A few months ago I was trying to remove some wax with a q tip and ended up jamming it into my ear.

The GP tried removing it with a hand held squirt bottle. It didn’t work.

Then I found an audiologist that would remove it prior to the ear exam. I signed up for the hearing test and sails pitch for hearing aids to get the wax out. She had a device that amounted to an electric psquirt bottle which produced a higher pressure pump.

She got the wax out and my hearing improved 100% immediately.

Nevertheless, she tried to sell me hearing aids. For $5000!

I think I’ll look around.

Other than Costco, where would you look for reasonable priced hearing aids?

I got mine from the VA. Almost never wear them. They don't seem to help me hear anything except the stuff I don't want to hear.

I also acquired mine from the VA. They work pretty good, but the batteries don't last long.

Lexie, on line. Some way they are tied up with Bose. I'm very pleased with mine.

Ed

I have 2 sets of aides, both from Audien. The smaller Atom Pro's cost $250, work well, are virtually unnoticeable to others. The larger Atoms cost only $99, actually work better than the Pro's, and poke out of my ears just a bit. Note that these are not tuneable like many of the high-cost ones -- but only about 10% of folks with nearing loss need the expensive ones. Like eyeglasses and funerals, hearing aides have been paradise for ripoff artists for many years until the recent change in law made them available over-the-counter. Trust me, a $99 expenditure can make a world of difference if you find yourself saying, "What?" every 30 seconds...

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Pisgah

It depends a lot on what you need. Those over the counter hearing aids do little more than amplify sound. They just make it louder.
In my case, I have hearing loss in specific frequencies. I can hear people talk, I just can't understand what they're saying. Those OTC aids are useless to me. I gotta have the expensive ones.

If you're a member of the Second Amendment Foundation, they offer some serious discounts on some of the best hearing aids made. This program saved me almost half on my last set.
Be aware that not every doctor is on this and you'll have to find one near you. In my case, I had to go to downtown Memphis to find a participating doctor to buy them. But once I had them, my regular audiologist (very near me) can take care of any warranty or adjustment needs.
Its a great program that can save you some serious money.

Better hearing starts here - Start Hearing
Or call (888) 903-0113

I got mine about a year ago through my Medicare Advantage plan with Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield. With the discount, etc., they cost me $2,500.

Audiologist told me what a great deal it was as they are much better than what Costco offers, per him, and normally they would have cost six, seven or eight thousand bucks... Hmm.. Really? Maybe so as traditionally hearing aids have been a huge consumer rip off. But who knows. I bet there is still a great profit margin at $2,500...

One benefit I do like is that if I lose them or break them within the first three years they will fix or replace. Wore mine in the shower and broke them. Got a new set.

I purchased mine from MD Hearing in Chicago. Very reasonably priced, a good product. I wear them everyday and they help a lot. Whatever you do, get the rechargeable kind, those little batteries are hard to handle.

They run sales every so often. Right now you can get a pair for $400. They are real hearing aids not amplifiers. Worth a look.

I know Sam's Club has them. Probably lots of websites sell them. There should be no shortage of internet articles comparing them now that they are available OTC.

I once had an employee who in his younger days had worked for some hearing aid retailer, and he told me about what a ripoff business it was.

Got my pair from Audicus for $1,548, but I really don't wear them anymore..

I'm roughly 80+% deaf in my left ear and about 40+% in my right...results of shooting thousands of rounds through pistols & revolvers when I was in my teans, and no hearing protection...and rock & roll through nice 6x9's.

Anyway, the hearing aids do help but I can't bring myself to wear them anymore after getting the little thing that forms the ends of the hearing aids to your ears lodged deep in my ear one time.

I told my wife I was not going to wear them for a bit as my left ear was hurting pretty bad...didn't notice the little piece gone from the left one.

Went on for about a week of so, was drying off after a shower and it came dislodged and fell in the floor. Miraculously, after that the ear felt felt 100% better.

Now I'm just paranoid to put them back in...

