Hearing Aids
- Thread starter luke
- Start date
I just posted this in the "Best Cataract Surgery Lenses for Pool" thread as a response to a comment. It's a bit off-topic there and it belongs here so I'll copy/paste.
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My cataracts are in the very early stage, so I still see fine with corrective lenses. I'm almost 70. However, I've been wearing hearing aids since my late 50s.
I used to take my Mother to the hearing aid place. Coincidently, she began noticing a falloff in her late 50s. I would take her once a year for a test to check to see if any correction was needed. After a number of years, I mentioned to the folks there that I might need a test, too.
At the time, I was doing annual presentations to a couple different industry groups. This was not a big thing. We would book either the Petroleum Club or a hotel, provide lunch and have a working session/presentation. There would be maybe 50 people there and me. I began to notice I'd have difficulty making out questions, especially from a female, but my style was to be mobile and walk around the room as opportunity presented itself during the presentation. So, I'd just walk to the table asking the questions and I'd be able to hear fine.
Back to the hearing aid place. The lady tested my hearing (for free) and found out that I did have hearing loss. I began wearing hearing aids. After 6 mos. to a year, I found I could not live without them. It was like a blanket was over my head until I put in my hearing aids. (Disclosure: the first 6-8 months were awful trying to adjust to hearing aids.)
I had been aware from taking my Mother that the earlier you time beginning to use hearing aids with your initial hearing loss, the better long-term results you will obtain. Mother had waited longer than me and found she had to read the newspaper out loud to herself in the mornings to help her brain adjust to speech recognition with the hearing aids. I did not have to do that, but again, there is an adjustment period for everyone.
Anyway, I hear pretty well as long as my hearing aids are in. Many places have a free or inexpensive test. If you are older or if you are having difficulty in certain situations hearing, go get tested. At least you'll know and can make an informed decision.
I'm 76 and bought hearing aids from Amazon (they have a lot of them) for $130 and they work pretty good.
They have 3 different settings for different environments and 10 volume levels.
Probably not as good,maybe as the $5K ones but what the hell they are good enough.
They have 3 different settings for different environments and 10 volume levels.
Probably not as good,maybe as the $5K ones but what the hell they are good enough.
I'll add that I've had several iterations of hearing aids in the last 15 years. I have always used ReSound.
I currently use ReSound LINX Quattro. They are 3-4 years old, so there may be a new model out. The audiologist (I've known now for over 25 years) tells me if there is something that gets developed that will result in a noticeable difference. She does not bother me with incremental improvements.
The Quattro syncs with an app on your iPhone. It will store 4 pre-sets (out of about 10-12 pre-sets). Your audiologist can discuss the available pre-sets with you and select the ones that are most useful for you. I use:
I currently use ReSound LINX Quattro. They are 3-4 years old, so there may be a new model out. The audiologist (I've known now for over 25 years) tells me if there is something that gets developed that will result in a noticeable difference. She does not bother me with incremental improvements.
The Quattro syncs with an app on your iPhone. It will store 4 pre-sets (out of about 10-12 pre-sets). Your audiologist can discuss the available pre-sets with you and select the ones that are most useful for you. I use:
- All-Around - Use this most of the time
- Restaurant - Mutes background noise in restaurants as well as offering some other instant adjustments
- Music - Full correction with no filters; closest you come to full hearing
- Outdoor - Particularly good for wind noise also; I even use it in the car with the windows down and sunroof open
Screw this
How much do ReSound LiNX Quattro cost?
$3,000 to $6,500 per pair
ReSound LiNX Quattro hearing aids range in price from $3,000 to $6,500 per pair, depending on your provider and the model you choose.Jul 6, 2022
Yes, I can understand how everyone needs to prioritize how and where they spend their money. Prices do not vary much across the top 3-5 hearing aid manufacturers.
At the time, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I had to address a couple of different energy industry groups at least annually and typically more often. I was considered an industry expert, and "Huh?" was not an acceptable response to a question. I had to talk on the phone with people all over Western Europe and sometimes host meetings in Aberdeen. I had to hear well.
So, I spent the money. Fortunately, my income (at the time) afforded me the opportunity to do so.
