Hearing Aids?

[Wild and Free]

I am looking to see if any members here have any hearing impairments and what you find to be the best hearing aids out there. quality, warranty, digital, blue tooth compatible what other options there are out there in the ear behind the ear tubes ect what are your experiences? I have 75% hearing loss in my left ear in the mid to high range frequencies that is gradually getting worse over the years and 25% loss in my right ear in the higher frequencies which is considered normal for farmers ect. I had my ear drum damaged in high school from a rifle muzzle blast 6 inches from my ear and having been a farmer for the first half of my life and then onto a heavy equipment diesel tech and operator the next half has taken its toll on my hearing, I have been putting it off but the last few years it is getting to the point where I can't put it off anymore, I am noticing quality of life issues and other things that come along with a hearing impairment. It is not only frustrating for me but I notice everyone around gets frustrated with my not being able to hear or understand without repeating several times. I have excellent insurance at work but unfortunately it doesn't cover hearing devices only testing and diagnosing and from talking to a lot who have them and finding on average are $2500-3500 each out of pocket costs I will need to save a bit and sign up for my companies flex dollars next year to help.

[War Eagle]

I am interested in this topic also. I swallow hard when I see some of the hearing aid prices but think there has got to be a better cost effective solution than $1-3K per ear. I occasionally see some ads in the paper where there is a 50% off sale or some new technology solution that they can't advertise the price on so you have to get an appointment and go in to see them to get any information. I have been reluctant to sign up because it has all the markings of bait and switch or upsale marketing. Sometimes in the catalogs that you get in the mail there will be a hearing enhancer device that looks like a hearing aid that hangs on the backside of your ear (and advertised at a cheap price), but to me an enhancer only magnifies all the sound and not necessarily the needed frequencies. So it seems like you would be getting a lot of loud noises that would be really annoying, Then there is the issue of how long do hearing aids last. Are they like shoes or TVs where they have to be replaced every few years? That is really an expensive proposition.

[hex0rz]

I could be about just as useful as t!ts on a boar hog when I say this, but what the hey...Maybe the only thing I could offer is that my father in law has hearing aids and got them for about 500 a piece. I dunno where, but it was an out of pocket expense. His hearing aids he had before lasted quit a while. So an annual expense is not to be expected.I guess you get what you pay for? They seem to be pretty good these days with all the advances in technology.

[IBMobile]

I too have hearing loss being an auto mechanic for over 43 years. I've seen the ads in the paper for super new style hearing aids but thought it to be a bait and switch or some overpriced piece of junk. I know I should have them checked to see how much loss I have but being able to tell the wife I didn't hear her tell me to do something is priceless.

[MnTom]

I have hearing aids and I sympathize with you. Hearing loss sucks. Mine are Sonus brand. They are digital, and the controls on either one control the other. They also are programmable so they will be good for many years. Mine have three different programs to choose from, normal hearing, noisy enviroment, and one for outside (cuts down on the wind noise).They were expensive though, abour $4k for the pair. I have decent insurance and only had to pay 20%. Oh, and they are the in the ear type. Unfortunately I cannot use the right one anymore due to me having Menier's disease in my right ear and have lost almost all hearing in that ear. Hell, I even wound up retiring due to the vertigo issues and my job. Now to get Social Security to go along with it.......

[Wild and Free]

Just came home with an aid today, it is a phonak brand and is digital and wirelessly programable. They say they are like computers, should last 5-7 years or until the company quits supporting the technology like computers. It is a very small behind the ear model in a color that matches my hair color and an invisible tube that goes into the ear canal, unless I pull my ear forward or tell people nobody can see it or knows its even there. Full 2 year repair damage or loss warranty. was 2800 with a years worth of batteries included which they only last 5-6 days. I have a sensitive ear and my brain didn't like what it was hearing so they had to keep the program and sound level lower until my mind and ear gets used to what t is newly hearing again and they will change the program and sound level once a week until I get to a normal hearing level and my ear and brain adjust to it. even at the lower level I am hearing small noises in stereo that I had not heard in a while, simple things are loud like paper shuffling water trickling ect. normal sound levels like speech and other louder noises will come as he ramps up the sound levels in coming weeks but I am impressed at the small difference already.

[MnTom]

Amazing how loud paper is isn't it? With mine if I go outside the wind noise is a killer.