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Life Member GOA and NRA

I sympathize with your ear wax removal for a long time. Several years ago, I found an ENT Doctor and he removed my wax every month. Since, I am with Humana insurance, they were negotiating a year and could not come to an agreement. My primary doctor, for a short time, removed the wax and then hand it over to one of his staff. She was horrible and found an excuse to call in sick when I was scheduled for the wax removal. Needless to say, she is no longer working for the doctor. However, I found an ENT, close to home, He is great and instead of the monthly visit, He suggested using brand Debrox Earwax removal kit every monthly and visited him every three months for wax removal. As far as hearing aids, they suck you in buying them at a cost of several thousand dollars and they are limited to the surrounding nose level, but as the existing nose level increases, such as a large hall filled with 55 and over gatherings, the conversation is limited even with the opposite person is directly Infront of you. I have been with Hear USA a number of years and the last year I purchased, from them, the brand name of the hearing aids is REXTON. Each hearing aid is one thousand dollars and Humana pays half of the price of the hearing aids. Since they are the lowest of the hearing aids, they are limited to good sound while you are watching TV or one on one conversation. The hearing aids come with rechargeable station. The best hearing aids can set you back $5000.00 or more but will give the ample sound you would expect with the expensive aids on the market.
Nick D

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NRA Instructor\GCA Gunsmith

BKLooney, that happened to me, too, but I noticed right away. I wound up going to my primary care doc's clinic and a medical assistant got it out with some forceps.

The experience taught me to 1) make sure that rubber tip is securely on the hearing aid wire, and 2) when pulling the hearing aid wire out, grasp it as close to the ear canal as possible and pull it out gently. (I was yanking it out.)

If not VA.. then Costco..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

That's what I paid and love em, buy em at Costco or Sams and you'll pay less, but you'll soon discover why they're so cheaper.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

My better half just found out she has 35-40 percent loss in the upper frequency ranges. The audiologist, who works at a large university affiliated hospital (Go Gators!) explained the type of hearing aids she recommends and the prices start at 3500, up to 6500 depending on the customization required in the programming. I asked about the OTC aids you see advertised everywhere and her answer was the same as several of you have already said....they are nothing more than simple amplifiers, are not fit or programmable, and need tiny batteries that only last 2 days.
I checked out Miracle Ear and they have what the audiologist was selling at a slightly lower price.
Her hearing isn't to the point that I have to yell to be heard. The main problem seems to be when several people are talking their voices are hard to distinguish.
She tends to agree with me when I say getting old sucks!

I got mine through Nations Hearing. About $3500 for Phonak hearing aids. With my Aetna Advantage plan, I was out of pocket about $1500......I was at camp with the boys a couple of months ago and asked, "Are the birds always this loud?" They laughed and said, "Yes!"

Mine are rechargeable and last about 18 hours on a charge...it is nice to hear what I've been missing.


Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

delivered a drop/2 of hydrogen peroxide with a q-tip to loosen up wax in plugged up ear. Always after a shower use the finger plunger method to pull out softened ear wax so a q-tip can get it.

I have a pair of 5500 beltones I would go with the 99 dollar ones. Jeff

I am prone to heavy wax build up. Every three months I will use almost hot water and a ball syringe and repeatedly flush my ear canals until I hear a "crack" and then a noticeable jump in aural volume and see a pencil eraser fall out.


Works every time.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Thanks folks. You’ve given me some good leads to follow up.

I’ll keep you posted, but don’t hold your breath: I doubt there will be much to tell you in the near future. I’m in no hurry.

This, for me. Mostly in the left ear. I also add some hydrogen peroxide to the hot water and do it after a hot shower so they are already warmed up.

Some really hilarious answers here! Mostly, I think, because folks are unaware of what can be had in the market now. It is true that most inexpensive ones are amplifiers, but the new ones do have noise-cancelling, and the permanent batteries, with a charge that lasts a claimed (and real) 26 hours, are recharged in a couple of hours in a little case/recharging unit that is smaller than a pocket watch. I tested my hearing online, went over the results with my regular ENT guy, and bought the OTC units he recommended. YMMV, and everyone's needs are different, but don't cheat yourself and fall for the rap that they are no good for most folks. Exactly the opposite is true.

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Pisgah

I bought the best they had, with insurance. I needed them for sure, after trying out a couple of cheaper ones. I don't always hear all the sounds, and these have volume that changes both. They also let you know when wax becomes a problem by looking at them, so I change two parts on each one while cleaning them. Sometimes when I am shooting, my left ear starts telling me to stop. Hoping it is not coming through where the temple of my eyeglasses are. Still hoping to find something that will help.

After having an idiot shoot next to my head with a ten gauge, I fell to the floor of my boat. Muzzle blast down the side of my head left me this way.
When I got up, I took in the decoys. Told him the BEST thing for him to do was lower the boat blind and shut up.

