WHAT DID YOU SAY!?

[jajiu]

I've had tinnitus for years, but it seems to have gotten louder. My hearing has been getting worse as time goes by, so much so that I just bought a set of headphones for my TV so I don't have to turn up the volume so loud, not that it did much good, I could hear voices but not be able to make out the words. The headphones are Sony and really work great! I can even hear the leather saddle on Mat Dillon's horse in Gunsmoke squeak when he moves around in the saddle. I have my annual hearing Dr. appointment the end of the month, he told me last time it is time for hearing aids, I said I'll let you know when I want them. It's getting close.

 

[rgr33]

I’m getting close to needing hearing aids too, and it sucks because I have always protected my ears, but genetics play a role here.

I have trouble hearing considents in a sentence, and any background noise is a killer. Went into Panda Express last week, and could hardly hear a thing except the clanging pots and utensils in the open kitchen.

Most of my friends are in the same position.

 

[Doofy]

The Wife has two pair of thin-tube behind-the-ear hearing aids. First set was $1200 and was not very discrete (tubes could not be shortened enough) and protruded from the ears to far.

Second pair were $6K and are well hidden and very discrete. I can't tell when she is wearing them.

I would like to try her old pair but don't know what frequencies I would need. They do have tinnitus blockers (a soft whooshing sound) that she found to work well.

 

[bunyip]

My father had expemsive aids but wouldn't wear them, DVA gave him a new set which he said were very good but he still refused to wear them.

 

[radios1]

is there any possibility of a cheap hearing aid that works properly?.. for My 90 year old Mother.. she had an ear infection which she should have seen a Doctor for, but let go, until she lost her hearing in one ear, that Doctor got ripped big time by a Doctor that said he made a huge mistake, infections of the ear can lead to hearing loss!!..

 

[buckeyefarmer]

is there any possibility of a cheap hearing aid that works properly?.. for My 90 year old Mother.. she had an ear infection which she should have seen a Doctor for, but let go, until she lost her hearing in one ear, that Doctor got ripped big time by a Doctor that said he made a huge mistake, infections of the ear can lead to hearing loss!!..

My son got a cheap one from amazon that worked surprisingly well when his was being repaired.

 

[Doofy]

My son got a cheap one from amazon that worked surprisingly well when his was being repaired.

Not sure what the difference is between a hearing "aid" and a hearing "amplifier". I suppose either one could work. I would also suspect that there is one Heck of a mark-up in hearing aids. The audiologist did not charge for appointment or testing, only for the "aids".

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Newer aids, they can filter and amp different frequencies to match your loss.

The cheap amazon one amps everything, kind of like early hearing aids.

Also, the new ones have wires and speaker in the ear, not a mold with a sound tube.

 

[txdon]

If you are not sure about the hearing aids then take the month trial. Costco has the thin wire to the mold and a thin wire to the - i call it a flexible pod. I tried the mold and it was too uncomfortable and they gladly took it back and made a new pair with a pod. The month trial is a really good way to experience the hearing aid and determine if the $2,000 is worth hearing low sounds again. The filtering out of the background noise makes the experience much better than amping all noise. I think if you went with the cheap Amazon pair you would not wear them very often.

 

[k0ua]

My father had expemsive aids but wouldn't wear them, DVA gave him a new set which he said were very good but he still refused to wear them.

And why is that?. It is just that old people are a PITA? Is he happy to NOT be able to hear? In other words, there is nothing going on around him he wants to hear? I am at the age now, where many/most would consider me old, but I hope when the time comes to actually need the hearing aids, (probably not too far off) I won't be such a PITA and will accept my disability.

 

[Turbys_1700]

My dad had hearing aids the last 20 years of his life. Darn things went through batteries like a sieve. They did help him but were always finicky. He had them replaced several times. Back when he ran heavy equipment and tractors hearing protection was not used. I've tried to keep my hearing protected but who knows. Seems like more men need hearing aids than women in my experiences. Don't know if that is a genetic or environmental thing. Perhaps both?

 

[Bird]

Costco has an option device that connects to the tv and you can get the tv sound directly to your hearing aids wirelessly.

I got that with my Beltones, too. It works great, if all you're going to do is sit there and watch the TV, but . . . if I had that thing on, I wouldn't hear my wife when she said something to me. And I'm not very good at staying seated in one place very long at a time. So it didn't get used hardly at all.

