They don’t.
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This was many years ago. My dad needed hearing aids for most of his adult life, but we were way too poor for that to happen. Once some of us kids were old enough to get jobs, we decided to save up and buy him a pair. I think it was 4 kids and it took us well over a year to save up the money.
We took him in and got him a pair, thinking how great it would be to talk normally to him. He wore them a few days and then refused to wear them anymore because they were “too noisy.” We briefly discussed using a staple gun to attach them to his ears, but decided that would have been going too far.
I’m defense of those with hearing loss who refuse to wear their hearing aids, I can understand.
Depending on how severe hearing loss is, the help they provide can vary. I wear my hearing aids daily. However, my loss is so bad that even with amplification, I often cannot understand what people are saying. It can be frustrating when the fan in the convection oven is LOUD, but someone says, “how was your day?” and I hear, “where did you stay?”.
For years my hearing loss has been close to what insurance requires to justify cochlear implants, but not quite there. My ENT guy predicted years ago that by the time I reach the point where insurance will pay, I’ll be too old to reap their benefits, saving the insurance company $100,000.
I have had hearing aids for about 5 years. Expensive in ear ones. But not so much for hearing loss, it’s for my raging tinnitus that covers up everything. So I need to make the rest of the world louder to get through the ringing I have in my ears.
I have problems with them in restaurants, while I can generally hear my wife better, the background noise that they magnify is sometimes simply more than I can stand. They work at home good though.
Sort of a two edge sword for me. I really wish there was a cure for tinnitus.
I don’t need hearing aids, but i am dreading the day i do. I hate having crap in my ears. I don’t wear ear buds. I even find most head phones uncomfortable.
(I don’t mind stuff behind my ears, like mask straps, though. In fact, i get my glasses modified to loop behind my ears, and sometimes the kids get tangled with the mask ear loops. But that only bothers me when I’m removing the mask.)
So I’m sympathetic with people who don’t always wear hearing aids.
Also, re “works with iphone”. That’s because the hearing aid company wrote an app for iPhones, and didn’t bother to write an app for Android. I have no idea why they made that choice, but it’s not something about the phone. It’s just a question of what hardware the manufacturer choose to support, and how.
Sigh.
I am in need, and have been for some time (years).
My hurdle is money. Fundamentally, I can afford them. But they never make it to the top of the priority list, and there is always SOMETHING costing multiple thousands of dollars that we just have to deal with…every…freaking…month…month…after…month…
So, we don’t make it happen. Yes, I live a dis-functional life. I KNOW! (And I can’t hear well).
/end of rant.
I love, love, love my hearing aids. I’d be in mental decline without 'em.
This is interesting. I would also describe myself as a misophone, and I’ve been thinking I might one day enjoy some minor hearing loss so I never have to listen to another person chew again. But even with that, you still love your hearing aids. Do you ever turn them off or take them out when you’re in a triggering situation?
Interesting question. Not so much a triggering situation, but I will turn them off when I’m in a very noisy place, like grocery shopping or a loud restaurant. Although I love them, taking them out can be very pleasant, too-- like taking off a tight pair of shoes. (Or taking off one’s bra.)
As I mentioned, when you first get them, you can be shocked at how noisy the world is.
What is odd is that I where them for other people and my wife so I don’t have to turn up the music.
Now, working from home it’s much easier. I wear my aids and headphones on Zoom meetings. In person meetings with a group are impossible for me. It’s not fair to them when I can’t here what they are saying, and I work with one that is a mumbler. But that’s my problem.
Huh, I’m usually not bothered by the background noise of a grocery store etc. In fact, I find it preferable to isolated noises of the type that irritate me. In law school, I often went to bars to study, because in the library or quiet coffee shops there would be some unimaginable asshole with the nerve to sniffle or slurp their coffee and I’d have to either leave or stab them to death. I couldn’t hear anyone slurping their beer in a bar; it was all just an inoffensive wall of sound. To each their own I guess.
That was part of it, but my dad was quite the Luddite. No tv, no electric clock, no power mower, no snow blower. In hindsight we should have known he wouldn’t wear them.
So what was your leave vs. stab to death percentages? I bet once you stabbed the first person everyone else fell into line.
You’d think so, but snifflers never learn.
See, in Texas that’s not a problem, 'cause we’re all allowed encouraged to carry guns.
I’d like to hear more about this. How long have you had them? What brand? Bells & whistles? I share your level of enthusiasm.
I’ve had them for 3 1/2 years. The place I went to had a special deal for retired people below a certain income level that allowed me to get them for zip nada. I go in 3 times a year for tune-ups and cleaning, which again, costs me nothing. (I’m in Central Indiana.)
The brand is Starkey, and I’m told it’s top-o’-the-line. It’s a charitable service they offer that gets them tax breaks, apparently. Without them I really do have to cup my hand to my ear to understand anything, and need repetition. Even with them I miss a few words, and have to have captions for TV shows and movies. I also don’t do well on the telephone, and can’t follow a conversation if more than 3 people are talking, but it’s a whale of a lot better than before.
Thanks for the followup.
I always have the captions on, for one thing, because I watch lots of British programs, and they talk funny. 
Also, with the captions, if a character is whispering, it will be in the caption, and sometimes when a song is playing in the background, the words will be in the captions.
This page tells how to pair your Starkey hearing aids with iPhones and Android phones. Don’t know if this will work with yours. I couldn’t use my cell phone before I got my Oticons that paired with it. Having the sound go right into my ears is a dream.
Yeah, sometimes I just nod and smile even if I didn’t understand a word of it. That can lead to problems… 
I use over-the-ear Bose headphones connected to my iPhone via Bluetooth for phone calls. It’s a pain, so I try to use text/email.
My husband and I are under 40 with perfect hearing and we always watch TV with the captions on. It’s just nicer that way.
I watch TV with friends under 40, and all of us have good hearing. They care more about the captions than i do. But watching with them has gotten me used to having captions. Now i try to convince my husband to use them. (and my hearing is better than his.)