Protect your hearing!
I've had hearing aids for 37 years. Currently I'm six weeks into cochlear implant surgery and two weeks in having the external device turned on. It is said to be a game changer in terms of hearing. The jury is still out. It will be 4 to 6 months before I'll know how well the cochlear implant will work. Protect your hearing. If you need aids get them.

I'm using Lexie Bose B2 - you can recharge them, and they adjust to what YOU want using an app your phone or manually. $899 from Amazon.

I should have had these decades ago.

My wife recently purchased a watch that connects to her phone,,
she can answer her phone, simply by using the watch.

Well, there is a girl at the Roanoke VA Best Buy store, that knows everything about phones, and watches,,

While waiting for my wife who was getting help with the watch,,,
I noticed they had several hearing devices that Bluetooth connect to your phone!

Much to my dismay, they were so new to the store, the girl did not have any info on the hearing devices.

My phone is so powerful, I would imagine that some hearing device that connected to the phone might be capable of enhancing my hearing??

Veterans, if you have any level of compensable disability, you are now eligible for both hearing aids and glasses from the VA. It used to be that your disability had to relate to your hearing/eyes, but that was changed a few years ago.

I had some hearing aids from Costco, but they weren't that good for my type of loss. Last year I obtained some state of the art Phonak aids from the VA, and i have never been happier. I wear them ~16 hours per day, they hook up to my phone and TV via buetooth, and my tinnitus is non-existent while wearing them.

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Only a cold warrior

My sister-in-law is a Doctor of Audiology so I get the friends and family discount on top-of-the-line devices. On my third set over the last 15 years. Shooting without ear pro, motorcycles, chain saws, etc. Significant hearing loss in the upper registers.

My aids connect to my iphone. I can change modes (several settings such as restaurant, outdoors, social setting, etc.), adjust balance between ears, raise or lower the volume. But the phone itself has nothing to do with enhancing my hearing, it's all the aids.

No argument with those who go with less expensive options. Whatever works for you. But a professional audiologist can conduct an extensive hearing test and then fine tune the aids for the profile of hearing loss. Mine even have different wax protectors for each ear.

If one loses hearing in a certain frequency and doesn't correct for the loss, the brain loses the ability to translate sounds in that range.

Ear Trumpet Horn All Brass Metal Contruction. | eBay

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Forum consigliere

Inusuit, since she's your sister-in-law, please ask her what sort of profit margins are in the business and let us know.

My guess is that it is like most healthcare in the US, and that the primary purpose of audiology in the US is to make money. I am convinced dentistry and optometry are the same. Despite medical doctors being very well paid — the average is $350K per year — they only consume 8.6% of medical spending: https://wapo.st/3YRWdI5 (So here's to hoping your sister makes a good income!) For the system as a whole — manufacturers, corporate healthcare facility owners, insurers, etc. — the well being of the patient is secondary to making a healthy profit.

I was recently told I have a couple of cavities under two fillings, and that I need these teeth capped. The estimate is well over $3,000. My current Medicare Advantage plan only carries $1000 in annual dental coverage. I have consumed this (and then some) for a deep cleaning of my teeth, something I did annually in Japan for $100 or maybe less. The caps, in Japan, would maybe cost a couple of hundred. Japan has national health insurance, which covers dental as well, and which works very well for medical care in my extensive experience.

(By the way, my Medicare insurance broker tells me that in 2023 at least one Medicare Advantage plan offered $3,500 in dental care, so she thinks in 2024 other plans will try to catch up. I am hoping to put off the $3,000+ in needed dental work until next year if she can find such a plan this fall that covers my my current medical providers.)

While optometry is not covered by national health insurance in Japan, glasses are considerably cheaper. Interestingly, audiology/hearing aids seem to be a similar rip off: I had one buddy, now deceased, who paid about $3,000 for one hearing aid in one ear.

So I am not begrudging your sister-in-law her income, Inusuit, but am curious if she would confirm our consumer beliefs about the profit margin in hearing aids.

The other thought I had re OTC aids is that if you can try them and return them if they don't work well for ya, why not give 'em a shot? My audiologist also told me that they only amplify so are not suited for those with hearing loss in specific frequencies, like most of us with more than very slight hearing loss. But I bet some of the newer ones allow for frequency tuning with a smart phone.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

THIS!!!