The Quattro have served me well. I purchased them 5 years ago on 8/24/2018, and they still serve me well. They come in three basic sizes, the difference being in how much and what type of electronics are inside. The more severe the hearing loss, the more electronics you require for adequate adjustment. I use the Medium size.
That summer my audiologist gave me a call to say that something new would come on the market in August (2018), and I would realize a significant improvement over the ReSound product I was using. I went in, got my hearing retested, and she gave me a demo pair (after programming them based upon my test results) to wear for 2 weeks.
Sure enough, I realized a significant improvement. I came back, put in a pre-order, and received one of the first pair that came to Houston. Being just on the market, there was no discount from the manufacturer.
But, I was a long-time customer. The Quattro were $3920 each, or $7840. The shop gave me a special discount of $1740, so I paid $6100 in September 2018. This included annual and as-needed full hearing tests and hearing aid programming, 4 year warranty and 4 year loss & damage, all filters, domes, etc. (maintenance parts that wear out every few weeks). They are rechargeable and no longer require batteries (batteries are pretty pricy at Walgreens and such). Included in the price was the case that recharges them; it still works fine. So, in my big picture, they were affordable.
Below was my hearing test at the time. The shaded area shows normal hearing range. I hear normally in the 250 Hz to 1500 Hz range. This means I hear male voices and vowels pretty well. I have a sharp drop off after that in the 1500 Hz to 8 Hz range, which means I have difficulty with women's voices and consonants as well as accents. But, the hearing aids take care of all of that.
To Luke, the OP, good luck with hearing better.
I am in the process of helping someone dear to me with this right now.
Here's what I learned:
Yes Resound are excellent as well as Phonak. Very expensive, too.
Technology and quality at the highest level can be had from Costco where the 2 top brands are Jabra & Philips. These are two global companies and not made in China but rather Poland, Denmark and Mexico.
We decided on the Jabra from Denmark, incredible reviews and $1599 for the pair and that includes an appointment and testing with an audiologist, 3 yr warranty, 2 year free replacement on lost or damaged per ear, free assistance and cleanings anytime you are at the Costco just drop them off, go shop for 20 min and you can pick up. The Philips were $100 cheaper but the audiologis said the Jabra Enhance Pro 10 was a slightly better match for the type of hearing loss.
My research also turned up an honorable mention candidate hearing aid which is Lexie and is powered by Bose, very well rated and costs $999 for a pair.
Another great resource is Soundly.com where lots of independent reviews and related info can be found.
good luck
best,
brian kc
Here's what I learned:
Yes Resound are excellent as well as Phonak. Very expensive, too.
Technology and quality at the highest level can be had from Costco where the 2 top brands are Jabra & Philips. These are two global companies and not made in China but rather Poland, Denmark and Mexico.
We decided on the Jabra from Denmark, incredible reviews and $1599 for the pair and that includes an appointment and testing with an audiologist, 3 yr warranty, 2 year free replacement on lost or damaged per ear, free assistance and cleanings anytime you are at the Costco just drop them off, go shop for 20 min and you can pick up. The Philips were $100 cheaper but the audiologis said the Jabra Enhance Pro 10 was a slightly better match for the type of hearing loss.
My research also turned up an honorable mention candidate hearing aid which is Lexie and is powered by Bose, very well rated and costs $999 for a pair.
Another great resource is Soundly.com where lots of independent reviews and related info can be found.
good luck
best,
brian kc
Good call on Costco. They have a great rep with regard to hearing aids. Sometimes it may be a year before they get a new model, but they carry a wide array of quality products.
I say this because I used to frequent a hearing aid forum, and there was considerable positive discussion regarding Costco. i kept up with this forum for a while:
Hearing Aid Forum - Active Hearing Loss Community
An open forum to discuss hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other hearing solutions. Welcome to the world's most active hearing loss community.
forum.hearingtracker.com
I am wearing Phonak hearing aids. I am provided with hearing aids by my L&I claim. I have lost a lot of the high frequency due to my work as a carpenter and the noise of power tools.
My audiologist tunes the aids to fit my hearing loss. The aids being tuned to my loss makes for the best available solution.
The aids I wear are Bluetooth connected to my cellphone. A terrific technology that allows me to receive calls without touching the phone, Or listen to youtube music without anyone being aware. The aids are my third pair with Oticon being my previous aids.