 

[Bird]

My dad had hearing aids the last 20 years of his life. Darn things went through batteries like a sieve.

My current hearing aids use size 13 batteries. They will last 7 to 8 days, but since it's a nuisance to have them go dead at the wrong time, I just replace them first thing every Sunday morning.

 

[txdon]

Bird, right about hearing wife AND TV at the same time. I also got the "wife mike". It's a tiny clip on mic that you can give a speaker (or your wife) to clip on a lapel and it bluetooths their voice directly to your hearing aids. The range is about 50 ft. In the grocery store she can whisper a few isles over and I can hear her.

My batteries also last a week.

 

[Bird]

Not sure what the difference is between a hearing "aid" and a hearing "amplifier". I suppose either one could work. I would also suspect that there is one Heck of a mark-up in hearing aids. The audiologist did not charge for appointment or testing, only for the "aids".

Newer aids, they can filter and amp different frequencies to match your loss.

The cheap amazon one amps everything, kind of like early hearing aids.

Also, the new ones have wires and speaker in the ear, not a mold with a sound tube.

I may have paid more for my Beltones than some pay at Costco, but mine have 4 programs for different conditions: "All-around" for general use, "Noise" works a bit better in restaurants to cancel out some other sounds, "Church" for places such as rooms that have an echo, "Music" the one I actually like best because it gets all the frequencies. I can change programs and/or volume with my finger on the individual aids, and they have a system where you can use your cell phone, etc., but I just carry a small remote in my shirt pocket that lets me adjust one or both to change programs or volume. So, yep, I gave $4k for them with 5 year warranty and lifetime follow-up care. Free hearing tests, program changes, etc. anytime I want. In fact, my Beltone lady wants me to come in about every 3 months just for a checkup.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
It sounds like they've come a long ways from the "good old days" when it looked like somebody had a transistor radio under their shirt and a wire going to their ear.

 

[turnkey4099]

I was sitting in the "soundproof booth" and couldn't tell if the tone I heard was the test, or the backup alarm on a piece of equipment outside. I've had ringing in my ears for as long as I can remember.

It's too bad that we hadn't heard of hearing protection 45 years ago. I now wear plugs and muffs when I'm running a chainsaw for any length of time.

I started wearing muffs way too late. Now I won't run any power equipment without them. All high frequencies are gone and almost deaf in right ear...that's the side the saws were on.

 

[goeduck]

Whats her name and I went out to eat last night and to say the restaurant was loud is an understatement. One lady behind us had to cackle at everything she heard. I told whats her name to wait until we left to talk. :laughing:

 

[QRTRHRS]

When I had my Oticon's serviced, they had the stabilizers wrong and I could not figure out why they were harder to put in and easy to loose. I did exactly that with one in my barn. I had been back to the audiologist to complain but they said that they were fine, yeah right. So I went to the VA and got approved due to my tinnitus. They gave me a set of Signia brand aids. Batteries in the Oticon's would last a week but I only get about four days with the Signia's. But then the VA pays for the batteries.

 

[PILOON]

Chain saws, outboards, aircraft and working in a tin can factory (as a teen) have taken the toil on my ears.
In my case it is the highs that are affected and lower ranges still OK.
The audiologist that tested me confirmed all my observations and did not prescribe any cures but suggested Steinhauser earphones for TV.
In fact (as a gov't audiologist) she deterred me from any hearing aids saying that I'd simply waste my $$'s.
Had I gone to a commercial one for sure they would have recommended a very pricy solution.
Great suggestion! I can watch TV with the volume set for my wife and still capture everything.
If folks look at me when speaking I generally capture 95% as you learn to lip read to some extent, or at least fill in the gaps.
But then I celebrated my 80 th last November so I expected some shortfalls, fortunately hearing is about the only one I have to live with.
Well COPD, but that's my fault.
The odd time I have tinnitus (usually if tired) but fortunately that's limited.
On my cabbed tractor I wisely installed padded sound absorbing material in my roof when I built my cab and that really helps.

What bugger coined that phrase 'the golden years'!
I have a few nice words for him, LOL, but then I plan to live to 100 and so far so good!

Mother made it to 98, dad to 85 and an uncle to 102 so I might have to right genes.

While I accuse my past I must admit that there is a lot of hearing difficulties on the sides of both my parents so perhaps I inherited those genes (as well as adding some abuse).