He probably just needed hearing aids
11-16-23, 06:49 PM
#26
Senior Member
In some/many cases, people lose high frequency hearing primarily because of tinnitus. Our brain recognizes it as an unimportant (annoyance) and tries to ignore it. It can only do so by ignoring that range of frequency… and gradually, one starts having serious difficulties in understanding conversations. A well adjuste hearing aid specifically and proportionately increases the “volume” in those frequencies and one hears much better; tinnitus is not gone but other important things one wants to notice is getting transmitted to ears more loudly and brain adapts with time and ignores tinnitus effectively. Or so goes the theory and attempts made by audiologists to help.
11-16-23, 07:14 PM
#27
Senior Member
Started the hearing aid search this spring based on my kids and grand kids complaining I was always saying "huh". Went to a professional hearing aid center recommended by a few folks I knew. Took the hearing test and was prescribed a behind the ear hearing aid, cost was $3500.. I am outside most of the day and found that the wind noise was awful. I also found out that all this Bluetooth connection stuff to your phone is basically useless. Playing music over your hearing aid is just terrible. Get a pair of AirPod Pros and you can make them into decent hearing aids using transparency mode. And then stream music on them and it is wonderful as they play the music based on your ear test that you entered on setting up transparency mode. The other Bluetooth features like restaurant setting, television viewing, vehicle setting, just did nothing for me. So, I decided to take them back and give Costco a try. I went in knowing I did not want Bluetooth and not behind the ear. I ended up with a Complete-In-Canal(CIC) hearing aid and they work well and are good in the outdoors with wind, cost was $2500. Started looking at over the counter hearing aids(OTC) and found out that Sony had released their OTC hear aid in December and it is a repackaging of my current Costco hearing aid at $1000. But, in looking at the specifications closely the Sony hear aids have been dumbed down in terms of frequency range and DB range. So, the OTC version is not the same. And this makes sense, OTC may work for you but the quality of the aid is not going to be what you get from a professional. OTC hearing aids at this point sound appealing but in the end the hearing aid racket still wins.
For the last ~4 years or so, he has started buying them from Costco for about or under $2,000. His had to buy his last pair because one of the older one stopped working and they were out of warranty period. The new one cost him less than $2,000 (can’t remember the exact figure) but this one came with built-in rechargeable batteries and a charger like Apple’s earphones. They work quite well until he realized that his phone isn’t connecting to his hearing aid, as it used to do. Costco people were very helpful and after some trouble-shooting found out that he needed a new phone. And they also sell phones, problem solved and he is happy; he can get all his calls through the hearing aid, watch his smart TV, if he so decide! 😉
Someday, when I need it, Costco sounds like a good place to buy hearing aids… unless, I’m traveling to Asia at some point, where they cost about 1/4th. I understand that even German companies price their devices differently for specific target markets.
11-17-23, 06:45 AM
#28
Old and rusty
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Hearing aids and audiologist assistance can be expensive. My Dad has some that take batteries, he gets the batteries through Amazon.
I got mine through the VA. If you are a vet I would suggest that route, the audiologists I’ve seen and all the staff in clinic were great and the hearing aids are helpful. It takes a bit of playing and tweaking but between the directed frequency response and general increase in volume, the ability to add background sounds or music and using the focus forwards setting in meetings, my tinnitus is bothering me less.
I got mine through the VA. If you are a vet I would suggest that route, the audiologists I’ve seen and all the staff in clinic were great and the hearing aids are helpful. It takes a bit of playing and tweaking but between the directed frequency response and general increase in volume, the ability to add background sounds or music and using the focus forwards setting in meetings, my tinnitus is bothering me less.