[Wild and Free]

Mine has automatic wind and background noise cancelling technology built into the program. About an hour after getting it and going tinkle for the first time I couldn't believe how loud that sound was, it almost scared me in mid stream.

[MnTom]

Yea, you are going to find out it is a real noisy world out there! My biggest problem with mine is that my jaw makes so much noise when eating (banging/knocking type sound) that I need to remove my hearing aid (I have two, but this damn Meneir's cost me my hearing in my right ear) when I eat. Once it is in my pocket it may inadvertently get turned back on and it would squeal, but I wouldn't hear it so someone would tell me about it. Putting it point blank....HEARING LOSS SUCKS!

[hex0rz]

...and people tell me I'm too cautious.

 

This is why I put ear plugs in for all sorts of things that usually you would not think you would need. A good lesson to learn for us younger bucks.

[Wild and Free]

Yea, you are going to find out it is a real noisy world out there! My biggest problem with mine is that my jaw makes so much noise when eating (banging/knocking type sound) that I need to remove my hearing aid (I have two, but this damn Meneir's cost me my hearing in my right ear) when I eat. Once it is in my pocket it may inadvertently get turned back on and it would squeal, but I wouldn't hear it so someone would tell me about it. Putting it point blank....HEARING LOSS SUCKS!

Yes it does, I have put up with it for way too long and decided enough was enough, I was starting to witdrawl from social events or not even want to go as i could not have a conversation with anyone. I never knew that hearing loss actually causes you to become physically drained as your brain spends so much mental ability trying to hear and listen it actually wears you out and you find yourself wanting to turn in earlier than usual which the last year I was finding myself in as well but the loss of 45 lbs in  the last 3.5 months is helping that out a bit too.  

[rancherman]

I was pumping up  tire on the vehicle  about 8 years ago,  and  it   exploded  right beside my  right ear.    Not having  'stereo'  capabilities  made it impossible  to   locate  noises!

I've adapted,  but  the   worst part is  the  DANG NON STOP RINGING.. If  I  make myself 'listen' to it,  it's  deafening!     I've pleaded with the   doc to just   'disconnect'  the  dang thing and be totally deaf in that ear... but  he  won't  consider it! 

farmers'  ear,  farmers'  lung..  quite  the profession eh?

[MnTom]

I was pumping up  tire on the vehicle  about 8 years ago,  and  it   exploded  right beside my  right ear.    Not having  'stereo'  capabilities  made it impossible  to   locate  noises!

I've adapted,  but  the   worst part is  the  DANG NON STOP RINGING.. If  I  make myself 'listen' to it,  it's  deafening!     I've pleaded with the   doc to just   'disconnect'  the  dang thing and be totally deaf in that ear... but  he  won't  consider it! 

farmers'  ear,  farmers'  lung..  quite  the profession eh?

I know how that is. That is what my ear is like too. There is a chemical that can be injected that kills the nerve for the stability part and it can cause the hearing part to die. I have though about it, but there is just enough sound getting through to assist slightly so I am rather reluctant to get it done, plus I have been told that if it is done, the first thirty minutes are just plain hell with everything spinning.

[Wild and Free]

I spent over a thousand hours as a kid in a 1976 Steiger Panther II with a straight piped 855 cummins bellering in my left ear as I looked over my right shoulder all day on the farm, that didn't help anything either as the cabs back on them old rigs were hardly sund proof like the new ones, acted more like an echo chamber.

[dripley]

I can identify with all of you. I have had tinnitus most of my life and ringing in the ears. Used to just come and go occasionally, but pretty much full time for the past few years. Too much construction work and not enough ear plugs. My day is coming soon.

[rancherman]

we are quite  a  collection of  missing body parts,  well-worn  organs,  plugged pipes,  and   chipped teeth!    Man,   If  only  I took as much care of my  carcass  as  my  vehicles!   (well,   maybe that's the  problem! )  ha ha!

Missing  hair  isn't worth mentioning is it?

Edited April 26, 2014 by rancherman

[hex0rz]

Initially, my FIL lost his hearing from manning an m60 machine gun until his ears bled... Hes had nothing but trouble since. He gets constant infections and sometimes the ears bleed as well. Doctor removed all of his hearing parts in one ear. Totally deaf, but he says he still can hear a little out of it!

 

Hes going in sometime this summer and get a mold taken of his ear and they are going to make some hearing aid for him that will be attached to his nerve or something. Pretty crazy!