Hearing aids

[kent11202]

Holy carp! I just got hearing aids a coupe of hours ago and it's really something to deal with.

I'm hearing stuff like never before, including myself talking. I hear the dog's nails on my tile floor, the keystrokes I make on the computer and even the clock ticking, etc., etc., etc.

According to the audiologist that fitted me, this is "normal" for at least a few days as the bain "adapts" to this new-found ability but I'll tell you, it is WEIRD.

One good point is that, if I don't wear them, I can use cheaper hearing protection at the range.

Anybody else go through this?

 

[cussedemgun]

hearins stuff like never before - -

So tell us, how long 'till you're gonna tell your family that you can hear again?

 

[old bear]

kent11202, thanks for the info. I have an apt. on Monday which will be the start of my process of getting fitted for hearing-aids. Kinda have mixed emotions. Two years ago my Dr. suggested I strongly consider giving up or limit my range time to once or twice a year. Oh-well

 

[ColColt]

I'm glad someone can afford those things. I have tinnitus and was told about 20 years or so ago I needed hearing aids. I said, "What do you means, aids". The trouble is my left ear with the ringing." The doc said, more or less, the right ear apparently is nearly as bad even though there's no obvious ringing like in the left one...maybe it tried to pick up where the left one fell short. That price back then was $1100 for ONE of them! Can you imagine what they'd cost me today?

Insurance won't pick up the tab for hearing aids...at least Medicare won't so, I guess I'll listen to whistles and bells forevermore and turn the TV volume up to 40. Forget female voices. They speak to me with my back turned and I don't hear a thing. Some guys even mumble. The other day I wrote Walgreen's Pharmacy a check for $47.88 because that's what I heard him say. I got home, looked at the receipt and it was $37.88. Aggravating, simply aggravating.

 

[flightsimmer]

You've got them turned up too loud, turn them down a bit untill they sound more normal. It will take several days to get them where you want them. If they have numbers on the volume knob use them to gauge where you want them to be. Also, shut your eyes and try to find a sound source like the TV, then when you think you are facing straight at it, open your eyes and see if you are, if not, adjust the volume untill you can find it every time, then your hearing will be balanced correctly. Good luck.

 

[flightsimmer]

kent11202, thanks for the info. I have an apt. on Monday which will be the start of my process of getting fitted for hearing-aids. Kinda have mixed emotions. Two years ago my Dr. suggested I strongly consider giving up or limit my range time to once or twice a year. Oh-well

Your Dr. is wrong, the length of time has nothing to do with it, it only takes one shot or loud sound to damage your hearing forever and it can never be made to sound totally normal again, close, but not perfect.
Hearing aids are very expensive as you know, I am told that you are paying for the technology and audilogist and the brick and mortar store (overhead).
So I get my hearing aids from America Hears, online and have been very satisfied over the years. I just got new ones this last week.
America Hears - High Quality Digital Hearing Aids Direct From The Manufacturer

 

[shaggist]

You will notice that there are a lot more tweeter birds now than there was before you got the aids. Also, the clatter of dishes and siverware in a restaurant will drive you crazy. But, your friends and family will appreciate the fact that you don't cup your ear and say 'wha' anymore. Enjoy.

 

[Maddog 521]

Have you flushed the toilet yet? I have a set of Starkey's and my wife really loves them.

 

[ColColt]

This reminds me of a movie I saw years ago called "Hear no Evil, See no Evil" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Richard couldn't see and Gene couldn't hear good. The line that really gave me a great belly laugh was the one where Gene was questioned about a murder he witnessed. The detective said someone on the order of..."Was there or wasn't there a woman?", To which Gene replied, "Are you serious? Fuzzy Wuzzy was a woman?" Now, that's how I hear a lot of the time.

 

[Onomea]

So I get my hearing aids from America Hears, online and have been very satisfied over the years. I just got new ones this last week.
America Hears - High Quality Digital Hearing Aids Direct From The Manufacturer

That looks pretty good. I'll be filing that for future reference. Thanks!

