originally Posted by Brew

I have tinnitus in both ears, they ring CONSTANTLY. The audiologist said it was from hearing loss. Hearing aides were not recommended.

That’s strange. I have tinnitus and I was told it would help, and it has!


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[utc66]

I don’t need them yet, but surely will - 30 years playing gigs. My insurance does cover them which is very rare. They are supposed to help with tinnitus. A friend of mine had hearing loss and tinnitus and he’s basically chosen to be a recluse as being in loud situations like restaurants is unbearable. But he’s an old fart even when he was younger so the recluse part might be just him.

[colpol]

Originally Posted by 24 nights

Huh?

Shook my head at this.

[swatty]

I wore hearing aids in my early Forties. I then found a specialist that correctly diagnosed my hearing loss and was able to operate and replace my central hearing bone with Teflon. I had otosclerosis.
That was over 10 years ago, just starting to notice hearing in my right ear declining so might have the revisit hearing aids myself.
Previously I had Widex in ear aids, they worked great and automatically dulled loud sounds,

[steve099]

I finally caved in after 40 yrs and got one fitted to help me with my 70% loss in one ear. Its taken me quite a few months to adjust to it and although I will never recover anything like 100% hearing, I do get around 50% now which is a big change for me, so big that its taking my brain quite a while to adjust

I settled on a resound linx quatro

https://www.hearingchoices.com.au/he...-rechargeable/

Just keep in mind you need a professional to tune them very carefully to your exact requirements for you to get the most out of them. This takes time and many visits. It also takes time for you brain to adjust.

My only regret is I waited so many decades to do something about it, its cost me dearly over there years with areas like social interaction.

Good luck and hope this helps

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Over the last few years, my hearing has diminished markedly. It's getting to the point where I'm having trouble hearing conversations, TV and movies, public speakers, etc. I also have constant tinnitus in both ears. I'm considering a hearing aid. I've talked to a couple of friends about their experience, and both say they should have caved in and bought them sooner.

Do any of you use hearing aids? I'd appreciate your impressions and recommendations for specific aids.

I dont but my boss has ones with bluetooth in them. It is pretty cool.

[Hawksfan]

If you think you need one...get one! My dad waited way too long to get one, for years he couldn't really hear conversations around him so he stopped trying. It almost certainly accelerated his cognitive decline. There have been some studies that show this phenomenon. When you can't follow conversations you start to "check out" and your mind needs the stimulation to stay sharp. Don't wait too long, I wish my dad had gotten them sooner!

[daveathall]

I wear hearing aids in both ears, it is life changing. Do you know the first time after an eye test that you put some glasses on and saw everything so vivid? Well that's how it is with hearing aids, only more so. It takes a bit of getting used to, the first thing I noticed was the rustling of my clothes and the wind and traffic when I went outside.

I have Widex Evoke that can be programmed to react to different situations, for example, at a restaurant, it will only pick up (in essence) those on my table and not all around me, when driving it will cut out the road noise etc.

I have Tinnitus and certain things can be done with the aids to combat it, I don't know much about it though.

Using hearing aids is life changing, I said that before but it is the best description I can give.

I recommended Widex because they are the one's I chose, there are also many other great manufacturers.

https://www.widex.com/en-gb/hearing-aids/

[brandrea]

Damn Joey, I’m really sorry to hear that you’re struggling. I hope you find a solution to improve your quality of hearing.

What does your audiologist have to say?

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by brandrea

Damn Joey, I’m really sorry to hear that you’re struggling. I hope you find a solution to improve your quality of hearing. What does your audiologist have to say?

I saw an audiologist shortly after posting this thread and was given Phonak programmable behind-the-ear aids. As Dave noted, the change was remarkable. I love my aids. My tinnitus has also decreased, as it often does with well-programmed HAs. I was amazed at how much auditory input I was missing due to hearing loss.

I also purchased in-the-ear aids to wear while skiing, boating, biking, etc. They can't be dislodged by wind or helmets.