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I'll second that Phonak from the VA. It is well worth the small hassle with the paperwork. I'm on my third pair in the past 20 years. They recommend replacing every 5 years for the new technology.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I also have the Phonak, that I buy from the University Department of Communication Disorders. Yes, they are expensive, even through the University. But, they service them free of charge as often as I need. I have only had to pay for the speaker leads when they break. My hearing is mostly normal until 2000 Hz, when it tanks! So, they have to be specifically tuned, not just amplified.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

I just had the VA deny my application for hearing aids. Guess I'll have to check into the OTC ones or keep telling my wife to repeat herself.

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Support Israel!

Would you ask me how much money I make or how many cattle I have? How many guns I own? What do you do to make money and how much? I'm not asking her personal financial questions. It's none of my business and none of yours.

Stop by Costco and ask about their profit margins. Let us know what you find out.

Of course she is in the business to make a profit and support her family. She does not live an extravagant lifestyle. She travels overseas regularly without pay to provide free hearing consultations and basic aids to children and elderly in developing countries, sponsored by the company that makes the devices.

You are making guesses and assumptions based on limited information.

We need universal health care in this country but our elected representatives are unwilling to provide it.

I apologize for coming on strong. Your assumption that my sister-in-law is ripping off patients by overcharging is offensive.

Go buy the cheap ones from Walmart. They will probably fit your needs and you may not be ripped off.

My apologies, Inusuit, for offending you, and not communicating more clearly.

My comments were not intended to ask what your SIL makes, but to get her understanding of the profit margins within the industry as a whole. My assumption is that the income of audiologists, like that of medical doctors, per the article I linked, is a relatively small amount of the overall cost in this area of health care. I did not mean to suggest that your SIL is ripping off her patients, and regret that my comments led you to believe that I did.

Healthcare in the US is a pet peeve of mine. For what it's worth, I have spoken to a number of healthcare professionals — doctors, physicians' assistants, nurses — who have agreed with me that the system in the US is unnecessarily costly. This might be your SIL's view as well.

Could you guys please post your comments a little louder. ?? I'm having trouble hearing them.

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John

I've worn hearing aids for what seems to be forever. I've been using Miracle Ear for around 30 years. Mine are programmable and would be lost without them and don't know how I survived before I got them.

I've got 3 selectable channels that I can choose from depending on what type of environment I'm in. I spent a little over $7k for the pair and the place I work at now covers them under their insurance plan.

I get 3 years free repair or replacement and after that I pay just for the cost of components to fix. I try to buy a new pair every five years.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Thanks for your response and clarification. I am so grateful to my SIL for her help in addressing my hearing issues that I over reacted to your post. You are obviously a gentleman and a better man than I am. That's not sarcasm. No apology is necessary but I appreciate it.

Before I got my hearing aids from the VA I went to an audiologist in town who was giving people free hearing tests.

When he did mine he told me that in general my hearing is not bad but that I had something that he called a "Hearing Notch". What that meant was that across most of the spectrum my hearing was fine but there was a certain range where it dropped off sharply. When I got my hearing test from the VA they essentially said the same thing.

The VA gave me a pair of Phonak hearing aids. I saw something similar at Costco for $3,000.

I've talked about this before but I was very surprised at the technology available. My hearing aids will Bluetooth connect to my phone and my TV. That alone makes them worth the price (that I didnt have to pay anyway) to me. The biggest part of my hearing loss is voices. I used to hate watching TV, I used to hate listening to music, I still hate talking on the phone but the reason was because I could tell the people were talking but I couldn't understand what they were saying and the hearing aids corrected that.

The only thing I don't like them for is going to the gym because apparently if you sweat a lot the sweat gets in with the batteries and makes them drain much faster.

After reading some of these posts I'm actually very surprised that my experience with the VA as far as my hearing aids goes. When they found out I was artillery they essentially told me that the hearing loss disability and hearing aids were automatic.

As other people have mentioned my hearing aids are adjusted to my specific range of hearing loss. They don't just bring up all the sound they bring up that specific range.

I've said this before but when I first got my hearing aids one of the first things I did was sit down and listen to Dark Side of the Moon. My hearing aids gave me better sound than any Bose speaker I ever heard. In theory Dark Side of the Moon is actually supposed to only be two songs. It's supposed to be a continuous track on each side of the album.

When I listen to it on my hearing aids I can hear the beat between each track. The conversations that people are having between the tracks I can hear every word they're saying perfectly. The first time I heard that album through my hearing aids was like the first time I ever heard that album

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Retired Career Security Guard

EVERYONE SPEAK UP SO THE GENTLEMAN CAN HEAR YOU PLEASE!