Phonak web site provides guidance that could be helpful. Phonak web site
My audiologist tunes the aids to fit my hearing loss. The aids being tuned to my loss makes for the best available solution.
The aids I wear are Bluetooth connected to my cellphone. A terrific technology that allows me to receive calls without touching the phone, Or listen to youtube music without anyone being aware. The aids are my third pair with Oticon being my previous aids.
Phonak web site provides guidance that could be helpful. Phonak web site
This is a good thread for me. About 4 years ago I went for a ear checkup because my right ear constantly felt stopped up, like water in it or wax buildup or something. Come to find out I had a disease called Cholesteatoma which eats away the bones and does other nasty stuff in the ear, all of it being permanent damage. Surgery to remove the damage is always required and usually some hearing tunnel skin drafting as well. The ear by the time I got surgery was completely non functional. The tiny bone that connects to the ear drum was eaten away. At surgery the doctor installed a titanium inplant to hook the ear drum back up, and it actually does hear now but only a very small amount volumewise. Well since the body has an overwhelming desire to fix itself I started noticing weird changes with my left ear, and then one day I woke up and was almost completely deaf in the left ear as well. There is more volume than the right ear, but not a lot, and what I do hear is very bad clarity wise. TV sounds like an old AM transistor radio that is just slightly off the station and music from my vintage monster stereo system sounds like every instrument is out of tune and lyrics are off key. Anymore I don't play any music at all and only watch TV that has CC, or, read tv would be more like it. All this time I've had about every kind of hearing test there is, actually going for more on Friday. Since the last tests I have actually started hearing music in my head, it's actually called MES (Musical Ear Syndrone), usually one ear or the other, sometimes both at the same time, but when that happens it's never the same music in both ears, and never music I have ever heard before, and never at very high volume, just there, all the time almost. My next appointment I'm planning on pushing for some type of hearing aids but I really don't have a clue what I need. 1st priority is to be able to carry on conversations with my family, I have 15 month old twin grandbabies who try their deadlevel best to talk to "Papa", and damned if I can hear them. I suppose ever being able to enjoy quality music again is probably out of the question. If hearing aids are just amplifiers that will make the little bit of ragged music I can hear louder I want no part of that. If any of you guys ever heard of any of this stuff I'd love to know if you made progress on it.
Look at the Oticon More 3 and the Widex Moment 330 brand of hearing aid. There are 80 insurance companies that pay a big chunk of it. Check if your company participates in the "TruHearing" hearing aid program.
I have just the opposite problem at your age.
Here's what I have to do.
I pinch off the corner of a bev nap or soft toilet paper corner and insert, it stops this loudness/PAIN that comes when the nightlife begins.
Is it possible to dampen/put something in your ear/before you insert the aide?
I worked around heavy equipment for years, packed or plugged my ears, every time.
I've been too tournaments that had ZERO acoustic ceiling and wall panels, that gave YOU the double dip sound.
It came thru yah, bounced off the wall and came back thru yah again.
These places I tend to not frequent, unle$$ it's worth my time.
Headaches, and head pain SUCK.
It used to be pool rooms, now to pay the rent it has to have liquor/loud/louder music & mostly/bar tables.
pal, almost half the price in France. Worth a trip to Paris !!
What?!?!
Listen!!!
Aside from chemically-induced (?) tinnitus (which is seldom noticed anymore), I was beginning to wonder if MY hearing was failing (I‘m 77 and played/listened to my share of loud music), since TV dialogue was often unintelligible without subtitles (especially UK/BBC). But, eventually I realized the problem was largely just very poor editing (background music way too loud….WTF were they thinking?), or equipment related (often the same movie/program that is gibberish on one channel is crystal clear on another).
63 years old. Went to the YMCA and got Hearing Test 4 years ago. Signed up on Miracle Ear and paid the $6000. Made life much better. Bluetooth to IPhone and can alter to suit audience and adjust volume levels too. Pretty Cool Actually. Hooked on them now and a MUST. Moisture CREATES ISSUES. Sweating is a No No. I have had to replace them once at no charge. I remove them when doing chores. Now that I know proper care, it is normal life