 

[jdh]

The new ones are so much better than the older ones. The sound quality is better, the audiologist has more latitude in tuning them for you, battery life is much better, The remote control that lets me connect to my cell not have to do a separate blutooth device.

But yes they do take some getting used to and the things will become less annoying over time. The dog will still have a harder time sneaking up on you though.

 

[kent11202]

kent11202, thanks for the info. I have an apt. on Monday which will be the start of my process of getting fitted for hearing-aids. Kinda have mixed emotions. Two years ago my Dr. suggested I strongly consider giving up or limit my range time to once or twice a year. Oh-well

Old Bear Glad to be of help. FYI, I got the type of aids that fit completely in the ear canal - not a "vanity" thing with me, just wanted them out of the way.

Cussed I'm not sure when/if I'll tell them I can hear

Flightsimmer These are the kind that "automatically" adjust the volume (the computer does that when you get fitted) so if it turns out to be a problem, they can make adjustments in two weeks. As an aside, my wife just got the very same units two weeks ago. She had the same "super-sensitive" hearing issues but just told me today it's all but gone now.

shaggist I've already experienced the joy of hearing the refrigerator run - and here I thought I had the quietest one ever built. LOL

It seems I can hear everything around me and that may turn out to be a curse. Oh, the volume on my surround sound is now at 20 instead of 40 and I don't seem to have any trouble understanding things. I suspect I've been doing a lot more "lip reading" than I thought.

Maddog Yep, toilets are really noisy!

jdh Thanks for confirming things get better. My German Shepherd doesn't "sneak," she's checks the entire yard every morning and evening before bed and if there's anything she doesn't like, it's a full on assault.

About two months ago my wife was in the back yard with her and a coupe of guys were trying to open the gate (locked). The dog went nutts and one of the guys said, "What's wrong with your dog." She told him he really didn't want to find out because it would be awfully bloody - they left immediately.

I'll keep you folks up to date as this situation moves forward. In addition to providing you with reading enjoyment, I'm hoping doing helps anyone else that might be headed in this direction.

 

[kraigwy]

I got some about 10 years ago..........after the first day I tossed them in a drawer. Drove me nuts. I used it every now and then to make the wife happy, finely (thank God) it cratered the third time.

Thought I had it made but nooooooo, wife made me an appointment and I have another set ordered.

You'll cuss everyone who calls you. My doctor said I'd get use to them too, He lied.

Put it in and go to walmart, you can hear every scanner in the place, not to mention all the screaming kids people take to wall mart.

I think bad hearing is a gift from God, and we have to go and screw it up.

 

[\\-olf]

I'm glad someone can afford those things. I have tinnitus and was told about 20 years or so ago I needed hearing aids. I said, "What do you means, aids". The trouble is my left ear with the ringing." T

That price back then was $1100 for ONE of them! Can you imagine what they'd cost me today?

Insurance won't pick up the tab for hearing aids..

Some guys even mumble. The other day I wrote Walgreen's Pharmacy a check for $47.88 because that's what I heard him say. I got home, looked at the receipt and it was $37.88. Aggravating, simply aggravating.

I have tinnitus too, but then I've had it almost all my life mostly in one ear, but since I have had it so long I rarely notice it.
I also have some hearing loss as well, more in that ear than the other and a number of years ago I bought one aid, and like yours it was about $1,100 maybe a little higher, and like you the first few days wearing it were unbelievable and very uncomfortable. I also didn't like the feel of something sticking in my ear.

After a while I just stopped wearing it, it was just not working out well at all.
I think aids like glasses are something best started with as a child, as it seems it would be easier to learn to deal with them than starting in mid 40's.
I'm 52 and don't wear glasses or contacts, but it's becoming a little harder to read fine print up close, or focus on something up close.
I passed the driver's license renewal and vision screening 3 years ago fine, the clerk asked me twice if I wore glasses or contacts and I said no, he seemed astonished a 49 year old doesn't need glasses or glasses to pass the DMV vision test.
I don't plan to re-aid again any time soon- just don't like them, and I don't plan on reading glasses etc any time soon either, but I know at some point I'll need them and it won't be easy adjusting to something resting on my nose and looking through glass at everything.