My audiologist laughed the last time I saw her and said she has seen countless friends of mine who I've referred for aids. Truly life-changing.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I saw an audiologist shortly after posting this thread and was given Phonak programmable behind-the-ear aids. As Dave noted, the change was remarkable. I love my aids. My tinnitus has decreased, as it often does with well-programmed HAs.



I also purchased in-the-ear aids to wear while skiing, boating, biking, etc. They can't be dislodged by wind or helmets.



My audiologist laughed the last time I saw her and said she has seen countless friends of mine who I've referred for aids. Truly life-changing.

Good to know Joey. I'm not too far behind you me thinks...

EDIT: I just realized the original date of your post Same still applies though

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[crew]

Coincidentally, I made an appointment with an audiologist just yesterday. My hearing has been bad for longer than I care to admit. I’m now 66 years old and it’s time. I hope to have “life changing” results like the ones posted here.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I saw an audiologist shortly after posting this thread and was given Phonak programmable behind-the-ear aids. As Dave noted, the change was remarkable. I love my aids. My tinnitus has also decreased, as it often does with well-programmed HAs. I was amazed at how much auditory input I was missing due to hearing loss.

I also purchased in-the-ear aids to wear while skiing, boating, biking, etc. They can't be dislodged by wind or helmets.

My audiologist laughed the last time I saw her and said she has seen countless friends of mine who I've referred for aids. Truly life-changing.

I don't know Joey. I'm not sure if I'd want to hear what everyone has to say about me that I couldn't pick up before.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Blansky

I don't know Joey. I'm not sure if I'd want to hear what everyone has to say about me that I couldn't pick up before.

You can always turn down the volume with your phone or run music through the Bluetooth function.

A new small pleasure in life is removing the aids in the evening to read or rest. It's like dunking your head in a bucket of water and blocking out the world.

[RyanJ]

My dad fought doing it for years. It really did get problematic when he could not hear during our phone calls.

He finally caved and went to Costco. It changed all of our lives as he can now be apart of our world again. It took him a while to wear them regularly but the difference is night and day.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Over the last few years, my hearing has diminished markedly. It's getting to the point where I'm having trouble hearing conversations, TV and movies, public speakers, etc. I also have constant tinnitus in both ears. I'm considering a hearing aid. I've talked to a couple of friends about their experience, and both say they should have caved in and bought them sooner.

Do any of you use hearing aids? I'd appreciate your impressions and recommendations for specific aids.

Myself wear two hearing aids but first I bought one that cost quite a bit of money but was not satisfactory. Then had a talk with my GP who sent me for a full audiologist hearing test under out national health. Was tested and later fitted with two national health aids which have been updated over the years,and have been perfect for me over the last 10 years with free batteries and service if needed. I worked in the heavy steel steel industry for 30 years and many years diving as a PADI instructor and dive guide both took a heavy toll on my hearing loss.

[Chopped54]

Originally Posted by colpol

Shook my head at this.

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

Not particularly funny

People need to stop being offended for other people.....
I have hearing loss + tinitus in which I am fairly regularly contemplating hearing aids. I laughed at his Huh? comment.

[MrGoat]

Originally Posted by Chopped54

People need to stop being offended for other people.....
I have hearing loss + tinitus in which I am fairly regularly contemplating hearing aids. I laughed at his Huh? comment.

Hmmmnnn, how do you know those you quoted don’t understand from hearing loss?

That being said, I laughed kinda hard at the “Huh?” And I have uncorrected hearing loss. I say huh many times a day.


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[Oscarpapa]

Originally Posted by Chopped54

People need to stop being offended for other people.....
I have hearing loss + tinitus in which I am fairly regularly contemplating hearing aids. I laughed at his Huh? comment.

Well said.

[BillA]

Call Costco and make appt with hearing specialist, they give you a hearing test, it is free!
They have major brands and you cannot beat their pricing.
Private audiologists are ripoffs and bilk the elderly.
I have a pair of Rexton I jut got, behind the ear, they are excellent.