What? Can't hear you!

[Jim]

Finally admitted to myself that I need to seek professional assistance with my hearing. Years of unprotected firearms usage, workplace noises, and concerts in my younger years, all of which has contributed to me missing a lot of what people are saying. Plus, I’m tired of Trish asking me, “what’s that clicking sound?” lol.

So, I took a step in the right direction and scheduled a hearing examination with a specialist, and we’ll see what they have to say. Anyone else having problems with hearing high pitched sounds or in environments with background noise?

 

[J&JD]

What?

 

[Neemer]

Been wearing aids since October. Wish I had done it sooner. You’ll be amazed.

There is a downside though. You’ll have to admit you’re really not listening to someone close to you.

 

[Boat Bum]

Anyone else having problems with hearing high pitched sounds or in environments with background noise?

That's exactly what my examination with an audiologist revealed at age 62/63.

 

[team bradfield]

7 years with beltones

 

[Magua]

My co-workers scheduled an appointment for me. They were tired of me asking “what did you say?” Also said I was embarrassing myself answering clients questions that had nothing to do with what they asked me. Amazing difference. Really eye opening to what was being missed. Birds singing, wind in the trees. They have helped tremendously except I still can’t hear crickets or frogs. ( not a bad thing).

 

[GTS225]

Here's hoping you didn't develop Meniere's disease. I was stupid enough to not wear hearing protection for the first 9 years of my industrial maintenance career. Developed hearing loss with an associated constant tone in my right ear, that has degenerated to Meniere's, and over the ensuing years, that right ear has decayed to the point that my phone just sounded like mush on that side, and was having problems determining direction of a sound source. Yes, I still hear a high-pitched whine on my right side that no one else can hear. Visit(s) to the VA got me fixed up with "cross-talk" aids where the right side retransmits those noises to the left side. That at least enables me to hear things from the right, but doesn't help with direction of sound.
Still can't get used to the 60's vintage Japanese transistor radio tinny sound from them, though.

Roger

 

[sheridany]

I have been hearing impaired since age five. I am a follower of all the latest hearing aid tech out there and there are some good products out there. I have tried a lot of the different brands and types. The single biggest difference is finding a very good audiologist who can customize the amplification to your specific needs. They have be really good on the software that does the fitting as almost all are configured that way. If you see them struggling and having to call tech support move on. They will not be able to optimize the settings. As far as purchase I can recommend ziphearing.com. They buy on volume so they can discount more than audiologists can. I have been buying from them at least ten years. Go to their website and they explain it really well. One last point is give it time to work. The trial is 45 days. Getting hearing aids can be an abrupt change to your hearing. The trial is your friend. Use them everyday all day and you will be amazed. Happy to get on the phone with you to talk in more details if you’d like.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

The tech can be amazing, but like @sheridany said, the key is the audiologist or hearing specialist who is adjusting them.
A great audiologist can make mediocre hearing aids work much better than the latest/best hearing aids in the hands of a mediocre audiologist/hearing specialist.

 

[Rich W.]

I went through all that, got tested, got custom $4500 hearing aids tuned to my specific hearing loss. I also tried cheap hearing aids ($300-400) during the 45 day return period. The expensive ones had a feature or two I liked better and were obviously higher quality, but the cheap ones had their pros too, aside from the low cost. Towards the end of the 45 day period I decided neither andded enough to my life to justify the cost and hassle of keeping them charged, not losing them, not damaging them, etc. That was six months ago and I don’t miss them. So that’s my .02 worth on hearing aids.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

My hearing loss is bad enough that the VA says I'm 50% service-connected disabled. Been wearing hearing aids for about 30 years now - the latest ones from the VA are Phonak and they help a lot, although they don't do much for my issues with "audio discrimination" - I usually can't hear a difference between words that sound similar (able, cable, table, enable, etc). My next step will most likely be a cochlear implant.

 

[sheridany]

I am curious to hear what you think about out an implant. I have met quite a few that have them and the consistent theme I heard was the sound quality is horrible. I have talked to a lot of doctors in CA who agree that can be an issue but for someone in the profound or nonexistent hearing category it can be life changing. My ENT says I should do my right side but I am holding off. Phonaks are what I use. I am on my second pair and they work great.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

My audiologist recommended giving these hearing aids a full 6 month trial before thinking about implants. She says it takes a while to get used to hearing through the implant, and you basically have to train your brain to understand conversations.

These Phonaks are great: they came with an accessory they call "Roger" - it's a pendant that you can wear around your neck, and it can isolate on specific conversations and ignore others, making it easier to hear people in a noisy environment. It also sits in a holder that connects via digital audio to a TV, sending the audio via bluetooth directly into the hearing aids.

My previous ones were Signia, and they had a similar connection to the TV, but they needed a phone app to connect to the hearing aids so it was a bit more complicated. The VA gives me new hearing aids avery 3 years, so I'm always pretty current with the technology.

 

[GTS225]

These Phonaks are great: they came with an accessory they call "Roger" - it's a pendant that you can wear around your neck, and it can isolate on specific conversations and ignore others, making it easier to hear people in a noisy environment. It also sits in a holder that connects via digital audio to a TV, sending the audio via bluetooth directly into the hearing aids.

Sounds like the same ones I got fixed up with. I thought it was humorously ironic that my hearing aids had a feature with the same name as the guy wearing them.

Roger

 

[Headhunter]

I have been using hearing aids for over 25 years. Two many gun shots without muffs, and working in a Government Arms Ammunition plant when I was young destroyed my hearing.

I had a set of Miracle Ear hearing aids that worked great and lasted 5 years. I also paid $5K for them. New technology marches on. I went to a highly rated hearing doctor in our area. The newest hearing aids were supposed to be compatible with the iphones. They were about $5K a set. They never worked right and I got my money back.

A friend said and suggested Costco who said they were carrying a lot of the main brands. Their Tech seemed to really know what they were doing setting up the digital hearing aids for your specific needs. The first ones lasted about three years and were about $2.5K. The second set about two years. The set I have now only have them about a year and they suck. Of course I only paid $1500 for them compared to the last one. But I really, really like the rechargeable ones compared to the battery ones.

One other note, I get the one style that goes BEHIND the ear with a small wire that fits the ear piece inside your ear. The ones that completely go INSIDE your ear are good, but you can hear yourself talk and chew, not cool. This is a big deal for me.

So I am back to going to a new ear doctor some one has recommended, and his hearing aids are running about $3.5 K. If you are REALLY hard of hearing it is a must to have hearing aids. I really can't live without them. That is If I want to hear what your talking about....:LOL

HH

 

[GlampDaddy]

I've been wearing them for about 12 years now. Went from not hearing the DW most of the time to hearing her just often enough. $2000 Costco units that do everything I need, including bluetooth connections.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Veterans: if you suffer from tinnitus it's pretty much a slam-dunk to get a 10% disability rating from the VA - if you have hearing loss on top of the tinnitus you can get free hearing aids from the VA.