I got mine about 5 years ago, so I was 55. No one has ever noticed them.
Mine cost $4000.
They’re digital and are programmed to the audiogram for my ears. Each one has a selector where I can go from “wide-band” to focussed; I use focussed when I am in restaurants, theaters, etc. I can adjust the volume, and the left earpiece has a third setting that puts it on standby. There’s a hole drilled through the left earpiece as well, so when I need to make a phone call, I put the left side on standby and hold the phone to it. That way, I don’t need to take the earpiece out to use the phone.
I have the Next 16 model.
Wow. I am shocked that something that life changing is so expensive.
I saw a program about a married couple in their 50s that had been deaf all their lives. They were offered an operation that would allow them to wear aids and be able to hear. They both took it. At first they loved it because all the sounds were new and interesting. Within a year they both quit wearing them.
If they had an operation of some sort, it sounds like they got cochlear implants–not quite the same kind of hearing aid as Clothahump described.
What I am curious about is would hearing aids be so expensive if they weren’t engineered to be invisible? And wouldn’t batteries be cheaper and last longer if they were larger? A woman I know rarely wears her aid (and she really needs it!) because the batteries are so dear. And a friend of mine often doesn’t wear his because of problems with batteries (fortunately he can get away with it because his loss isn’t so profound).
I think that was what they had. But they could turn it off or on.
The larger the battery the longer the shelf life- mine currently are yellows, and I go through them about every 4 days on average. The larger the battery, the larger the aid, and the more conspicuous.
But some people don’t have a choice, as the severe losses of hearing often require the larger models to get that boost of volume (the behind the ear models- if I wear those, they give me a headache from all the noise).
But it’s more expensive because of Digital hearing aids more so. Digital and getting the filters, different settings for phones, crowds, etc, those will drive up the prices.
I have digital ones, and mine too are around the 3k-4k range I believe (total. So each is about 2k).
The old ones though are cheap, and sometimes my audiologist will give me the behind the ear ones for free when mine break and stuff and I have to wait for them to fix mine (takes about 2 weeks or sooner), but yeah, so he’ll sometimes give me the crappy behind the ear ones as a loaner for a while.
You know…I have no idea why people think hearing aids make them look old. If that were true, I’d never get carded. I’m 29 and have worn aids since I was three.
Trust me…they don’t make you look old at all…Hey…you could geek out like I did and get a colored aid and earmold. (my aids are purple with a tye dye mold on one side and purple glitter on the other) Besides, with hearing aids you now have an amazing real life superpower…you can turn sound off with a flick of a switch! (and yes…I was notorious for turning off my hearing aids as a kid…why do you ask? :D) It really is great when there are noisy babies in the vincinty… LOL.
Honestly I think that the perception that hearing aids are obvious and “noticable” is just a creation of advertising. The way they talk about BTEs makes them sound like an old school ear horn or one of those giant harness aids that were still around in the '60’s. :rolleyes:
My best advice…Go to a reputable audi. Not a Beltone, or Miricle Ear type place. The people who work there are basicly hearing aid salesmen. If you can go see an audi at a School for the Deaf or a university affliated hearing aid clinic.
Take advantage of the 30 day trial period and experiment with all sorts of different aids. Start with a simple analog and then try digital. The analog vs. digital debate is still going on and on…but I will tell you that it can be a hit or miss thing. I know people who LOVE their digitals…and at the same tiem I know alot of people who love their analog aids.
Also don’t fall prey to “cosmetic concerns.” Hearing aids are not that noticable.
Plus the dinky aids may not be able to provide enough power for more then a mild loss. Back in jr high I switched from BTEs to ITEs. Thought I could hear but was mostly just speechreading. Thank god for that audi at M.E.E.I who had me try on a BTE…the difference was amazing!
Lots of good information. My loss is only about 20% or so. I need to make another appointment with my audiologist. And look at the budget.
Re tinnitus. I am able to ignore it, but that doesn’t help with the underlying problem that it blocks certain frequencies.
Honestly, my biggest concern is just having to deal with another appliance. How do those behind the ear jobs work with glasses?
Before you visit the audiologist and get reamed for several thousand dollars, visit the sports store and get a hunter’s aid. Etymotics president and audiologist Mead Killion has campaigned the FDA to allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter.
Missed the edit window. From my cite:
Dr. Killion says many stores already sell “listening devices” for people with normal hearing that differ little from hearing aids. For example, sporting-goods stores sell ear devices for hunters that muffle the sound of gun shots but also amplify quiet sounds, such as animals rustling in vegetation. Dr. Killion says the hunters’ device is actually quite effective for people who have trouble hearing and illustrates his point
that there’s no technological barrier to an inexpensive over-the-counter hearing aid.
To prove his point, he recently played two recordings before an audience of 50 audiologists. One was of a person speaking in cafeteria noise, amplified by a $149 sporting-goods device. The other was of the same speech amplified through a popular $2,000 digital hearing aid. The audience rated the $149 device as having clearer sound. “The point is, there are reasonably good OTC aids out there now,” Dr. Killion said.
Blocking loud sounds, amplifying quiet ones, available cheaply everywhere. Here is the Walker’s Game Ear II for $199. Even their most expensive units are a fraction of the cost of prescription hearing aids.
The situation with hearing aids looks similar to the one with funerals, where an entrenched industry has managed to get laws passed that protect their business and then they can charge the public whatever they wish. It’s possible that you might truly need a custom-tuned hearing aid. But it’s also possible that an off-the-shelf “hunter’s aid” will work as well, or possibly better. Dr. Killion is the designer of the audio processing chip used in some of the most expensive hearing aids, so he benefits from the sales of the expensive devices. But he also takes his Hippocratic oath seriously and wants to help as many people as possible.