hearing aid (for real, no joke)

[gangster]

anybody have any experience with the latest generation in hearing aids? seems 23 years of helicopter flying cost me a bit.

[Jon P. Inghram]

What?

[Elie]

He said a hearing aid not a reading aid

[gangster]

i was hoping someone on the forums might actually be living with 1 (or 2) of these and could tell me there experiences/recommendations. i will be wearing 1 or 2 very soon.

it may seem a strange place to ask, but i have received great advice in unexpected places before.

[gangster]

Originally posted by Jon P. Inghram
What?

this i can really relate to!

[rylan]

How many decibles of hearing have you lost? Differant aids are designed for differant amounts of loss. The 'inside ear' types are for low to moderate loss, while the ones that fit around your ear with the little molded tube thingy are for major hearing loss. It also depends on what your frequency response is. Have you had a hearing test to chart loss versus frequency done?

[gangster]

the loss is mostly at the high end, nothing left above 8k and it starts down at 2k. there's also some loss in the voice range which is particularly annoying to the people that must repeat themselves. i have a tough time with soft voices, ie, female.

because a good pair is $4k+ i am researching this to death before i decide. have already been to 3 different places for testing and recommendations.

thanks for replying.

what part of Mass you in? i was born in winthrop.

[KvHagedorn]

I guess those "sound blocking" earmuff things heli pilots wear don't really work as well as they should?

[gangster]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
I guess those "sound blocking" earmuff things heli pilots wear don't really work as well as they should?

they work somewhat, it's just that 23 years was not what they were designed for and when i began the equipment was inferior to present day. also, there was so much other chatter in addition to the sounds transmitted thru them that i didn't always have them on tight so i could hear others. (i was a coast guard pilot).

[SCompRacer]

Over the years, the wife has progressed from severe to profound hearing loss. She had linear hearing aids prior to last year, now she has digitals. She tells me that the digitals allow her more normal hearing than the linear, which seemed to drop words and certain sounds for her. The linear seemed more durable though. One still worked after being dropped in a cup of coffee. A pair of digitals cost us close to $4K.

With her profound hearing loss, she was at the edge of what the digitals could support at the time she got them. The place she went to had multiple suppliers, where others had just one. IIRC, they had a 30-day decision period, which came in handy. The first set she got kept failing, and the company finally informed us that the failures were due to them being at the edge of their range. So we went with a different manufacturer, Phonac, I think, and they have worked out well.

[gangster]

Originally posted by SCompRacer
Over the years, the wife has progressed from severe to profound hearing loss. She had linear hearing aids prior to last year, now she has digitals. She tells me that the digitals allow her more normal hearing than the linear, which seemed to drop words and certain sounds for her. The linear seemed more durable though. One still worked after being dropped in a cup of coffee. A pair of digitals cost us close to $4K.

With her profound hearing loss, she was at the edge of what the digitals could support at the time she got them. The place she went to had multiple suppliers, where others had just one. IIRC, they had a 30-day decision period, which came in handy. The first set she got kept failing, and the company finally informed us that the failures were due to them being at the edge of their range. So we went with a different manufacturer, Phonac, I think, and they have worked out well.

thanks for all that!

i know the brand, an outfit called www.hearingplanet.com carries them and they were my first referral.

[Wombat]

Originally posted by rylan
How many decibles of hearing have you lost? Differant aids are designed for differant amounts of loss. The 'inside ear' types are for low to moderate loss, while the ones that fit around your ear with the little molded tube thingy are for major hearing loss.

Things seem to be improving all the time. My cousin has 80% loss in one ear, and worse than that in another (birth defect). She had wraparounds for a long time, but now has in-ears.

[Lizzard[MPE]]

friends have been saying they were going to buy me hearing aids since highschool...

i'll get one in a few years im sure

[spadnos]

Originally posted by Lizzard[MPE]
friends have been saying they were going to buy me hearing aids since highschool...

i'll get one in a few years im sure

What's your malady? If it isn't from lots of loud rock concerts (or helicopters), it may be fixable without hearing aids.

I have Otosclerosis (inherited from my father). I had corrective surgery (a Stapedectomy) on my right ear in March, and on my left ear 3 weeks ago. The procedure is a same-day thing - it took me longer to drive to the hospital and be driven home than the actual surgery took.

The results from my right ear were excellent - the improvement was around 30-40db at most frequencies.

It's more expensive than hearing aids, but you can swim and not worry about having to replace anything.

- Steve

(I didn't chime in for gangster because that's a different problem entirely.)

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by Lizzard[MPE]
friends have been saying they were going to buy me hearing aids since highschool...

Is this not because you are so busy talking, that you don't hear what others say?