You might laugh at this hearing horn,, BUT,,,

when driving my truck with noisy off-road type tires,,
and I want to hear something like a weather forecast,,

I can cup my hand over my ear, and hear the radio 3X better, and more clear sounding,,

I do not know if it amplifies the radio sound, or,,, blocks out truck noise??

Are you talking about listening via speakers using your HAs, or streamimg audio into them? I'm guessing the former.

I've had basic Costco HAs (Kirkland/Sivantos) for a few years now and they're pretty good, although the "Listening to Music" setting is only "sort of OK." This is for listening via speakers. (I'm mostly into classical, but that prob. doesn't matter too much.)

From what I've read, most newer HA's (2018+) have pretty good "Music" settings, which basically remove most of the DSP (digital signal processing) that is useful for conversation etc., but detrimental to music. But it also depends on the audiologist knowing what to adjust, and adusting for music reproduction is not something that many audiologists know about.

Mine are still good enough that I'm going to wait a year or so before thinking about replacing them, and I now know enough about the technology to help the audiologist set up the Music program. Phonak is one of the better brands, esp. for music reproduction. One young woman out here who has serious hearing loss - a sound mixer in her 30's - started with Phonak but ended up using Oticon, which she felt were better. But that's a very specialized application and I think she had a very good audiologist.

I, too was diagnosed with "the notch", long before I ever needed HAs. When I told the audiologist I had worked as a rec. engineer, they assumed that was the cause, but I did mostly classical and only part-time. Probably it was from doing a lot of .22 shooting when I was in my teens, initially on an indoor range. Anyway, now I have HF loss in both ears and reduced sensitivity in the right ear, diagnosed as "sensio-neural hearing loss", which seems to be techno-speak for "we don't know the cause."

Oddly, when I listen over my Grado headphones (GW100 wireless, which are superb), I am barely aware of the loss, aside from a little less level on the right.

That works for me, too. Even just bending my ear in a bit can help. You're focusing the sound, not unlike an ear trumpet. Possibly also some HF boost from your hand. Put some tin foil on your hand and it'll be even brighter!

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"I drank WHAT?" (Socrates)

Just turning my head a few degrees one way or another does wonders to what I can heard. Kind of like thing the radar antenna to get the best feedback.

Streaming audio through them.


If I listen to my stereo through my headphones it levels everything out and it just sounds flat

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Retired Career Security Guard

That's surprising, but Phonak are supposed to be very good. I would have thought bass response would be weak (unless you have full ear molds) and level a bit restricted, as well as poor battery life. But if it works, HURRAH!

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"I drank WHAT?" (Socrates)

Removing the wax from my ear has made a huge difference.

I can watch the tv with the volume turned down from 99 to 60. BIG difference for the $50 to clean the wax out of my ear.

The audiologist still thinks I need HAs and I’ll continue to follow up, but the urgency has lessened now.

I said that wrong. If I'm wearing my Phonaks and I turn on my Kenwood component system it sounds great. It's when I try to listen to music through my Bose SoundLink while I'm wearing my Phonaks that I have a problem. I also have a problem with the Bluetooth on my phone not being able to decide which device to pair with.

I don't listen to music through my hearing aids very often because invariably as soon as I do my wife wants to start a conversation and gets pissed off at me.

I'm not sure what normal life is for hearing aid battery but as long as I stay out of the gym my hearing aid batteries last at least 3 days.

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Retired Career Security Guard

Now that's a bit odd... I don't have a Soundlink, but I think Bose does a lot of electronic jiggery-pokery with theIr small single speakers to get good sound and it could be that some of that processing is interfering with the Phonak's own DSP. My next-door neighbour has a Bose Revolve (I think) which probably uses similar technology. Next time she has it on I'll see if my HAs are affected.

Pairing can sometimes be a problem with multiple devices. I've heard that sometimes you should turn off Bluetooth on one device, but I've rarely had to. When I fire up my Grado wireless cans, they usually announce "Pairing!" twice, once for my iPhone and also for my laptop.

I get around a week from my HAs (which use a 312 battery) but I don't wear them all day, just when I feel I'd need them, usually if I'm out shopping or visiting with a number of people with a lotof conversation going on, which isn't often.

"I'M SORRY DAVE. I CAN'T FIX THAT"

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"I drank WHAT?" (Socrates)

Listening to music when streaming thru the Phonak hearing aids sounds tinny to me. Reason being that the HAs are still bringing in outside sound as well. I have not tried listening with hearing aids in and using headphones...

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760