Hearing Aids?

[FERLING]

Where did you buy your hearing aids?

What can you expect them to run for a pair?

Did you find they helped you?

After 17 years, wife is getting to fed up with me not hearing, and with my dad living with us, he's on her side.

I'm not completely deaf, but definately have a hearing loss since my late teens, early 20's, and I'm certain it's not getting better.

Thinking of Costco, but mother in law went to doctors office, ran her like 6k, but insurance covered 2.5k of that. Our insurance doesn't cover hearing aids, looked.

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Try one of these! (Search Amazon.com)

 

[Oaktree]

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Try one of these! (Search Amazon.com)
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I have to wonder if something that cheap is going to be any good. Quality hearing aids are more than just an amplifier, though I don't know exactly what sort of sound processing they do...I'd imagine some sort of equalization and compression at the very least.

There've been el-cheapo aids for years...a co-worker of mine maybe 20 years ago had something similar to an mp3 player...a unit with a microphone and amplifier that clipped to his belt or went in a pocket and earphones. This guy was REALLY deaf, and had it cranked so high that when you talked with him it would almost feed back on itself. Really annoying, can only imagine what it was like for him.

 

[goeduck]

Going in for my first hearing test/exam. Any advice or things that you had wished you'd brought up during exam?

My audiologist had a list of questions that I answered, besides that I just went in with the basic problems. Crowds, background noise, high pitch, wife's voice etc.

My wife is 100% deaf in one ear and they had a unit that will sit on the deaf ear and send signals to the good ear via bluetooth. When she went deaf in the one ear years ago, they only had wired units (from one side of the head to the other) that did that and she did not want to go the wired route. The solution will not give her the ability to locate sounds better but at least she can hear from the one (left) side No more yelling at her when I drive.

 

[goeduck]

I don't know of any insurance plan that covers "high dollar" hearing aids.

Good plan with no limit on price or brand but the premium went through the roof so we are moving to one that pays $2500 towards them every 4 years. We are getting these just in time, the neighbor had the same plan and verified they did not get charged. Brand was Oticon, the 3rd highest rated by Consumer reports. Very little difference from the highest ones they rated (Surprisingly Costco).

My Plan.

Consumer Reports

 

[Sigarms]

1 - I don't trust consumer reports due to the work in my own industry. I honestly believe consumer reports has no clue what they are doing (I do HVAC, and I wouldn't trust consumer reports on HVAC for anything). Perhaps hearing aids are plug and play like a refrigerator, I don't know. I do know a HVAC manufacturer who has tried to get clarification on exactly who they we're "surveying" with no comment by consumer reports.

2 - I went to a doctors office who actually had to clean my left ear due to ear wax build up. I first went to Costco for the cheaper brand, but they didn't have an audiologist on hand, and they couldn't clean my ear our.

3 - My wife told me, go to the experts (the actual doctors office). Yes, I got bent over for the price of hearing aids, but it was done right the first time (and I agree with my wife on that one )

Ironically enough, the name on my hearing aids wasn't mention in your "hearing aid plan"...

 

[Sigarms]

I got the Phonak Audeo P90s.

Same ones I got.

I do kind of love them. Nothing is perfect though...

The VA is a roll of the dice like any McDonalds you go to (per being local to who you visit IMO). Glad things work out for you!

 

[Herness]

Same ones I got.

I do kind of love them. Nothing is perfect though...

The VA is a roll of the dice like any McDonalds you go to (per being local to who you visit IMO),

How did you choose them if i can ask?
Did you do it together with your audiologist?
Also curious if someone trusts online hearing test. How accurate are those?
Looking forward to read your answers guys. Thanks in advance!

 

[Avenger]

How did you choose them if i can ask?
Did you do it together with your audiologist?
Also curious if someone trusts online hearing test. How accurate are those?

I didn't know anything about hearing aids when I went in. I was assigned an audiologist, and once he determined that I needed hearing aids, he gave me different styles to choose from. I based my decision on the size, the features my audiologist pointed out, and his opinion. I had the option of going with really small, completely in the ear ones that take batteries, to larger in the ear ones that are rechargeable. But the behind the ear ones, to me, seemed like they were easy to take on and off as I need for my daily job. They are not noise suppressors or ear plugs, so when I have to be in a really loud environment at work, I shut them off and remove them.

The audiologist also programmed them with my prescription. We did several tests to make sure the audio quality was to my satisfaction. I can go in anytime for adjustments, which I have yet to do.

I have never taken an online hearing test.

 

[goeduck]

Ironically enough, the name on my hearing aids wasn't mention in your "hearing aid plan"...

There are no brands mentioned in my medical plan. The second part of my #96 post is from CR, not my plan.