Due to the hearing I also get words mixed up- cat/bat/mat/sat, sixteen, fifteen, twenty, plenty etc but I usually do fine when I know what the general topic of conversation is about and I'm very good at filling in the "blanks" mentally from a lifetime of coping with it, but in a noisy crowd forget it!
I work with aguy who is very hard of hearing and wears 2 aids, and he has to replace them every few years, plus the costs for batteries- it's VERY expensive! I think his current pair ran him around $3,000 each if I'm not mistaken.

 

[writerinmo]

I had to take the bat/cat/rat/fat hearing test to try and stay in the National Guards, you sit in the booth and put on the headphones. You hear the murmur of scattered conversations like if you were at a party, or some meeting hall, then in a soft voice, someone says a word. They purposely pick a word that has a lot of similar sounding words, and it's not used in a conversation so you really have to HEAR it, not just be able to figure it out...

Well, I scored about a 3%, so out I went, no military pension for me as the VA said it wasn't service related (after 13 years in a 8" artillery battery???) and my Federal BCBS doesn't cover hearing aids like most don't. Wife is adamant that I'm going to "by God" get them when she gets her settlement on her workmans comp lawsuit whether I want them or not, says she's tired of repeating herself... I got a good smack upside the head when I asked her why she thought I hadn't heard her, maybe I was just ignoring her...

 

[Fredo Batali]

ColColt,

I wish I could have found a good hearing aid for $1100 each. Mine were $2,500.00 each. Yep that's $5,000 dollars for hearing aids I wear maybe a couple of times a month. Can't wear them at work because of the noise and I'm not not home, awake, long enough.

De Oppresso Liber

 

[ColColt]

ColColt,

I wish I could have found a good hearing aid for $1100 each. Mine were $2,500.00 each. Yep that's $5,000 dollars for hearing aids I wear maybe a couple of times a month. Can't wear them at work because of the noise and I'm not not home, awake, long enough.

De Oppresso Liber

Good grief!! That's ridiculous. I've had cars that didn't cost that much. Guess I'll never have any as I can't see that. It's like this Plavix blood thinner I take-over $500 for a 90 day supply and you know they were probably a couple bucks at best to make.

I may consider wearing them at a much lower price IF they could tune the constant noise tinnitus brings...sort of like a filter to at least decrease it else wise, they're of little benefit to me. Having to pay mega bucks and still hear crickets is no benefit at all.

 

[nossew]

It takes a LOT of getting used to. I've had mine for about 10 years and still don't wear them all the time although when I wear them now I forget they are there. There is no way I can carry on a conversation without them. There is a lot more sound in the world than I realized. Hey, I can hear myself piss.

 

[pinduck]

I'm sorry, what did you say?

 

[smitret]

hearing aid $

I'm glad someone can afford those things. I have tinnitus and was told about 20 years or so ago I needed hearing aids. I said, "What do you means, aids". The trouble is my left ear with the ringing." The doc said, more or less, the right ear apparently is nearly as bad even though there's no obvious ringing like in the left one...maybe it tried to pick up where the left one fell short. That price back then was $1100 for ONE of them! Can you imagine what they'd cost me today?

Insurance won't pick up the tab for hearing aids...at least Medicare won't so, I guess I'll listen to whistles and bells forevermore and turn the TV volume up to 40. Forget female voices. They speak to me with my back turned and I don't hear a thing. Some guys even mumble. The other day I wrote Walgreen's Pharmacy a check for $47.88 because that's what I heard him say. I got home, looked at the receipt and it was $37.88. Aggravating, simply aggravating.

Before I got my aids I used my electronic hearing protection

to watch TV. TV volume set for wife's hearing, muffs volume

set for me.

Hope that helps.