Hearing Aid advice

[KubotainNH]

Many good points here and I'll put my 2 cents in. My wife has had hearing aids for 30 years. Last year we finally upgraded her old ones. The old ones had been rebuild many times and were 25+ year old tech. Point is she had them rebuilt including new ear molds for about $150, sometimes the unit got all new guts but still the cost was the same and it came with a warranty. Hopefully the new ones will be re-buildable too. The main reason we got new aids is because my insurance covered them after my high deductible but the best part is my particular insurance company negotiates prices so they ended up being a third of the normal price.

In reality, to her the new hearing aids with 25 year newer digital tech are not as great an improvement as one would think. It may depend on hearing loss but she was happy with the old ones and they burned through batteries less quickly. It does have some nice features like the audiologist can program a few setting like a crowd setting compared to one on one conversation. She rarely uses the extra settings. One thing I've been grappling with for my 83 year old mom that has bad hearing is if she will be able to run it if we get her aids. The buttons are so tiny I think she would give up on them. She's pretty much given up on the cheapo one I bought off Amazon as a trial thing and it has bigger buttons.

For the person who mentioned itchy ears, they have drops for that to make less itching. Talk to your audiologist.

Here's some hearing aid info.
Health Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids
Hearing Aids and the Affordable Care Act | Hearing Loss Association of America
https://www.hihealthinnovations.com/page/faqpurchaseandplan

 

[PILOON]

Piloon not to knock your free medical system but the statement: "she claimed they would simply drive me nuts as they amplify EVERYTHING and would be a waste of $$'s.

Hearing aids are FREE to us under our medicare BUT at a % of hearing loss which is about 35% loss.
My hearing is OK at lower ranges but drops rapidly at higher ranges.
Noisy aircraft, turbines, chainsaws, snomobiles and outboard motors in my early years.
Most voice ranges are OK for me, but the rest, forget it.
Background noise makes conversation difficult but one on one is no problem.
Like forget noisy bars. LOL. But I am beyond that stage of life anyway.

The gov't provides free aids but naturally not the top of the line versions that are programmable for every condition.
My mom had the top o line and even they drove her nuts and always seemed to squeal.

My goal was to avail myself of the free aids but I in fact do not qualify as I am not 'deaf' by their definition but partially impaired.

 

[txdon]

. . . She rarely uses the extra settings. One thing I've been grappling with for my 83 year old mom that has bad hearing is if she will be able to run it if we get her aids. The buttons are so tiny I think she would give up on them. She's pretty much given up on the cheapo one I bought off Amazon as a trial thing and it has bigger buttons.

I do not mess with the tiny buttons I have a com-pilot Phonak ComPilot - Hearing Aid Accessory | Phonak - life is on that is worn around the neck, usually under my shirt. It has three easily accessible buttons (can press through fabric) that control the volume, switching between the three programs, and is also a bluetooth connecting device from TV or cell phone or remote mike to hearing aids.

Example - your cell phone will ring in your hearing aids, the number calling is spoken to you, push the big button to answer and then push again to hang up. With TV push the big button and you are connected through your hearing aid push again during commercials you do not want to hear. The TV set can be muted or not when you use it.

Without the com-pilot the hearing aid experience would not be enjoyable for me - way too limited. The remote mike (wife-mike) can also be turned on and off by pushing the big button.

The two smaller 3/4" buttons on the bottom control volume.

 

[jcummins]

Folks don't get me wrong reason I know about the used hearing aids issue is I had serious heart burn when I first got the pricing. And basically it was hey, what about my dead mother in law's hearing aids. Also, as cheap as i am $5,000 is half a car. And as in the hearing aids for my mother in law, taking something that was 3 years ago was worth $5,000 and throwing it in the trash I have a hard time with that. I waited two years after knowing i needed them and finally my family said, no new ZTR mower for you. Go get hearing aids. So, now I sit on a big box store mower that beats the heck out of my already bad back. Our business is crashing and burning because of the difference in the dollar to say every other currency in the world. Then have some one say well we don't do anything here with them because medicare and Medicaid usually picks up it up so there is no market for it. Oh, but we send them to third world countries! Give me a break! Everybody here in the US is happy because most of our economy is based on consumer spending, so nobody really notices. Right now if you are in any kind of business that has to export anything your toast! Now if your a big company, just buy one of those third world foreign companies, have them make your design. And have one of your workers is wearing my mother in law's hearing aids. I'm 53 and I don't know about the rest of you but... I have no choice but to invest in the stock market or i will never have enough money to retire and watching the stock market go up and down, I try not to let it bother me. I apologize I am on a rant And we ain't poor either I just can't stand pissing away money, mine or anybody else, the majority of us have worked to hard. Yes, we are still in a majority for now, today, this hour this second. Steveullinghair:

