The hearing aid I use in my left ear (my right is not correctable) cost $3k. My insurance covered the exam, but not the hearing test nor the hearing aid.
I am so sorry! Insurance has fubar’ed health care in this country.
Okay, I’ve had my new Phonak Virto Paradise 312 P30 hearing aids for four days now. Overall I’m pleased with their performance so far. Much better (for me personally) than the old Starkey pair I had. These are much more comfortable and more secure in my ears, and the Bluetooth connection has worked great with everything so far.
Does anyone here use a dehumidifier or drying box? No one ever said anything about it to me when I got the old Starkeys, and they haven’t said anything with the new Phonaks, either. Is it an essential maintenance step that is going to destroy my hearing aids prematurely if I don’t do something about it? Anyone know?
I’m in Texas, so it’s a hot, humid environment most of the year, and I sweat easily and profusely, if that makes any difference.
I’ve not had any issues with humidity affecting my hearing aids (or my ears) here in SW Washington. I wipe them clean with a dry microfiber cloth every time I take them out and put them in the charger. I’m also a big sweater. One possible mitigating factor is that I’m bald, so I don’t have hair to retain/trap sweat near the hearing aids when I wear them.
I have ReSound Lynx aids. For 3 years I put them in a UV box after wearing, to dry them. Finally, after having to replace the tubes overly often my audiologist (a professor at the university’s audiology program) said to stop doing that, it wasn’t needed. I’m not particularly sweaty but she sure didn’t seem to think it was necessary.
Benign neglect seems to be working fine for mine, for 2 years. I don’t even think to wipe them with a microfiber cloth, although that seems like a good idea.
Yes, I’d be concerned about UV boxes also. But I think there are boxes that aren’t plugged into anything, no UV light, just a little box that contains a desiccant disk inside and put your aids in the little basket overnight. But maybe it is not that essential if nobody here is using one and my provider didn’t say anything about it.
When I take out my hearing aid I place it in a screw top container in which I have several silica drying packs.
Hah - I’ve got a bag full of those - we tend to save them, in case there’s ever a phone / water disaster and we need to dry one out. I’ll have to suggest that my husband gives those a try.
What’s the problem with the UV boxes? Do they damage the hearing aids? (I could see that the light might damage the plastic parts).