Expensive hearing aids ?

[Hedge]

I'm sure the NHS ones are great. I'm in the fortunate position that I can go and get this done privately/quickly. Means that someone that needs the NHS more than me can use them to help them out.

1 day in of my trial with the 2 I've been allocated and it's startling the difference they make. Very noticeable when I turn them off or take them out. It's as if someone has pushed an off button on the world around me!

@Jimbeam3678 thank you. And yes the tinnitus management will be an interesting exploration as well. If the brain isn't having to process things it can't interpret I'm hoping life will get a little easier.

When I first picked mine up from hospital and drove home I couldnt believe difference. I could hear my car indicators ticking better and keys jingling. I hadn't really been aware of how much I had been missing at that point.

One handy thing about being half deaf on one side is I can take hearing aid out, lie on my good side and sleep like a baby ha.

Oh and with batteries I just buy in bulk from amazon. Duracell ones nice and cheap. Don't fall into paying over the odds through whoever supplied your hearing aid. (if that's a thing). Nhs provide batteries but I find buying them myself easier.

 

[Freefaller]

When I first picked mine up from hospital and drove home I couldnt believe difference. I could hear my car indicators ticking better and keys jingling. I hadn't really been aware of how much I had been missing at that point.

One handy thing about being half deaf on one side is I can take hearing aid out, lie on my good side and sleep like a baby ha.

Oh and with batteries I just buy in bulk from amazon. Duracell ones nice and cheap. Don't fall into paying over the odds through whoever supplied your hearing aid. (if that's a thing). Nhs provide batteries but I find buying them myself easier.

Yes I had the same experience with just what I can hear. Quite amazing.

The ones I'm trialing are rechargeable, but similar to you I have a draw full of various batteries because kids seem to get through various devices that need a million different types of them!

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Its gone for good? Even when you don’t wear the hearing aid?

I wear hearing aids pretty much all the time so thats quite hard to answer. Presumably it would come back if I didn’t wear hearing aids for an extended period of time.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

I wore normal NHS hearing aids for years and I had friends buying expensive ones and then going back to their NHS ones.
Lucky for me at the back end of 2015 I had Stapedectomy operations on both my ears and my hearing is superb now.
It was bad when I came out, I went to a metal concert and had to run out with my fingers in my ears.

 

[Tephnos]

I wore normal NHS hearing aids for years and I had friends buying expensive ones and then going back to their NHS ones.
Lucky for me at the back end of 2015 I had Stapedectomy operations on both my ears and my hearing is superb now.
It was bad when I came out, I went to a metal concert and had to run out with my fingers in my ears.

So you had bad hearing due to a fused bone for many years?

 

[SexyGreyFox]

So you had bad hearing due to a fused bone for many years?

Yes it was quite funny at the time.
I was having problems so went to Specsavers for a hearing test, the tester knew me and said it would be interesting because of all the very loud bands I played in over the decades.
He said it's nothing to do with noise but genetics and referred me to the GP onto the hospital
The Clinician at the hospital also knew me for my bands and said the same thing, it's genetics.
Apparently the stapes didn't move and they are supposed to move.
I was referred to a Surgeon who replaced my stapes at the end of 2015.

 

[champ222]

ive got this to look forward to. Ive been going deaf in one ear for a while now. It doesnt really bother me day to day, but about a year ago i suddenly had tinnitus, as if someone flicked a switch. I also had random vertigo from time to time. When i went to the GP about the sudden tinnitus, with the other symptoms, she thought it might be meniere's disease. Got me some pills to help with the symptoms. they have helped the fullness/blocked feeling in my ear, which was the problem ive been trying to fix for years, and the vertigo is much better. the tinnitus is still a problem though. Its in both ears i think, which is strange as all other problems is just one. But it seems worse in the ear with the hearing loss, which makes sense i guess. Still no ENT appointment after a year wait... i havent bothered to chase them up since there is probably nothing they can do anyway. I'm not ready for a hearing aid yet.

I have wondered though, do the aids aim to help restore your hearing to what it should be? So that listening to music on a hifi, sounds as it should and sounds good? or are they designed to help you hear voices, and as such listening to music might be loud,shouty and fatiquing?

 

[DXP55]

I have wondered though, do the aids aim to help restore your hearing to what it should be? So that listening to music on a hifi, sounds as it should and sounds good? or are they designed to help you hear voices, and as such listening to music might be loud,shouty and fatiquing?

No chance - say goodbye to listening to quality music - I had to get rid of all my HiFi kit -records and discs as it certainly didn't sound the same.
For watching TV I have a pair of wifi sennheiser headphone \I put on over my hearing aids and get reasonable quality sound - It works without aids but you need to turn it up a bit.

To be honest you will never recover your hearing to as it was - they can give you stuff to help you to hear things but that's it.