I hear every word, and millions others. We mostly are ok...but struggle. Today's world.

 

[cdaigle430]

Often wondered why there is not a hearing aid rebuild program, they have them for cell phones. Not trying to be morbid here, but the family just spent $5,000 on hearing aids for my mother. SHE IS 83 If she makes it to 85 we will all be happy. We just wanted her to be able to hear in her last days. There is two slightly used hearing aids top of the line dad wanted the best! So, where do all these hearing aids end up? When she passes I would have no issue with giving them to say JC Cummins.

There are places that can rebuild them. Some of the challenges for recycling them (I think its what you meant?) are different ear molds for ITE aids, different ear canals, programming is propeirtary to the manufacturer. Moisture and humidty are very hard on amplifiers, controllers themselves and finally they are medical devices so clenliness and bacteria can be a pain. I can donate my old hearing aids to my father but usually by the time I am done with them they are obsolete anyway. Just like an IPAD 1st generation-no more operating system upgrades for 2 years now s o you cant run any older apps or new apps because they have been updated to the newer OS.

 

[cdaigle430]

Fear not....expensive....is part of the reasons I've not gotten any. $$$$$ just go so far, but 'something' for sure is in my future.

Some pointers here for you

1) If your a veteran even without a service related disability the VA can give you new hearing aids.
2) Check with you local state HR as they often get funds for hearing aids for those who cannot afford them.
3) Check with places like Sams Club who sell and fit hearing aids, price is ok and you can put it on their card at 0% financing-Thats what my dad did).
4) Local churces can also provide help with cost and donated hearing aids.
5) Check out this article from AARP-
Paying for Hearing Aids - Where to Go for Financial Help - AARP

Lots of good resources for those who are on a fixed budget.

 

[cdaigle430]

Same for me How do you keep from losing your com pilot? Mine has fallen off the neck loop several times-got lucky.

 

[Bird]

This reminds me of when I got my first ITE hearing aids in 1992. The audiologist was talking about insurance or warranty if one was lost. She said she'd had people claim they had one just fall out of their ear, and she said, "That just doesn't happen!" A few months later, I was lying on my back under our motorhome pulling on a wrench to remove the oil filter, and I had one hearing aid fall out on the ground. Of course I didn't lose or damage it, and that's the ONLY time I've had one fall out, but it CAN happen.

 

[txdon]

Same for me How do you keep from losing your com pilot? Mine has fallen off the neck loop several times-got lucky.

My com-pilot's neck loop has never disconnected. I aways just slide it over my neck and do not disconnect the ends. I also keep it inside my shirt unless driving so if it would come loose it would go nowhere.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I am the legal guardian for a 71 year old guy that is deaf without his power aids. After about three years from new we have to send back ever two years on average and that is $300 each so that averages out to about $300 per year in his case.

My are less than two years old are fine so far.

After 6 months after I went off of sugar, grain and most all carbs and replaced them with fats like coconut oil, almonds, bacon, eggs, etc my hearing improved. Maybe some of the 50 pounds I have lost over last two years was from fat filling up my ears.

This spring I was down in the swampy area running the back hoe and heard frogs over the engine noise. About a month ago I was spreading some gravel and when I turned I heard a sound that was new to me. It was the gravel that was crunching that I was hearing unaided. Actually I picked up some ear plugs for the first time to protect my unaided improved hearing. It may have been some heavy metal clearing the body. Why is not important but hearing is not the only improvement from my permanent diet change.

Most of the time I wear them to the movies but before I had to raise the volume 3 clicks on the clicker but now I do not even carry the clicker.