Batteries - that’s another thing I wanted to mention. With my old pair, I had to change batteries once a week. With the new pair, that’s down to about five days – most likely because of the constant Bluetooth connection to the phone app. But insurance pays for two years of batteries, and when those run out I can get a box of 60 (10 cards with 6 batteries per card) from my audiologist’s office for about $30. Which is much cheaper than $10 for a card of 8 or 10 from the drugstore.
My audiologist told me about the rechargeable aids but I’m not sure that option was available in the model she wanted to order for me. But I probably would have gone with the non rechargeable anyway.
I was thinking about starting a similar thread, so thank you everyone who responded.
I had a check done by a person that screens elementary school kids with the same equipment and if I was in elemtary school I would have been told to get checked (I should have listened when I was told to get hearing protection for a previous job).
I have tinnitus (based on a comment someone said, it’s about the same frequency of the “ding” in the song Amanda by Boston. since sometimes I don’t hear it). I do have clarity issues, and volume seems to be okay (I would set the volume the same that others set the volume).
So, now I have some information that helps. Thank you.
I have Meniere’s, significant tinnitus, and moderate hearing loss. I’ve worn hearing aids for several years and prefer the receiver-in-the-ear types. The little everything-in-the-ear models are hard to work with and just don’t do the job.
My current aids use BT to connect to my cell phone so I can do all the adjustments (volume, clarity, equalization, profile, etc.) that I need. They cost about $4000 for the pair, but the warranty (including free cleaning, filter replacement, and adjustments) is for three years.
If an individual has been told by an ENT or other physician following a hearing test that he/she should have hearing aids, it’s a pretty safe bet that the physician has examined his/her ears and knows whether there is blockage due to wax buildup. I have to have my ears cleaned by my ENT three times a year, and I clean them myself with a home kit every month.
The cheaper ($100 to $500) hearing aids never worked well for me. As others have stated, they are basically just making things louder. The advanced signal processing in more expensive units makes a world of difference in improving your overall experience. The cheapest set I found that would actually do the job for me were $1200, but they did not have the BT features and the longer warranty.
Treat the aids carefully and clean them faithfully and they will last over four years.
Not sure where you got that number, but it fits with my experience. I’ve used a hearing aid for 10 years. My first $3000 device was crunched to pieces by one of our dogs when she was a puppy, five years ago. I replaced that one with the same model and it’s going strong 5 years later.