Remember with HiFi the the main thing was crap in crap out - After all this hearing aid lark put onto me by the wife the only person I have difficulty hearing is the wife. She has never bent over and changed her voice output -She still talks very quiet and mumbles - Now I just say EH! in a high voice and that jolts her a bit but soon drops back to mumbling. Then I go EH EH EH. then she get annoyed.

The only good thing with hearing aids is the moment you take them out at bedtime and the relief on your ears is wonderful - you drop into a world of peace and quiet.

 

[Bassmansam]

No chance - say goodbye to listening to quality music - I had to get rid of all my HiFi kit -records and discs as it certainly didn't sound the same.
For watching TV I have a pair of wifi sennheiser headphone \I put on over my hearing aids and get reasonable quality sound - It works without aids but you need to turn it up a bit.

To be honest you will never recover your hearing to as it was - they can give you stuff to help you to hear things but that's it.

Remember with HiFi the the main thing was **** in **** out - After all this hearing aid lark put onto me by the wife the only person I have difficulty hearing is the wife. She has never bent over and changed her voice output -She still talks very quiet and mumbles - Now I just say EH! in a high voice and that jolts her a bit but soon drops back to mumbling. Then I go EH EH EH. then she get annoyed.

The only good thing with hearing aids is the moment you take them out at bedtime and the relief on your ears is wonderful - you drop into a world of peace and quiet.

do you listen to music at all?

 

[mike9199]

I wear an NHS issue one in my right ear and it's fantastic. I struggle with high frequency in my right ear which means conversations in crowded rooms are hard to decipher and women's / children's voices are muffled somewhat. The hearing aid has made them way more clear.

More than happy with the NHS one. I have a shaved head and even without having hair to hide it people often say they didn't even notice I had one.

As for tinnitus, a few days where I've forgotten or lost my hearing aid tinnitus kicks in. It also tends to get me when I've had too much caffeine or I'm dehydrated.

Stress is another trigger for many people.
Of course if you have enough cash, you can make your choice based only on the design and technical characteristic, again, the prices can go up to couple of thousands.
It happens sometimes that you can find a good pair on hearing aids for sale and save a decent amount this way. Still at the beginning i would visit an audiologist and ask for a professional advice.

 

[jpaul]

To give tv/music the best chance sending it in via BT direct to the aid gives best chance of success - relation found these ideal
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phonak-Wireless-TV-Connector/dp/B0823ZX37F but, not free.

taking you hearing aids out at the end of the day is fine for you but if the other half needs to speak to you, or the phone goes, they're out of luck.

 

[DXP55]

do you listen to music at all?

No - never it's just screechy rubbish. - I used to listen to Ken Bruce -Now I can't even recognise his voice.

I now wish I had used ear plugs year ago. It's like your eyes where you never think they will pack up then ding - one eye packs up.
Life is a bitch and then you die.

 

[Bassmansam]

No - never it's just screechy rubbish. - I used to listen to Ken Bruce -Now I can't even recognise his voice.

I now wish I had used ear plugs year ago. It's like your eyes where you never think they will pack up then ding - one eye packs up.
Life is a bitch and then you die.

Going to a concert tomorrow, i have my ear plugs ready..

Sorry to hear about your experience

 

[Tephnos]

No - never it's just screechy rubbish. - I used to listen to Ken Bruce -Now I can't even recognise his voice.

I now wish I had used ear plugs year ago. It's like your eyes where you never think they will pack up then ding - one eye packs up.
Life is a bitch and then you die.

It sounds more like you have a lot of damage to your synapses than just your hearing. When you mention screechy rubbish, it sounds like your dynamic range is shot. I've rarely heard of hearing aid users complain that music is completely ruined.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

To be honest not me but my stepfather used to spend a fortune on hearing aids when someone probably his GP told him to just get NHS ones and he found them better certainly no worse mind you he's not exactly an audiophile

Going to a concert tomorrow, i have my ear plugs ready..

Sorry to hear about your experience

Its not just concerts that used to leave me literally deaf afterwards its cinemas these days too its so loud it hurts at times ok I get it people talk these days especially kids and crisp packets rustle etc but theres going to be lot more people with hearing problems in the future

 

[Hedge]

To be honest not me but my stepfather used to spend a fortune on hearing aids when someone probably his GP told him to just get NHS ones and he found them better certainly no worse mind you he's not exactly an audiophile



Its not just concerts that used to leave me literally deaf afterwards its cinemas these days too its so loud it hurts at times ok I get it people talk these days especially kids and crisp packets rustle etc but theres going to be lot more people with hearing problems in the future

People probably think the NHS buy cheap crap but I think they should consider the immense buying power the NHS hold. All the smaller suppliers sell a fraction of what the NHS handle.

I am totally content with the one I received and don't really understand how a more fancy one could offer me much more.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

People probably think the NHS buy cheap **** but I think they should consider the immense buying power the NHS hold. All the smaller suppliers sell a fraction of what the NHS handle.

I am totally content with the one I received and don't really understand how a more fancy one could offer me much more.

I know several people who bought expensive ones and went back to the NHS ones.